what is speech apraxia

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a neurological disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in producing speech. It is a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult to plan and coordinate the movements necessary for speech. AOS can occur independently without issues in areas such as verbal comprehension, reading comprehension, writing, articulation, or prosody. Children may be born with apraxia, and its cause is unknown. Symptoms are usually noticed in the early stages of development. Children with AOS generally understand language much better than they are able to use it. Some children with the disorder may also have other speech problems, expressive language problems, or motor-skill problems. A speech-language pathologist can evaluate and diagnose AOS. Treatment for AOS involves speech therapy, which aims to help the patient say sounds, words, and sentences more clearly.