Apraxia is a speech disorder in which the affected child finds difficulty in communicating words, sound and syllables. This disorder is not caused due to weakness and paralysis of muscles. It is caused due to the disturbance in the motor function of the brain. The child knows what he wants to say or speak, but the brain is not able to send proper signal to tongue, jaw and lip to move to speak.
In short in this neurological disorder, the brain is not able to coordinate different body parts that take part in speech (jaw, lip and tongue).
Majority of children suffering from apraxia have significant improvement in their speech as they grow up, if they are treated on time.
Causes Of Childhood Apraxia Of Speech
Researchers are not able to find the exact cause of childhood apraxia. But one thing is sure; it is a motor speech disorder. There is some abnormality in the brain that is not allowing the message from brain to pass to tongue, jaw, and lip muscles to produce correct speech.
Some possible causes may be genetic disorders, damage to the brain due to infection, stroke or trauma.
Characteristics Of Childhood Apraxia Of Speech
Childhood apraxia can be quiet baffling for the parents to understand. This disorder is more confusing as all affected children will not exhibit each and every symptom of this disorder. The severity may vary from one child to another. The common symptoms found in childhood apraxia are:
- During infancy the child does not babble or coo.
- Late learning to talk.
- The first word is late and often misses the sound.
- Difficulty in combining sounds. There is a big pause between sounds.
- The child finds it difficult to say long words or sound.
- Repeatedly tries to pronounce words.
- Due to speech difficulty, the child often uses non verbal forms of communications.
- Distortion of vowel sound.
- The child struggles to make a word and in doing so he tries hard to coordinate tongue, jaw and lip, but is not able to do so.
- The child will make different form of errors while repeating the same word.
- For a person who is not familiar listening to such a child, will find difficulty in understanding the way this child speaks.
Speech Therapy For Childhood Apraxia Of Speech
Every parent must know that a child suffering from apraxia needs to be treated, as the child does not outgrow from this disorder without treatment. These children need to be consulted to speech-language pathologist or speech therapist. The therapist may treat a child according to his or her individual need. The child may require four to five sessions in a week, depending on the severity.
Simultaneously, parents are also taught to practice the skills as they can communicate with the child at home. The speech therapist teaches the child:
- To practice repeated formation of words and sounds.
- The child is taught to practice stringing sound so that he can make a speech out of it.
- He is also taught alternative communication techniques such as sign language. It can be temporarily implemented to lessen frustration of the child when he finds difficulty in communicating with others around him. He has to use it till he is able to adopt and improve his speaking skills.
- The child is made to speak watching in front of the mirror.
Constant practicing and repetition of words, syllables etc are important steps in a child suffering from apraxia. It will help the child to speak and communicate effectively.