ABSTRACT
Pathological conditions affecting the speech function can only be adequately recognized, diagnosed and treated by medical authorities. In many diseases, especially those involving the central nervous system, or the neuromuscular mechanism, one of the early diagnostic signs for the trained clinician is the deterioration of speech. The symptom may range from a comparatively mild disorder with excessive volubility and speech pressure, to a serious impediment, depending upon the degree of cerebropathica, or cerebral involvement present. Sometimes these cases are first referred to the speech pathologist. The layman, parent, or school teacher is often unable to recognize the speech handicap as a symptom of a serious physical disorder, and may refer the child to a speech specialist. For this reason it is exceedingly important that all workers in the speech pathology field should be trained in the minimum essentials of the pathology of speech, diseases in which speech disorders occur, conditions and causes of the handicap, speech symptoms present, and prognosis, with some suggestions as to treatment.
