Verbality

**Verbality** is an essential tool used for vocal communication by the human population. It varies in separate languages and can be determined based off of one's gender, age, place of origin (accent), physical/psychological/physico-psychological states, education or experience, etc. Verbality is oftentimes used for social or emotional conversations, alerts, etc.

## Evolution

The evolution of verbality first began during the evolution of humans as apes and monkeys. Unlike modern speech, apes and monkeys communicated through calls and sounds; frequently found in many wild animals, and did not use their tongues. The human species' unprecedented use of the tongue, lips and other moveable parts seems to place speech in a quite separate category, making its evolutionary emergence an intriguing theoretical challenge in the eyes of many scholars. However, as ancient humans developed into cavemen, they eventually came closer to the concept of language. By ancient Mesopotamia is when languages and modernized speech began to officially rise. Determining the timeline of human speech evolution is made additionally challenging by the lack of data in the fossil record. The human vocal tract does not fossilize, and indirect evidence of vocal tract changes in hominid fossils has proven inconclusive.

## Verbality variants

### Verbal

A very common variant within verbality is simply the verbal variant. This means oneself has the ability to speak or use words to communicate. Although autists and other neurodivergents can be verbal as well, it is oftentimes more seen in allists or neurotypicals.

An example of verbal communication would be: "Sally sells seashells by the seashore."

### Semi-verbal

Being semi-verbal is a less common variant, possibly being the rarest of all three.[citation needed] This means oneself has a lesser ability to speak or use words to communicate. It is more seen in autists and other neurodivergents, and oftentimes develops into verbality overtime. Other times, however, semi-verbality can be permanent and be life-long.

An example of semi-verbal communication would be: "**(Just so that I don't do this incorrectly, can someone do this part? Don't want to misrep anyone)**."

### Non-verbal

Non-verbality is an extremely common verbality variant within neurodiversity. This means oneself has no ability to speak or use words to communicate, oftentimes using sounds or vocalized stims instead. It is more seen in autists and other neurodivergents, and rarely develops into verbality overtime. More frequently, however, non-verbality can be permanent and be life-long.

An example of non-verbal communication would be sign language, such as using fingerspelling for "Sally" (S-A-L-L-Y) in "Sally sells seashells by the seashore."

## Causes to speech difficulties

DisclaimerThis article or section requires more medical citations. Please use valid medical clinics and companies like Mayo Clinic or ASAN and avoid Autism Speaks. You can find more information here.
There are several organic and psychological factors that can affect speech. Among these are:

1. Diseases and disorders of the lungs or the vocal cords, including paralysis, respiratory infections (bronchitis), vocal fold nodules and cancers of the lungs and throat.
2. Diseases and disorders of the brain, including alogia, aphasias, dysarthria, dystonia and speech processing disorders, where impaired motor planning, nerve transmission, phonological processing or perception of the message (as opposed to the actual sound) leads to poor speech production.
3. Hearing problems, such as otitis media with effusion, and listening problems, auditory processing disorders, can lead to phonological problems. In addition to dysphasia, anomia and auditory processing disorder impede the quality of auditory perception, and therefore, expression. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing may be considered to fall into this category.
4. Articulatory problems, such as slurred speech, stuttering, lisping, cleft palate, ataxia, or nerve damage leading to problems in articulation. Tourette syndrome and tics can also affect speech. Various congenital and acquired tongue diseases can affect speech as can motor neuron disease.
5. Psychiatric disorders have been shown to change speech acoustic features, where for instance, fundamental frequency of voice (perceived as pitch) tends to be significantly lower in major depressive disorder than in healthy controls. Therefore, speech is being investigated as a potential biomarker for mental health disorders.

Speech and language disorders can also result from stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, or emotional issues.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Speech. *Wikipedia*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fitch, W. Tecumseh (July 2000). "The evolution of speech: a comparative review". *Trends in Cognitive Sciences*.
3. ↑ Low DM, Bentley KH, Ghosh, SS (2020). "Automated assessment of psychiatric disorders using speech: A systematic review". *Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology*.
4. ↑ Richards, Emma (June 2012). "Communication and swallowing problems after stroke". *Nursing and Residential Care*.
5. ↑ Zasler, Nathan D.; Katz, Douglas I.; Zafonte, Ross D.; Arciniegas, David B.; Bullock, M. Ross; Kreutzer, Jeffrey S., eds. (2013). *Brain injury medicine principles and practice* (2nd ed.). New York: Demos Medical.
6. ↑ Ching, Teresa Y. C. (2015). "Is early intervention effective in improving spoken language outcomes of children with congenital hearing loss?". *American Journal of Audiology*.
7. ↑ The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. "Developmental Delay: An Information Guide for Parents". *The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne*. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
8. ↑ Bauman-Waengler, Jacqueline (2011). *Articulatory and phonological impairments: a clinical focus* (4th ed., International ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education.
9. ↑ "Speech and Language Therapy". *CerebralPalsy.org*. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
10. ↑ Cross, Melanie (2011). *Children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and communication problems: there is always a reason* (2nd ed.). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.