A child who has weakness of the tongue, jaw, or face may be diagnosed with which disorder?

A child exhibiting weakness of the tongue, jaw, or face may be diagnosed with dysarthria. This speech disorder is characterized by difficulty in articulating words due to muscle weakness that impacts the way the child controls their speech mechanisms. When there is a lack of strength in the muscles used for speech, it can lead to slurred or unclear speech, which is a hallmark of dysarthria.

Dysarthria can arise from various underlying causes, such as neurological conditions or developmental issues, and its symptoms directly relate to the physiological limitations of the speech production system. This is distinct from other speech and language disorders; for example, dyslexia primarily involves reading and language processing issues, while a speech sound disorder involves difficulties in pronunciation without the muscular weakness seen in dysarthria. Apraxia, on the other hand, involves difficulty in planning and coordinating the movements necessary for speech, which is not necessarily associated with muscle strength. Thus, the specific symptoms of muscle weakness point clearly to dysarthria as the correct diagnosis in this scenario.