What Is Apraxia of speech?
Apraxia is a motor disorder that affects a person’s ability to plan and coordinate the movements necessary to execute and initiate purposeful and automatic motor movement. One of the main areas that apraxia may affect is an individual’s ability to execute speech. It can affect all ages, with symptoms often emerging between 18-48 months, particularly in individuals with autism. Damage to the motor cortex compromises this region of the brain, although the causes of apraxia can vary. The motor cortex executes thoughts, language, and movement—from cognitive process to the motor task of speaking.
Types of Apraxia
Categories of apraxia affect speech’s fine motor, including ideomotor, ideational, and buccofacial apraxia. Ideomotor is common, impacting planned speech movements. Ideational disrupts complex task sequencing. Buccofacial hinders lip, tongue, and facial muscle coordination. Despite categorization, apraxia is a motor sequencing disorder with potential improvement through proper support.
Discovering Apraxia
The symptoms of apraxia can vary depending on the type and severity of the disorder. People with apraxia may have difficulty planning and coordinating speech movements, resulting in no, slow, unreliable, or minimal speech. Speech is a fine motor movement therefore is very particular and may be difficult when those muscles are needed to sequence automaticity. It takes around 100 muscles to speak one word. Because of the high motor demand that accompanies purposeful speech; you may see inconsistent speech errors, difficulty with the rhythm and timing of speech, unreliable speech, scripted speech, minimal speech or no speech.
Diagnosis of Apraxia
If you suspect apraxia, conduct a medical evaluation and speech assessment. Diagnostic criteria may include testing for articulation, phonation, and prosody. Apraxia of speech may coexist with Oculomotor and Orienting Apraxia in comprehensive testing conducted by specialists familiar with the diagnosis. For individuals with apraxia, it is advisable to conduct an ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) to understand the extent of their needs, as apraxia may be accompanied by other diagnoses.
Treatment of Apraxia
Experts often underestimate and confine the treatment of apraxia to typical speech therapy, which can enhance a person’s ability to plan and coordinate speech movements. However the body must be coached to engage in the muscles that you are expecting the apraxic individual to engage. People can use communication aids and assistive technology to support speech production. The world of Apraxia is introducing unique and innovative therapies to the community. Using methodologies that involve the gross motor skills there are communication outlets for Apraxic individuals that allow opportunities for education, employment and to have their overall needs met. Family education and support play a vital role; lifelong apraxia requires understanding and ongoing assistance to express thoughts and emotions appropriately. Building synchrony between the body and the brain will allow thoughts to access pathways of automaticity of speech production.
Prognosis and Outlook
The prognosis and long-term outlook for apraxia varies depending on the severity and type of apraxia. Early intervention and ongoing treatment can improve outcomes and help individuals with apraxia achieve their communication goals. Consider consulting trained Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and Speech Therapists for motor coaching, employing gross motor Spelling to Communicate methods.
Conclusion
In conclusion, apraxia is a complex motor speech disorder that can have a significant impact on a person’s ability to communicate. If you suspect apraxia, consult your healthcare provider for a proper diagnosis and relevant support. With early intervention for each individual according to their motor profiles; Spelling to Communicate Methodologies, motor coaching and ongoing support, individuals with apraxia can achieve their communication goals and improve their quality of life.
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