Verbal / Speech Apraxia
What is Verbal Apraxia?
Verbal apraxia is an oral-motor speech disorder that interferes with a child's ability to correctly pronounce sounds, syllables and words. A child with verbal apraxia cannot consistently move his or her face, tongue, lips and jaw into the correct position to make speech sounds or produce syllables or words.
What are the Causes?
- Thought to be caused by an impairment in the brain
- Unlike other more common speech disorders, verbal apraxia is a medical problem that inhibits tongue, lip, or jaw function
What are the Symptoms?
Symptoms of verbal apraxia are usually observed between 18–30 months of age. They may include the following:
- Difficulty imitating mouth movements
- Use of vowel sounds, grunting, or single syllables for communication
- Limited ability to produce speech sounds
- Inconsistent speech-sound errors
- Groping for correct placement of the tongue, lips and jaw during speech
- Difficulty initiating voicing
- Abnormal resonance or voice quality
- Omission of words in sentences
- Atypical facial expressions or lack of variety in facial expressions
- History of feeding difficulties
- Limited expressive language skills despite good understanding of language
What to Expect from a Speech / Language Evaluation
The evaluation includes a case history, observations of play, formal speech and language testing and an oral-motor examination. A speech-language pathologist will assess the child's ability to imitate and spontaneously produce oral movements and speech sounds. Additional assessments, such as a hearing evaluation, may be recommended.
Treatment
Speech therapy will focus on helping the child learn to produce individual sounds and then combine those sounds in sequence. This treatment helps the brain form new connections to replace the impaired systems. Early diagnosis and treatment improves prognosis because the brain changes can occur more easily in younger children than in older children.
Developmental Speech Apraxia Resources
Related Web Sites
Cincinnati Children's recommends the following Web resources for more information about developmental speech apraxia.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
http://www.asha.org/
Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association
http://www.apraxia-kids.org/
The Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association provides information and support for parents whose children have been diagnosed with apraxia or dyspraxia of speech.
Why Cincinnati Children's?
As a national leader in pediatric speech pathology, Cincinnati Children's has a program for the treatment of verbal apraxia. This program is staffed by speech-language pathologists who have undergone specific specialty training. We welcome referrals from primary care providers and specialty physicians.
When to Call the Doctor
If your child's speech is a concern to you, contact the Speech Pathology Department at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 513-636-4341. Ask to speak to a speech pathologist on the Apraxia Team.
Rev. 10/07
