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The Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment of Apraxia

ommunication pla!s a "ital role in e"er!one#s li"es. $he purpose is for people to transfer information% e&press wants and needs% and social closeness. 'nfortunatel!% there are speech disorders which pre"ent us from these purposes. (an! of these disorders ha"e a known cause and a wa! to treat them. )pra&ia is a motor speech disorder which does not allow the indi"idual to speak correctl!% !et the! are aware it is wrong. $he picture abo"e shows where the speech areas lie% although with apra&ia% it is uncertain what part of the brain is affected. )n aid to this disorder relies hea"il! on speech language pathologists. $his document informs the reader about apra&ia% how it is caused% the effects it has and treatments techni*ues. Apraxia and Speech )lthough apra&ia classifies as a motor speech disorder% it is not due to muscle weakness or damage. $he problems lies within the brain and leads to difficult! mo"ing the bod! parts needed for speech% such as lips% jaw% and tongue. $he person affected knows the words the! want to sa!% but the brain has trouble arranging the muscle mo"ements needed to form them. $he se"erit! can range from mild to se"ere. In addition% it can affect people at an! age and has two t!pes+ ac*uired and de"elopmental. Acquired Apraxia of Speech )c*uired apra&ia of speech affects people of all ages+ especiall! in adults. ) person affected loses their e&isting speech abilities. It is caused b! damage to the brain where speech production is in"ol"ed. $he productions the! make can change e"er! time or be made up words. ,or e&ample% if the! tried to sa! the word -table%. it could be -wable. in one occurrence and -fable. the ne&t. /ot all ha"e to go to speech therap! to help their apra&ia go awa!+ it can go awa! on its own.

Causes of Acquired Apraxia $he disorder can result from the following: 0troke $umor 1ementia 2ead Injur! 3rogressi"e neurological disorders 4ther illness affecting the brain Symptoms of Acquired Apraxia 3eople who ac*uire apra&ia ma! displa! s!mptoms such as the following: inconsistent errors slow rate of speech difficult! imitating speech sounds groping when tr!ing to produce sounds in se"ere cases% an inabilit! to produce sound at all difficult! imitating non-speech mo"ements% such as sticking out their tongue Treatment for Acquired Apraxia )c*uired apra&ia is treatable% e"en when considered chronic% with different wa!s to approach it. 0ince the se"erit! of apra&ia "aries from person to person% the amount and t!pes of approaches to treat them are based on the indi"idual and their needs. $here are two different t!pes of treatments with approaches related to them+ articulator!-kinetic treatment and rate/rh!thm control treatment. In articulator!-kinetic treatment the focus relies on the sound and positioning or facial features. It includes modeling-repetition% motoric practice and articulator! cueing.

Articulatory-kinetic Treatment In articulator!-kinetic treatment the focus relies on the sound and positioning of facial features. $he picture shows what a t!pical therap! session looks like between client and clinician. It includes modeling-repetition% motoric practice and articulator! cueing. (odeling-repetition is one of the most commonl! used techni*ues. $he techni*ue in"ol"es watching% listening% and sa!ing it along with the speech language pathologist. $his helps the indi"idual identif! not onl! the sound but also the appearance. In motoric practice% repeating is the main component. $he indi"idual repeats o"er and o"er what the client instructs. $he outcome pro"ides impro"ed articulation. )rticulator! cueing incorporates the description of where the articulators 5tongue% lips% teeth6

should be placed% the ones to use and how to use them. linicians use this techni*ues for specific target words or sounds the! want to achie"e from the client. Rate/Rhythm Control Treatment $he other t!pe of treatment is rate/rh!thm control. $his in"ol"es slowing down the speed of speech and pronouncing each indi"idual s!llable in the word. $he two techni*ues used are metronomic pacing and metrical pacing. In metronomic pacing% the client speaks each s!llable at a slow rate. )s treatment continues% clinician slowl! reduces their in"ol"ement so client can do it on their own. (etrical pacing is similar to metronomic pacing% howe"er the rh!thm is controlled. $he client learns how to pace themsel"es to ensure the sound and mo"ement is correct. 7! using articulator!-kinetic and rate/rh!thm control treatments on a regular basis and in intensi"e therap!% ac*uired apra&ia can be cured. Developmental Apraxia of Speech 1e"elopmental apra&ia of speech occurs in children and is present from birth. $!picall!% it affects bo!s more than girls and sometimes is referred to as childhood apra&ia of speech. $he child continues to follow a -t!pical. speech de"elopment pattern% although it tends to de"elop at a slower rate than the norm. ) speech language pathologist conducts an e"aluation to determine if a child has apra&ia. $he e"aluation assesses rate of speech% de"elopmental milestones% and motor abilities. Causes for Developmental Apraxia $he cause is unknown for most cases but the problem t!picall! lies within the child#s brain. If the cause is known% it could be a result of: 7rain injur! 0troke 8enetic disorders or s!ndromes In addition% apra&ia does not simpl! -go awa!. in children. 2owe"er% with treatment% the child can make progress. 9"en though there is no cure% speech therap! will allow for significant impro"ement. Symptoms of Developmental Apraxia /ot e"er! child with apra&ia is the same or has e"er! s!mptom listed. In addition% getting a child e"aluated b! a speech language pathologist who knows about apra&ia is important. 0!mptoms to look for include the following: 3roblems eating ,irst words late or missing /o cooing or babbling as an infant ,ew different consonant and "owel sounds 1ifficult! combining sounds+ ma! ha"e long pauses between sounds 0implif!ing words b! replacing difficult sounds with easier ones 5although seen in all children% child with apra&ia does it more6 Treatment for Developmental Apraxia 1e"elopmental )pra&ia cannot go awa! on its own. It has no cure+ the onl! wa! ad"ancements can be made is through intensi"e speech therap!. $he more therap! an indi"idual recei"es% the more success the! will ha"e. $he focus is on impro"ing the skills that are needed for muscle mo"ement. ,or e&ample% the speech language pathologist will instruct an indi"idual how to make the mo"ements and then encourage them to practice it in a mirror when the! are home. 1epending on the se"erit!% some ma! learn sign language or learn to use an augmentati"e and alternati"e communication s!stem 5)) 6. )) boards can be electronic or non-electronic. $hese de"ices ha"e s!mbols that are used to

communicate speech as either a supplement or an alternati"e for an indi"iduals "oice. Conclusion 'nfortunatel!% there is not much research being done on apra&ia. )lthough% the work that is being done is tr!ing to find a definite cause and effecti"e treatments. 1ue to lack of research% it is not known how man! people are affected b! apra&ia. 2owe"er% while more needs to be known to get a better% o"erall understanding of apra&ia% the information has helped. 0peech therap! impro"es their speech and aims to make them feel confident to communicate.

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