I have a disabled character (neurodivergence) who is non verbal - which are the most common disabilities that cause people to be non verbal? Autism is the only one I can find and I already have quite a few autistic characters and want to add more diversity in different types of neurodivergence. Ty!
Hello asker!
So, here's a couple of reasons people might be nonverbal, and I am including physical disabilities as well as neurodivergence.
Developmental Apraxia of Speech, also known as Childhood Apraxia of Speech or Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia, is when from birth the person has trouble planning to move the body parts required to speak (so like, lips, tongue, jaw, etc). It can improve with speech therapy in some
Apraxia of speech is the more general category for the above. This can be acquired, especially from strokes or traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
Dysarthria, which when total is referred to as anarthria, is when there's a neurological injury to the physical muscles that are needed to speak (again, lips, tongue, jaw, etc). Problems with swallowing are common too, since this has to do with muscle weakness rather than motor planning like apraxia of speech. This isn't a physical injury to the muscles, but rather to the brain part that controls them. It can be caused by genetic conditions, traumatic conditions (like strokes or TBIs), cerebral palsy, and more.
This means that generally speaking, conditions like Cerebral Palsy, Traumatic Brain Injury, and strokes can potentially cause a person to be nonverbal, whether due to the above reasons or others.
Intellectual Disability, whether it co-ocurrs with autism or not, can also cause difficulty speaking or an inability to speak. Intellectual disability is a condition that generally causes difficulties with things like reasoning, learning, and problem solving as well as adaptive functioning, which are skills used to navigate life – social, language, communication, practical, etc.
This isn't meant to be an exhaustive list, but generally they are not completely uncommon.
Here is another previous post we've answered, too!
Hope this helps!
– mod sparrow