Final answer:
Functional aphonia is a voice disorder characterized by an inability to produce audible speech despite having intact vocal cords. The voice may be extremely faint, whispery, or completely absent. This condition is caused by psychological factors or trauma.
Step-by-step explanation:
Functional aphonia, a type of voice disorder, is characterized by an inability to speak or produce normal voice sounds without any organic or physical reason. In other words, individuals with functional aphonia can't produce any audible sound despite having intact vocal cords and other structures involved in speech production.
When someone has functional aphonia, their voice may be extremely faint, whispery, or completely absent. It may sound as if they are trying to speak, but no sound is being produced. This condition is usually caused by psychological factors or trauma rather than a physical problem.
For example, a person experiencing functional aphonia may be able to cough, laugh, or make other non-vocal sounds normally, but they are unable to produce vocalized speech. It is important to note that functional aphonia is a rare condition and should be diagnosed and treated by a speech-language pathologist or other healthcare professional.