brain, spinal cord, and nerve disorders
Dysarthria
Introduction
Dysarthria is loss of the ability to articulate words normally. Speech may be jerky, staccato, breathy, irregular, imprecise, or monotonous, but people can understand language and use it correctly. Practitioners evaluate muscle strength and movement by asking the person to do some simple tasks involving their mouth and tongue and to repeat words and sentences. Speech therapy helps some people with dysarthria. Although dysarthria seems to be a language problem, it is really a problem with controlling the muscles of speech (a motor problem). 