Oral Motor Issues

Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Childhood apraxia of speech, or verbal apraxia, is an oral motor planning disorder that affects a child’s ability to sequence and say sounds, syllables, and words. The child knows what she wants to say, but his/her brain is not sending the correct message to the body parts needed for speech production.  Early indicators of verbal apraxia include delayed first words, erred consonant and vowel production, difficulty combining sounds, inconsistent sound errors, difficulty imitating speech, facial movements, and stronger receptive language skills than expressive language skills.