Speech and Voice Disorder Links

Here you will find links to speech and disorder samples from YouTube, C-Span, and Entusa.com. For a discussion of the various types and categories of disorders, please visit our main Speech and Voice Disorders page. We hope these examples are useful not just to those of you studying speech pathology and those of you who are experiencing these conditions, but also to actors playing characters who exhibit symptoms of these disorders.

Speech Disorders from Birth

Cleft Palate: Visuals show the palate of this 5-year-old girl pre- and post-surgery; the audio is more useful. This is a classic example of distorted consonants and resonance because she’s unable to close velopharyngeal port effectively. Note the simultaneous glottal stop added to many plosive sounds, a compensatory pattern that can lead to hoarseness, nodules, etc., over time.
Lisp: The subject is a 9-year-old boy in therapy. The tongue is slipping forward, between teeth, and slightly to his left (R side of screen) on both s and z.
Mild Stuttering or Stammering: Leys Geddes, a 62-year-old man, comments on A King's Speech. Initial sounds are hesitant or prolonged, not repeated.
Stuttering or Stammering: Jody Fuller, a male comedian in his 30s, offers many video samples of stuttering. Most symptoms are sound, syllable, and phrase repetitions.

Acquired Neurological Disorders

Ataxic Dysarthria (from cerebellar stroke): A woman named Alice, in her 60s, gives this speech a year after her stroke. She was receiving speech therapy at the time. Speech distortions are not consistent. Coordination and timing of movements are impaired: Speech and gestures are imprecise, rushed at times, and arhythmic. Mental processing is intact.
Ataxic Dysarthria (from cerebellar stroke): The same woman as above gives another speech two years after her stroke. She has improved since the previous clip but still shows some problems.
Ataxic Dysarthria (Friedreich’s Ataxia): Kyle Bryant, a man in his 30s, shows mild discoordination of speech and movement.
Ataxic Dysarthria (Friedreich’s Ataxia): The same man as above shows more severe symptoms.
Dysarthria and probable Aphasia (from stroke): Senator Tim Johnson, in his 60s, starts speaking at the 38-minute mark of this video. He speaks for about 12 minutes. He exhibits droopy face on on the right side. Some phonemes are distorted or imprecise, and some syllables disappear. Spontaneous conversation would be worse than this written/rehearsed speech.
Intermittent Dysarthria: Cheryl, a woman in her 50s, acquired this disorder through brain damage attributed to a reaction to prescription medication. She talks about the problem and its fluctuations, and shows insight and coping strategies. Impairment is inconsistent.
Intermittent Dysarthria: The same woman as above shows more severe symptoms than in the prior clip. She struggles to talk and shows involuntary face, neck, and arm spasms.
Spastic Dysarthria (caused by unspecified brain lesion): A man in his 20s shows moderate-to-severe muscle impairment. In this type of dysarthria, distortions of each phoneme are consistent.

Voice Disorders

Spasmodic Dysphonia (mild to moderate): This is Senator Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has undergone no known medical treatment, therapy, or training.
Spasmodic Dysphonia (mild to moderate): Again, this is Senator Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a television interview.
Spasmodic Dysphonia: This and the links below are all short clips (audio and laryngeal videos). Text: “This is how my voice box sounds. Please do not smoke.”
Vocal Cord Nodules: Subject is a 5-year-old child.
Vocal Cord Nodules (small): Subject is a 34-year-old woman.
Vocal Cord Nodules (large): Subject is a 50-year -old man.
Vocal Cord Nodules: Subject is a 35-year-old woman and former smoker.
Vocal Cord Polyps (bilateral): Subject is a 44-year-old woman.
Vocal Cord Polyps (bilateral): Subject is a 47-year-old woman.
Vocal Cord Polyps (bilateral): Subject is a 72-year-old woman.
Vocal Cord Polyp (large, on one side): Subject is a 66-year-old woman.
Vocal Cord Polyp (large, on one side): Subject is a 63-year-old woman.
Vocal Paralysis (partial, from lung cancer): Subject is a 44-year-old woman.
Vocal Cord Paralysis (bilateral): Subject is a 51-year-old woman with abductor muscle paralysis.
Vocal Cord Paralysis (bilateral): Subject is a 73-year-old woman with abductor muscle paralysis. This subject has a good voice with a poor airway.