Voice disorders are medical conditions involving abnormal pitch, loudness or quality of the sound produced by the larynx and thereby affecting speech production. It could be related to the misuse or overuse of the voice box.
The most common voice disorder in children is the result of “phonotrauma” or voice misuse such as yelling or making loud sounds while playing, throat clearing, and / or excessive coughing. These voice behaviours cause the vocal folds to close tightly against each other, causing blister-like bruises. These bruised areas can harden into bumps called vocal nodules. Some of the signs and symptoms of voice disorder are hoarseness, breathy voice, strain, recent loss of voice, pitch /volume that is too loud or too soft.
Resonance disorders are characterized by a difference in airflow through the nose and mouth. This may include hypernasality (excessive emission of air through the nose) or hyponasality (a lack of appropriate air through the nose) which sounds like someone experiencing nasal congestion. For example, children born with a cleft lip / palate may have velopharyngeal insufficiency resulting in hypernasality.
