Somehow, his brain just isn't telling his face, tongue, lips and jaw how to produce the words. The cause of the disorder is unknown. Knowing what you want to say and not being able to say it can be a very frustrating experience. And as the child grows, difficulty producing speech and being understood can lead to other difficulties with written language and academic and social skills. Children who have apraxia of speech can have other communication and developmental problems as well.
Help starts with professional diagnosis and a treatment program.
Any child who has difficulty communicating or who does not seem to be developing communication abilities at an age-appropriate rate should be assessed for possible speech, language, and hearing problems. Assessing apraxia of speech is a multidimensional activity that includes several important steps. Hearing problems should be ruled out by an ASHA-certified audiologist as a necessary first step. The speech-language pathologist will assess your child's speech sound production and sequencing, muscle development, speech mechanism function, and other physiological functions such as breath control and voice intonation patterns. The treatment program your child's speech-language pathologist develops will likely focus on improving skills in planning, programming, storing, and retrieving motor patterns related to speech production.