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Communication Disorder/Communication Impairment

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Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Synonyms

Communication impairments

Short Description or Definition

A communication disorder is a developmental or acquired impairment which generally affects language, speech, and/or hearing (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders [NIDCD], 2010). The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) (1993) describes communication disorders more specifically, as impacting one’s ability to “receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems (p. 2).” These impairments may include, but are not limited to, problems with fluency, articulation, phonology, voice, auditory processing, pragmatics, syntax, semantics, morphology, and hearing loss (American Speech-Language and Hearing Association [ASHA], 2008; NIDCD, 2010, Rochester Hearing and Speech Center [RHSC], 2011). Communication disorders generally fall on a continuum of severity, ranging from relatively mild to profound depending on the complexity of the impairment...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    Kailey MacNeill

Authors
  1. Kailey MacNeill
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Correspondence to Kailey MacNeill .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology Yale University School of Medicine, Chief, Child Psychiatry Children's Hospital at Yale-New Haven Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar (Director, Child Study Center) (Director, Child Study Center)

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MacNeill, K. (2013). Communication Disorder/Communication Impairment. In: Volkmar, F.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_766

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_766

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1697-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1698-3

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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