Apraxia of Speech is a motor disorder where the neurodivergent person has difficulty planning and coordinating movements necessary for speech. The person knows what they want to say but cannot get their body to produce the sounds in the correct order. Essentially, the message gets jumbled on its way to the mouth causing the words to be said incorrectly.
Apraxia may be present at birth and diagnosed as Childhood Apraxia of Speech or acquired later in life after a traumatic brain injury, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s, brain tumors or other neurological conditions and diagnosed as Acquired Apraxia of Speech.
Symptoms
Speech Apraxia is characterized by:
- Making incorrect sounds when speaking
- Saying the word differently every time
- Putting stress on the wrong syllable or word
- Saying shorter words more clearly than longer words
Treatment
A Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) will diagnose and treat a person with Apraxia of Speech. Treatment usually occurs multiple times per week at first and decreases over time. At some points in therapy individual sessions are needed while other times group therapy may be more appropriate.
Treatment is focused on helping the person communicate, that does not necessarily mean spoken language. For younger children treatment may start by teaching sign language, using icon communication, or an augmentative and alternative communication device (AAC). These alternative communication methods support the neurodivergent child’s mental health by allowing them to feel heard and also help the development of spoken language down the road.
Once effective communication is achieved many SLP’s will work to help the person say sounds, words and sentences more clearly. They teach ways to plan the movements and help the person make the movements at the correct time through repeated exercises. They may use touch cues like putting a finger on their lips when saying the “p” sound, or visual cues like looking in a mirror as they speak, or listening cues by practicing sounds on a recorder then replaying them.
Apraxia vs. Dyspraxia
Many families mix up the terms Apraxia and Dyspraxia. While there is some disagreement about these terms within the medical community, generally within the disability community Apraxia refers to speech and Dyspraxia refers to gross and fine motor planning. A neurodivergent person with Dyspraxia may struggle to kick a ball or zip a jacket. Some individuals experience both Apraxia and Dyspraxia, while others only have one or the other.