Developmental Apraxia
Please notice the movement of your lips, tongue, and throat muscles as you:
READ THIS SENTENCE ALOUD.
Did you feel the "r" in "read" giving your tongue and lips a workout? Did you notice how your tongue and throat muscles worked together to say "this"? You have just made more than fifteen muscle movements to say "Read this sentence aloud"!
Amazing, isn't it? As adults we take speaking for granted. But it is a very complex skill. Speaking requires good physical coordination of the lips, tongue, and throat muscles. That means they must all work together to make sounds and to combine different sounds to make words.
What is developmental apraxia? Apraxia is difficulty forming sounds into words. The term "developmental apraxia" is used when children have this problem.
In adults, apraxia is usually caused by a stroke or other physical injury. The reason for developmental apraxia is less clear. It is not caused by weak muscles. Children may be able to smile, eat, and make other movements normally. The problem is coordinating all the muscles used to speak.
Yep, you guessed it - Caleb has developmental apraxia. He is doing great in therapy twice a week, but recently was diagnosed with this neurological disorder. I knew there was something wrong with him from about 18 months...people kept saying he was just slower because he was the 3rd born, etc. We will keep you posted on his progress. Most children who have this can easily be talking normal by age 6 (he is 2 1/2 now) if there is therapy used and a lot of help at home. He might have a harder time in school with certain subjects like reading, writing, and spelling though. We are working on flashcards and repetition a lot. It has been very interesting to learn more about apraxia this past week. If you are interested in learning more, check out this website we are using as a resource.
READ THIS SENTENCE ALOUD.
Did you feel the "r" in "read" giving your tongue and lips a workout? Did you notice how your tongue and throat muscles worked together to say "this"? You have just made more than fifteen muscle movements to say "Read this sentence aloud"!
Amazing, isn't it? As adults we take speaking for granted. But it is a very complex skill. Speaking requires good physical coordination of the lips, tongue, and throat muscles. That means they must all work together to make sounds and to combine different sounds to make words.
What is developmental apraxia? Apraxia is difficulty forming sounds into words. The term "developmental apraxia" is used when children have this problem.
In adults, apraxia is usually caused by a stroke or other physical injury. The reason for developmental apraxia is less clear. It is not caused by weak muscles. Children may be able to smile, eat, and make other movements normally. The problem is coordinating all the muscles used to speak.
Yep, you guessed it - Caleb has developmental apraxia. He is doing great in therapy twice a week, but recently was diagnosed with this neurological disorder. I knew there was something wrong with him from about 18 months...people kept saying he was just slower because he was the 3rd born, etc. We will keep you posted on his progress. Most children who have this can easily be talking normal by age 6 (he is 2 1/2 now) if there is therapy used and a lot of help at home. He might have a harder time in school with certain subjects like reading, writing, and spelling though. We are working on flashcards and repetition a lot. It has been very interesting to learn more about apraxia this past week. If you are interested in learning more, check out this website we are using as a resource.
Comments