Can somebody tell me what part of the brain affects speech?

Post Reply New Topic

Interesting, that area showed unusual activity on another brain scan I had.

My EEG was abnormally slow in the area where the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes meet, which is another area that handles some aspects of both speech and comprehension. (Causing speech that can sometimes sound superficially fluent but often uses the wrong words/phrases altogether, and often severe comprehension problems. In adults that is, who have that area injured. Mine was presumably different developmentally, and not completely damaged, causing a similar but not identical pattern once I learned to speak at all (which started with echolalia while severely impaired in comprehension). I have a similar but not as impaired problem with writing, presumably since I'm hyperlexic and found it easier than speech (still not easy) -- usually it's the exact reverse with language problems because most people learn speech before writing. Something being different developmentally is not equivalent to adult damage in the same area, but can have similarities.)

I found this a while ago when I was looking for how Autistic Disorder manifests in adults:

Young adulthood--13 to 18 seems to be when it can come back in full force. I was about 15 when I suddenly started to go downhill in regards to social behaviour (more aloof than passive/formal as I was from 7-14), as well as becoming more overwhelmed with the environment and the desire for more routine and order. I seemed to hit the ceiling of severity at 20 or so, and I've stayed the same till now (27).

I definitely had a lot of autistic traits abruptly start getting more obvious ("worse" is a value judgment I'm not fully comfortable with in this context, because it made some things worse and some better at once) around the age of 11-12 (when my period started, i.e. around the real start of puberty), and then slowly getting more and more prominent (more and more often trouble speaking, more and more often trouble hiding stims, more and more overload, etc.) throughout adolescence and continuing into adulthood so far. Although again, some things have actually gotten better during this time as well (but those could also be related to autistic traits that are fairly positive in nature, also becoming more prominent).

Where did you get that reference? I have found a number of studies showing more and more trouble during adolescence with certain things (among something varying from around... something like 17%-36% but don't quote me on those percentages), but have not seen that exact quote before. That is nearly exactly how things happened for me, at least as a professional would view me (which of course leaves out a lot of internal experience).

Autistic Disorder

It's near the bottom. I looked up the reference they cite from Wing a while ago too, and it's valid (it doesn't offer much more than what's written above in the textbook); it seemed to fit in with how I started going downhill, and my mother thought the same too, so I kept it in memory.

From what I've read, Asperger's doesn't really follow this pattern, other than having more difficulty in actually making friends in the adolescent years, but not a pervasive change in behaviour like Autism seems to go through.

Wow thanks all of you! I do notice my eye sight becoming more blurry, and begin to forget things more, and yes my motor of course sucks. Wow i guess i already am causing brain damage, my head is full of bumps, bruises, scars, marks. Last night i had a huge headbanging fit due to so many things going wrong and i hate class, and i ended up getting sick and throwing up all my lunch and dinner from that night. My mother thinks its due to my headbanging who knows. I know I gotta stop soon, i'm killing myself inside, i get dizzy on the computer now, i feel like about to sieze if im on too long.

Anbuend, thanks for the tips, and now that i know i can cause demetia, it may also stop me too, i dont want that at all.

yes, broca's area has to do with the mechanical ability to speak... wernick's area has to do with understanding written and verbal language.

double post ftl

Last edited by Sedaka on 16 Sep 2008, 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Actually, ALL of the brain affects speech to some degree! I mean you can get nervous, and start stuttering, or decide to stop, etc.... Everyone else is talking about what effects speech.

So are you. Wernick's area is independent of these things.

When you feel the urge to bang your head, can you substitute banging it against a pillow instead of a hard surface?

nah i like the hard surface, the deep pressure and contact feels great, feels satisfying. I do headbang against my bed, and pillow, but usually when im happy

1st things first, stop banging your head on the wall. Im sure you can find other things to do to occupy your time.