Apraxia of speech, also known as verbal apraxia or childhood apraxia of speech, is a motor speech disorder. It is characterized by inconsistent errors in articulation and prosody, that is, the rhythm and intonation of speech.
Because the brain has difficulty planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech, this causes errors in pronunciation known as dysarthria. It also affects language abilities (aphasia), as well as other non-verbal functions such as swallowing and writing. A person with apraxia of speech often knows what he/she wants to say but has difficulty getting the muscles in his/her face and mouth to cooperate to say those words. Speech sounds may be distorted or omitted entirely, or they may sound garbled.
Apraxia of speech, also known as verbal apraxia or developmental apraxia of speech, is a neurological disorder, which directly impacts a person’s ability to produce speech. Children with the disorder know what they want to say but their brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words. This is a motor planning problem rather than a weakness or paralysis of the muscles used for speech.
Apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder. People with apraxia of speech have problems saying what they want to say correctly and consistently. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is most often diagnosed in children under age 5. Adult apraxia of speech (AOS) can occur in people at any age.
Apraxia is a motor speech disorder caused by damage to the parts of the brain related to speaking. This type of damage could be caused by stroke, traumatic brain injury, or other conditions such as dementia.
The term ‘apraxia of speech’ (AOS) refers to a motor speech disorder, which means that it is a problem with the movements used to produce speech. This is the most complex thing we do, and we do it all the time. When you have AOS, your brain knows what you want to say but has difficulty translating these words into the movements needed to produce them. It can be challenging to pinpoint apraxia of speech in adults because there are so many possible causes for this condition.
What does apraxia of speech sound like? People with apraxia may have trouble saying one or more sounds, syllables or words, although they might know what they want to say. They may also have problems making their mouth and tongue move in a coordinated way that is necessary for producing words. Apraxia may occur on its own or as part of another condition such as aphasia or stroke. You might also hear people refer to apraxia as acquired apraxia of speech or childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).
The main symptoms are difficulty producing sounds, syllables, and words. An individual with AOS knows what he or she wants to say but has difficulty saying it correctly because the brain has trouble coordinating the muscle movements necessary for speech production. A person may substitute one sound for another (e.g., say “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”), omit sounds, add sounds or stress the wrong syllables in words.
Apraxia of speech can affect anyone, but it is most often seen in children who have had brain damage, such as a stroke or traumatic brain injury. It can also be a symptom of certain neurological, degenerative diseases such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and Parkinson’s disease.
Apraxia of speech (AOS)—also called verbal apraxia or childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) when diagnosed in children—is a speech sound disorder. A person with apraxia of speech knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.
The severity and type of apraxia vary from person to person. Some people have mild trouble saying only a few sounds, while others may have significant difficulty saying many sounds, syllables, and words. In extreme cases, people with apraxia may be unable to speak at all.