What Is Speech?
When a Speech-Language Pathologist uses the word ‘speech,’ they are referring to the fine motor movements of the face and mouth that we use to speak. Speech is the ability to move the muscles in our lips, tongue and jaw in the specific shapes that make each sound. We then combine those sounds smoothly and in the correct order to form words and sentences.

Due to the fact that most of us speak effortlessly every day, it can be easy to overlook the complexity of the movements the body needs to speak. Speech is a fine motor skill that requires the precise movements of the muscles in our diaphragm up to our lips. It also requires support from our core, controlled breath, and fluid, coordinated movement. For all these parts to work in unison, our brain must send the correct signals to all these parts, telling them what to do and when to do it. When all these components work together harmoniously, we can speak clearly, listen to ourselves while speaking and discriminate between the sounds we make.

Articulation