Central Delaware Speech-Language Pathology Center (CDSLP)

Apraxia and Your Child

Apraxia of Speech is a disorder that affects planning of movement in the tongue, lips, jaw and palate, all of which are key in spoken language. Causes of the disorder are not yet fully understood. What is known is that children with Apraxia have great difficulty planning the series of motor events needed to produce words and connected speech.

Have you ever thought about all the steps it takes to form just a “single” sentence? It all starts with intention to communicate. Next, an idea forms outlining what you want to say. The words for the desired message are put in the correct order, using the correct grammar.  Each of the words is comprised of a specific sequence of sounds (also called phonemes) and syllables that must be ordered together.  All of this information is translated from an idea, and then information about the order of sounds is translated into a series of highly coordinated motor movements of the lips, tongue, jaw, and soft palate.

The brain than tells the muscles of these “articulators” the exact order and timing of movement so that the words in our message are properly expressed.  At last we get to speak what has been on our minds. In order for that to happen successfully, all of the muscles and parts coordinate together to produce fluent speech.

As children we would make word attempts and get feedback from others and from our own internal systems regarding how “well” the words were spoken. We then took that knowledge and used it the next time we wanted to attempt the same words to essentially “learn from experience.”  As syllables and words were spoken repeatedly, these motor patters become automatic.

Children with Apraxia have difficulty with this process. They may not have the ability to form or access speech motor plans. Apraxia therapy focuses on improving the motor planning and sequencing of speech and involves LOTS of practice.  Apraxia is not easy to overcome, but gains made can be very rewarding.