Apraxia is a neurological condition causing planning errors of the mouth movements needed to turn sounds into syllables, syllables into words, and words into phrases. It can make it hard to communicate and formulate coherent sounds and sentences. What is Apraxia? In normal speech, the brain sends signals to the muscles in a person’s mouth (the lips, jaw, and tongue) in order to make accurate sounds and speak with normal speed and rhythm. Apraxia is a neurological condition that disrupts this process. The person often has the language capacity to talk, but these signals between the brain and muscles are disrupted. As a result, people with apraxia have difficulty coordinating the mouth movements needed to turn sounds into syllables, syllables into words, and words into phrases. It is often hard for people to communicate and formulate coherent sounds and sentences. Types of Apraxia Apraxia of speech can be broken into two categories: Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Children with apraxia are born with the condition. For children with apraxia, the difficulty in planning speech movements is the hallmark of the condition. Acquired Apraxia of Speech: This can affect people at all ages, However it occurs most commonly in adults. Acquired apraxia is caused by damage to the parts of the brain that are involved in speaking, and it often involves the loss or impairment of existing speech abilities. What Does Apraxia Look Like? Every person is different, and symptoms can vary pretty dramatically. In some cases, it can be so mild that the person only has difficulty with a few speech sounds. In more severe cases, a person may not be able to communicate effectively by speaking. Some of the following symptoms or speech characteristics include: Inconsistent Errors in Speech: Pronouncing the same word differently each time they say it. Distorting Sounds: Because the speech muscles are not in the right places, sounds often come out incorrectly. Inappropriate Intonation, Stress, or Rhythm of Words: Individuals may struggle with the rhythm and flow of speech. They may segment syllables in a word, omit syllables in words and phrases altogether, or pause inappropriately while speaking. What Does Apraxia Treatment Look Like? Apraxia often requires frequent, intensive, one-on-one speech-language therapy sessions, with lots of repetitive exercises and personal attention. Just as individual symptoms vary, so does progress, each person progresses at their own pace.