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Should I visit a speech-language pathologist?

OnTheSpectrum

Hello everyone,

I am a 21 years old male who was diagnosed with ASD last year. By posting this topic I want to find out if I should visit a speech-language pathologist based on the information below.

My (chronic) situation with the regard to speaking is that I often cannot find the words that I want to say. This results in me often replacing the word that I need with words like 'that thing' or with describing the word that I need by giving a short definition for it. I also often speak slowly as a consequence.

I have had this issue since early adolescence and it had a huge impact on my wellbeing. I ended up becoming afraid of talking, to the point at which I would often ignore questions asked by my parents/friends/classmates if I knew that the question required an elaborate answer. Usually the mere prospect of having to talk to someone triggered a fear of failure, which made me stress out even more, and ultimately led to severe social phobia.

I have now been attending a university for 4 years to study applied linguistics, which requires good verbal skills in 3 languages of choice. Keep in mind, I didn't have a diagnosis yet when I first enrolled. In comparison with the other students, I soon noticed that my verbal skills did not improve fast enough, out of sync with my written skills, which have always been a lot better than the average student. As a consequence, I am now going to need at least 5 years to complete a 3-year study. I am not sure if it matters, but my verbal IQ on the WAIS-III test was 127.

I should also mention that my social phobia slowly but severely decreased after enrolling for university because of having to live on my own (with strangers, but away from my parents) and having to buy/arrange everything on my own, which involves a lot of social contact. I guess I could call it a form of self-administered therapy.

At this moment I am still shy, but probably not enough to still qualify for identifying with social phobia. Nevertheless, my speech issues never decreased, which leads me to believe that my speech issues were never a consequence of the social phobia. However, the fear of failure is still present.

I have done some research online and I think that I might show mild signs of one (or more?) of these conditions: Anomic aphasia, Apraxia of speech, Broca's aphasia, Developmental verbal dyspraxia (I tend to switch syllables in long sentences), and dysarthria (I have a very soft voice and I have trouble swallowing. E.g. I can't swallow any pill at all and I'm a relatively slow eater).

Of course I am aware that speech issues are part of autism as well, but to what extent? Are the issues described above sufficient to 'approve' a trip to the speech-language pathologist or will the issues just be classified as being part of autism, and not being actual speech disorders?

I hope that someone can give me useful advice.

Kind Regards,

OnTheSpectrum.

  • I'm used to speaking publicly, having been a lecturer, but I don't always speak so well, and it has always been a setback that I don't come over well in a lot of situations and that undermines my credibility. Remarks get back to me that I don't speak like someone with my level of academic ability. Certainly it has to be "one size fits all" which means probably I have "everyday" rather than cultured speech.

    What most affects me is stress and background noise. I do a lot of committee work, and if the committee is run properly I'm OK, but if a lot of people are trying to speak my ability to communicate, both speaking and hearing what is being said deteriorates. I start to repeat things a lot, sometimes repeating whole sentences, and I don't use the words I thought I'd intended.

    This also means a lot of people don't rate me, and it is harder to establish myself in any group, so I'm treated as less than I'm otherwise able.

    Drawing on my perspective only, I don't think I'd be helped by a speech therapist. I can speak well sometimes. Just as I don't think I'm deaf, my hearing seems good, but in environments where others are talking or where there is background noise, my hearing seems to deteriorate and often what people are saying sounds like another language.

    It is good that you can write well. Presumably you do not have dyslexia. Many people on the spectrum also have dyslexia. Not having dyslexia myself I've always been able to communicate well in writing, and have gone on courses to improve my writing style with an employer about 25 years ago.

    I don't seem to do well on non-verbal, both generating the right facial expressions and body language, and reading these in others. My eye contact difficulties are apparently not obvious but I'm very conscious of them.

    I think lack of non-verbal information is a big factor. NTs can combine speech with non-verbal clues, and colour their speech the same way. It may be that you are having to rely more on the spoken word and are more concious of having difficulty. That then causes anxiety which has a knock-on effect on your confidence speaking?

    If you do see a speech therapist it needs to be someone who understands autism. Just being given pronunciation exercises may not solve your difficulties.