Apraxia

By: Rana Muhammad Luqman Khan

 What Is Apraxia?

Apraxia is an effect of neurological disease. It makes people

unable to carry out everyday movements and gestures.
For example, a person with apraxia may be unable to tie their
shoelaces or button up a shirt. People with apraxia of speech
find it challenging to talk and express themselves through
speech.
 Causes of Apraxia
Apraxia happens when certain regions of the cerebral
hemispheres in the brain do not work properly.
This dysfunction may occur if a lesion in the brain forms across
the neural pathways that store memories of learned movements.
A person with apraxia may be unable to access this information.
Apraxia can happen due to a head injury or disease that affects
the brain, such as:
• a stroke
• head trauma
• dementia
• tumors
• corticobasal ganglionic degeneration
Apraxia is more common in older adults due to the higher
incidence of neurological diseases, such as stroke and dementia,
among this population. If people have apraxia due to swelling
from a stroke, it might improve within a few weeks.

Apraxia can also be a genetic disorder. If an infant has apraxia at

birth, it may be due to problems involving the central nervous
system.
 Symptoms of Apraxia

The main symptom of apraxia is an inability to carry out simple

movements, even though a person with apraxia has full use of
their body and understands commands to move.
People with apraxia may find it difficult to control or coordinate
movements voluntarily. These individuals may also have brain
damage that causes aphasia, a language impairment that
reduces the ability to understand or use words correctly.
 Types Of Apraxia
Different types of apraxia affect the body in slightly different ways:

Limb-kinetic apraxia
People with limb-kinetic apraxia are unable to use a finger, arm,
or leg to make precise and coordinated movements. Although
people with limb-kinetic apraxia may understand how to use a
tool, such as a screwdriver, and may have used it in the past,
they are now unable to carry out the same movement.

Ideomotor apraxia
People with ideomotor apraxia are unable to follow a verbal
command to copy the movements of others or follow suggestions
for movements.
Conceptual apraxia
This form of apraxia is similar to ideomotor apraxia. People with
conceptual apraxia are also unable to perform tasks that involve
more than one step.

Ideational apraxia
People with ideational apraxia are unable to plan a particular
movement. They may find it hard to follow a sequence of
movements, such as getting dressed or bathing.

Buccofacial apraxia
People with buccofacial apraxia, or facial-oral apraxia, are
unable to make movements with the face and lips on command.
Constructional apraxia:
People with constructional apraxia are unable to copy, draw, or
construct basic diagrams or figures.

Oculomotor apraxia:
Oculomotor apraxia affects the eyes. People with this type of
apraxia have difficulty making eye movements on command.

Verbal apraxia:
People with verbal or oral apraxia find it challenging to make the
movements necessary for speech. They may have problems
producing sounds and understanding rhythms of speech.
 Diagnosis and Tests
To diagnose apraxia, a doctor will look at a person’s full medical
history and consider all of their symptoms to identify any
underlying causes. They may also be looking to rule out similar
conditions, such as motor weakness, aphasia, or dyspraxia.
A doctor may carry out a variety of tests to assess:
• verbal and nonverbal communication
• how people participate and function in certain activities
• coordination
• hearing and listening abilities
Tests may include both physical tests to measure motor
coordination skills and language tests to check the ability to
understand commands.
 Treatment
If people have apraxia due to an underlying health condition,
they will receive treatment for the condition that is causing
apraxia.
Physical and occupational therapy may help improve symptoms.
These therapies might include:
• developing sounds through repetition and practicing
accompanying movements
• working on speech rhythms using a metronome or finger
clicking
• learning to use pen and paper or a computer to express
themselves
Regular one-to-one sessions with a speech therapist can help
people improve the symptoms of apraxia of speech. Techniques
may include:
• learning how to move the mouth muscles to make certain
sounds
• learning sign language, for those who have severe difficulty
with speech
• using all of the senses to help with speech, for example,
listening to recorded sounds and using a mirror to see how the
mouth is making sounds
 Apraxia Vs. Aphasia Vs.
Dysprsaxia
The symptoms of apraxia can be similar to those of two other
conditions called aphasia and dyspraxia.
Aphasia usually results from damage to part of the brain called
the cerebral cortex. Specific parts of the cerebral cortex called
Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area are responsible for
understanding and producing language.
People with aphasia may have difficulty:
• finding the right words to express themselves
• reading and writing sentences
• understanding words and grammar
Dyspraxia is a mild form of apraxia that people sometimes refer
to as developmental coordination disorder. It reduces a person’s
ability to do some physical movements, and it may also affect
speech.
People with dyspraxia may have the following symptoms:
• difficulty with balance
• clumsiness
• vision problems
• emotional or behavioral difficulties
• problems with social skills
• difficulty reading, writing, and speaking
• memory problems
 Management

Children or adults with apraxia will need to manage the disorder

throughout their life.
Special education programs and physical, speech, and
occupational therapy can all help people learn to live more easily
with apraxia.
People with severe forms of apraxia may not be able to live
independently and may require assistance from others to carry
out everyday tasks.
Thank You