← Go back to list of questions by YEAR
← Go back to list of questions by TOPIC
Definition of Apraxia
12.19.09Does apraxia affect classroom learning?
Strictly speaking, "apraxia" is a motor speech disorder. Therefore, it only effects the production of speech. But many of these children also have other problems- in comprehension, vocabulary, question comprehension, etc. To me, that means that the child has apraxia AND something else. The apraxia should only effect the expression of speech. That is a "purest" view. And you will read and hear of other views.
This is my favorite definition of apraxia. Apraxia is: "A non-linguistic, sensorimotor disorder of articulation characterized by impaired capacity to program the position of speech muscular and the sequence of muscle movements [respiration, phonation, resonation, and articulation for the volitional production of phonemes." *
Briefly, this is how I interpret the definition:
"Non-linguistic" - It has nothing to do with language.
"Sensorimotor" - It is a problem of both sensing movement and of moving.
"Program" - It is a problem of planning out movement.
"Speech muscular" - It is a problem of planning out the movement for speech, which are the movements of the lungs (respiration), vocal folds (phonation), velum (resonance), and jaw/lips/tongue (articulation).
"Volitional production" - Apraxia does not effect automatic movements, just voluntary, purposeful movements. Thus these children often say more spontaneously than they can say on demand.
* Reference: Nicolosi, L, & Harryman, E., & Kreshek, J. (1983) Terminology of communication disorders. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.