Speech disorders affect a person’s ability to communicate with others in the way that may be “expected”, especially in an emergency. There are a variety of disorders and conditions that affect speech in people of all ages. Autism Spectrum Disorders and Speech A person with autism may be “nonverbal”, and communicate verbally at all, and use other systems to communicate, like speech generation devices, text, or pictorial cards—others with autism may experience communication challenges in unfamiliar or stressful situations. Nonverbal autism as well as being unable or having difficulty communicating in an emergency may persist into adul