Voice and speech are the basis of interpersonal communication. It is also a tool for many professional groups. Voice efficiency and quality reflect human health problems, both, in the somatic and mental aspect. Psychogenic voice disorders are referred to as Phononeurosis (1). The causes of voice quality disorders include: professional problems, frequent conflicts in social relationships, especially family relationships, and permanent anxiety. There are several classifications presenting psychogenic-related voice quality disorders (1-3).

In the classification of speech disorders, Styczek distinguished intrinsic speech disorders (also called endogenous). The group of these disorders includes: speech neuroses (logoneuroses), and also: stuttering, mutism, dysphonia, aphonia, disturbances in strength, modulation and pitch, as well as disturbances in speech rate (1, 4).

Zalewski includes mutism and aphonia to the group of speech neuroses, similarly to Styczek, he adds, among others, fear of speaking – logophobia, logosthenia (reduced speaking competence), hysterical speech disorders (the main form of these disorders is logorea) (1, 5).

On the other hand, Czernikiewicz and Woźniak include schizophasia, some forms of stuttering, logoneurosis and speech disorders accompanying the autism spectrum among psychogenic voice disorders (1, 4, 5).

In 1943, Leo Kanner described autism as a pervasive development disorder of a child appearing approximately at 30 months of age (1, 4, 5).

Speech and communication disorders are one of the most characteristic symptoms of autism. Linguistic development is delayed and problems with the use of acquired skills in order to communicate with other people (5-8).

The etiology of ASD – Autism Spectrum Disorder – is not clearly defined. There is no evidence that a particular factor, gene, or specific brain change causes autism. This is due to the fact that the occurrence of autism is correlated with the presence of other disorders, which makes the formulation of an unambiguous thesis difficult (5, 9, 10).

The first symptoms of autism may be observed in early infancy, where the child manifests an aversion to physical contact with the parents and eye contact is limited or absent. Many children struggling with autism acquire developmental skills such as crawling, walking or speech at the same time as their peers, however, in a large percentage of children with autism, speech is delayed to a varying degree or we observe its regression (10, 11).

Characteristic for persons with autism are stereotypical movements in 3 areas: hands, whole body as well as posture and gait. Hand movement stereotypes are represented by waving hands, clapping, and constantly rotating objects. Movement stereotypes within the body are manifested by swaying, spinning around its axis, forward and backward bending. Gait and posture stereotypes are represented by tiptoeing or frequent jumping. Patients often show fixation on objects or sequences of movements, e.g. on constantly turning off and on the light. Various types of sensory integration disorders are often observed in children with ASD (5, 11).

Characteristic features of speech of children with autism include delay of its development in relation to their peers or, in extreme cases, a complete lack of speech development. Children who speak have difficulty initiating or continuing a conversation. Speech is stereotypical, characterized by numerous repetitions of the same words or phrases. Speech intensity, intonation, pace, rhythm and accent disturbances may also occur (9-11).

Stuttering (alalia syllabaris) is a disorder commonly observed in world population that affects all cultural, religious and socio-economic groups. Disorder of fluency in the form of stuttering is a complex phenomenon, it has a multifaceted etiology and varied symptomatology. The first symptoms of stuttering are noticeable in early childhood, they occur in the period of intensive speech development between 2 and 4 years old. Some patients develop stuttering gradually and progressively, while others – suddenly. Scientific research (1) shows that 1% of the general population stutters, in the early school age there is one girl for 3 boys who stutter, and at approximately 10 years of age this ratio changes and there is 1 girl for every 6 boys who stutter. The above studies show that male gender is a factor that increases the risk of stuttering. Physiological factors, environmental factors, linguistic factors related to speech and language, and psychological factors inducing stuttering have also been identified. Among the physiological factors, we may distinguish:

– genetic predispositions,

– neurological factors in the form of structural and functional differences in the brain in adults who stutter,

– male gender,

– differences in motor skills related to the production of speech.

Linguistic factors:

– delayed speech development or above-average language skills,

– inharmonious development of speech.

Environmental factors:

– family relationships, especially in the parent-child aspect,

– great anxiety of the parent,

– negative reactions from the environment, especially from the peer group.

Psychological factors:

• child temperament (more active, impulsive, less flexible, more reactive, sensitive, withdrawn, introverted, fearful, shy),

• awareness of the problem in the child. The child sees that he has a problem with speaking, which creates a lack of acceptance by his peers. The patient feels insecure when speaking, becomes stressed, which intensifies the stuttering (2, 8, 12).

Szamburski points that a strong positive or traumatic event in the patient’s life may be a factor that triggers stuttering in the presence of other factors that predispose to this disorder (2, 8).

Alalia syllabaris, or stuttering, is a disorder of fluency of speech characterized by frequent repetitions or extensions of words, syllables and sounds. Patients also struggle with pauses that disrupt the rhythmic flow of speech, bradillalia (slow speaking) and tachylalia (fast speaking). The main cause of stuttering is excessive tension in the respiratory, articulation and phonation muscles. There are 3 types of stuttering: clonic, tonic and clonic-tonic. The main disturbances include the pace of speech, duration of sounds, rhythm and melody of speech (1, 8, 13, 14).

The psychogenic aspect is of great importance in the etiology of stuttering, the severity of the disorder and in speech therapy (8).