Apraxia is a neuromotor disorder where the motor planning pathways are affected. It has the following types:
Verbal apraxia
Oromotor apraxia
Limb apraxia
Ideomotor apraxia
Ideational apraxia
Constructional apraxia
Individuals with verbal apraxia, which is the most common type, have deficits in articulation, rate prosody, and fluency. It has the following major features:
Difficulty in initiating speech on demand
Oral groping to articulate
Sequential motion rate (pa ta ka repetition) is affected
Decreased speech clarity
Distortions in multisyllabic or complex words
Reduced rate of speech
The most common cause of apraxia is stroke. It may or may not be present with dysarthria or aphasia. It is nearly always caused by the abnormality of the dominant cerebral hemisphere. In progressive degenerative conditions, progressive apraxia can occur. Certain features of apraxia distinguish it from dysarthria and aphasia which your therapist will tell you about!
