Developmental Apraxia of Speech

Developmental Apraxia of Speech:  a disorder of motor programming for the production of speech, resulting from neurological damage.  It is characterized by an inability to execute volitional (purposeful) movements despite having normal muscle tone and coordination.

Some of the characteristics of Developmental Apraxia of Speech are as follows:

• difficulty stringing syllables together, in the appropriate order, to produce words
• minimal babbling during infancy
• difficulty producing long or complex words
• repeated attempts at pronunciation of words
• speech inconsistencies
• excessive use of nonverbal forms of communication
• distortion of vowel sounds
• omission of consonants at the beginning and ends of words
• grope or struggle to produce words