When a child or adult has problems with their speech, there could be any number of issues that need to be dealt with. One of these speech disorders is apraxia of speech. While apraxia is a condition that affects both children and adults, childhood apraxia (CAS) becomes apparent when a child is learning to converse and shows significant problems expressing his or her thoughts. Acquired apraxia in adults is the result of a brain injury or an illness that negatively affects the brain. Both types of apraxia are detrimental to speech because both are disorders that leave people with the inability to articulate their thoughts. Those who suffer from apraxia have no difficulty creating thoughts and understanding what others have to say; they simply lack the motor function necessary to turn their thoughts into words.

Speech delay is another disorder that makes communication difficult. Much like apraxia, a person who suffers from speech delay has a difficult time forming words. Unlike apraxia, those who suffer from speech delay are unable to speak because they have not yet formed the ability to turn their speech into intelligible sounds. They may in fact understand speech with no problem, but when they attempt to use their speech it comes out sounding like unintelligible sounds rather than actual words.

Apraxia differs from speech delay because apraxia is something that a person can be born with or can acquire. Speech delay is found only in children, not adults. Adults cannot develop speech delay later in life. Children who suffer from apraxia will need extensive speech and language therapy to help overcome their speech disorder and learn the motor skills necessary to formulate speech. While those who suffer from speech delay may also need speech and language therapy, many are also given hearing tests to determine whether or not their speech delay is a product of hearing problems. Others will learn to develop their speech through occupational and/or physical therapy, which is used to help those with other health problems, such as autism and other developmental issues.

Apraxia of speech is a disorder that affects a person’s ability to formulate words. A person with apraxia of speech is fully capable of understanding speech and of working out speech in their minds, but they are unable to translate their thoughts and understanding into words due to apraxia of speech. It is difficult for a person to turn thoughts into words because the disorder affects their ability to create voluntary movement of their vocal abilities.

Apraxia of speech can be categorized in two different ways. The first form of apraxia of speech is acquired. This happens because of an accident that affects the brain, causing injury or illness that breaks down the ability of a person to connect their thoughts into conscious movements. The second form of apraxia of speech is childhood apraxia. Childhood apraxia occurs when a child is learning their basic motor functions and is unable to form their thoughts into words during the process of learning language.

Dyspraxia is similar to apraxia in that it affects a person’s motor skills and their ability to develop them properly. However, a person with dyspraxia has problems with a number of motor skills, even ones as simple as waving hello. People with dyspraxia have trouble communicating, but it is not because they are unable, it is because they have difficulty comprehending words and materials. Therefore, they have a trouble communicating their thoughts.

Both apraxia and dyspraxia can be treated. The outcome of the treatment provided depends entirely on the patient being treated. Those with acquired apraxia may recover their ability to speak at any time. Those with childhood apraxia will need to attend speech therapy; the type and length of therapy depends on the severity of the apraxia. Someone suffering from dyspraxia will also attend speech therapy in addition to learning how to function independently. When symptoms of apraxia or dyspraxia begin to appear, it is imperative that medical attention is sought immediately; those who catch these speech problems early have a better chance of learning to overcome them.

Most parents consider their pediatrician the expert to consult. But while an MD is expert on many areas, speech and language is a specialty unto itself – and so are tests to determine the actual diagnosis. So while this article should be of help to you, do not make the determination yourself. And don’t rely solely on your pediatrician’s opinion that your child is a late talker or will outgrow the symptoms. Early intervention is key. Use the following information to ease your mind or confirm your intuition that something just isn’t right. If your recognize one or two symptoms of apraxia, don’t panic. It could very well not be speech apraxia and normal developmental delay that will improve over time.

The most obvious symptom of CAS is the child’s inability to pronounce words, especially words with more than one syllable.  It has nothing to do with the child’s not wanting to speak, but because the muscles used for speaking are not getting the proper instructions from the brain.

Developmental Apraxia is already present at birth, but will only show itself when the child is expected to form sounds and start talking. These children know exactly what you are saying and what they want to say but they literally cannot put those thoughts into proper words. One of the earliest symptoms to look for  is less babbling as a baby. As a toddler, the child will have a hard time putting the proper stress on certain words.

Another symptom is distortion of certain sounds, especially vowels. As for the consonants, there is a tendency to totally omit the consonants at the beginning and end of some words. Sometimes a middle consonant is also omitted. The child will also have a hard time putting syllables together. He or she will struggle to say the word, and may end up giving up altogether. But if you ask the child to imitate a sound that he omitted and you model it for him, he very well might be able to do it. He just can’t use that sound within the structure of a word.

In addition to speech problems, a child with speech apraxia may also have exhibit difficulty with motor skills and simple oral movements like chewing or swallowing. His hand and eye coordination will also be clumsy and ineffective.

Children with speech apraxia will have a limited vocabulary, using only the words that he is comfortable that he can say. Being grammatically correct is also symptomatic of the disorder.

While the symptoms may seem frightening, you should know that if symptoms are recognized early and a speech evaluation confirms the diagnosis, with speech therapy the child will outgrow this disorder and learn to speak normally.