<p>Just a reminder that Stack Exchange is not an appropriate place to get a diagnosis; a vague description of symptoms may indicate a variety of possible outcomes.  See a doctor instead.  That said:</p>

<p>One general term for disorders that affect some language modalities and not others, when the cause is psychological rather than physical (ie, not deafness, muscle weakness, paralysis, etc), is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia" rel="nofollow noreferrer">aphasia</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>To be diagnosed with aphasia, a person's speech or language must be
  significantly impaired in one (or several) of the four communication
  modalities following acquired brain injury or have significant decline
  over a short time period (progressive aphasia). The four communication
  modalities are auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading and
  writing, and functional communication.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Aphasia is most commonly associated with stroke or dementia, and several <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia#Classification" rel="nofollow noreferrer">sub-types</a> involve both speech production and verbal comprehension difficulties, while not necessarily affecting reading or writing abilities.</p>

<p>Other diagnoses are also possible, as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_disorder" rel="nofollow noreferrer">language disorders</a> may consist of a combination of a variety of possible aspects of language ability, while not affecting others.  For example, children with both receptive (comprehension) and expressive (speech) delays may be diagnosed with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_language_impairment" rel="nofollow noreferrer">specific language impairment (SLI)</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>... diagnosed when a child's language does not develop normally and
  the difficulties cannot be accounted for by generally slow
  development, physical abnormality of the speech apparatus, autism
  spectrum disorder, apraxia, acquired brain damage or hearing loss.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Though relatively rarely, it is possible for literacy to be largely unaffected by SLI.</p>

<p>Additionally, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comorbidity" rel="nofollow noreferrer">comorbidity</a> is also possible, such as a combination of speech <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_verbal_agnosia" rel="nofollow noreferrer">agnosia</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apraxia_of_speech" rel="nofollow noreferrer">apraxia</a>, and if other symptoms are present, then yet other diagnoses would apply, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum" rel="nofollow noreferrer">autism</a>, where again, it is possible for some language skills (such as verbal communication) to be impaired while others (such as literacy) are largely unaffected.</p>

<p>For a general overview of the field, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_and_language_impairment" rel="nofollow noreferrer">speech and language impairment</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_disorder" rel="nofollow noreferrer">communication disorder</a>.  A summary of technical terminology used to classify symptoms can be found <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_language_disorders" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-09T06:04:26.223Z
2019-06-09T06:04:26.223Z
Arnon Weinberg
<p>Is there any cognitive disability or disfunction that impairs both speech production and listening comprehension, while reading and writing skills are at a normal level or better?</p>

<abnormal-psychology><communication><language-processing><speech><speech-comprehension>
Impaired verbal communication, but normal reading and writing skills?
Entiro
# Impaired verbal communication, but normal reading and writing skills?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-04)

Is there any cognitive disability or disfunction that impairs both speech production and listening comprehension, while reading and writing skills are at a normal level or better?

**Tags:** abnormal-psychology, communication, language-processing, speech, speech-comprehension


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-06-09. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Just a reminder that Stack Exchange is not an appropriate place to get a diagnosis; a vague description of symptoms may indicate a variety of possible outcomes. See a doctor instead. That said:

One general term for disorders that affect some language modalities and not others, when the cause is psychological rather than physical (ie, not deafness, muscle weakness, paralysis, etc), is [aphasia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia):

> To be diagnosed with aphasia, a person's speech or language must be
> significantly impaired in one (or several) of the four communication
> modalities following acquired brain injury or have significant decline
> over a short time period (progressive aphasia). The four communication
> modalities are auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading and
> writing, and functional communication.

Aphasia is most commonly associated with stroke or dementia, and several [sub-types](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia#Classification) involve both speech production and verbal comprehension difficulties, while not necessarily affecting reading or writing abilities.

Other diagnoses are also possible, as [language disorders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_disorder) may consist of a combination of a variety of possible aspects of language ability, while not affecting others. For example, children with both receptive (comprehension) and expressive (speech) delays may be diagnosed with [specific language impairment (SLI)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_language_impairment):

> ... diagnosed when a child's language does not develop normally and
> the difficulties cannot be accounted for by generally slow
> development, physical abnormality of the speech apparatus, autism
> spectrum disorder, apraxia, acquired brain damage or hearing loss.

Though relatively rarely, it is possible for literacy to be largely unaffected by SLI.

Additionally, [comorbidity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comorbidity) is also possible, such as a combination of speech [agnosia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_verbal_agnosia) and [apraxia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apraxia_of_speech), and if other symptoms are present, then yet other diagnoses would apply, such as [autism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum), where again, it is possible for some language skills (such as verbal communication) to be impaired while others (such as literacy) are largely unaffected.

For a general overview of the field, see [speech and language impairment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_and_language_impairment) and [communication disorder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_disorder). A summary of technical terminology used to classify symptoms can be found [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_language_disorders).


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