Oral and Verbal Apraxia

Oral and Verbal Apraxia
Child's Name*

First NameLast Name
Apraxia is a neurological motor speech impairment that involves a breakdown in the transmission of messages from the brain to the muscles in the jaw, cheeks, lips, tongue, and palate. The child knows what he/she wants to say, but there is a roadblock obstructing the signal from the brain to the mouth. (Agin, Geng, Nicholl, 2003)

There is not a simple checklist that can be applied to every child, but by answering the following questions we can begin to evaluate the possible cause for your child's speech delay.

Does your child:*

	Yes	No
point, grunt, become increasingly angry with his/her inability to communicate?
sometimes say the same word four different ways?
the more he/she tries to talk the harder he/she is to understand?
say a word perfectly and then lose it for weeks?
make unusual movements of her/his jaw, lips, tongue as if groping to find words?
sound as if he is talking through his/her nose?
understand everything that is said to him?
have difficulty imitating body movements?
lick food from his/her lips?
use fingers to push food back into his mouth?
blow bubbles or pucker for a kiss?
suck through a straw?
blow through a straw?
have difficulty blowing a whistle or horn?
have the ability to move his tongue independently from his jaw (side to side)?
make 'raspberries' with his lips?
drool more than expected, especially when eating?
favor the use of one syllable for all words? (da may mean mom, dad, dog, ball)
often omit a sound or syllable? (wah for water)
reverse sounds or syllables? (shif for fish)
add extra sounds or syllables in words?
find it difficult to produce a flow of syllables either in 2-3 syllable words or phrases?
rearrange syllables in words? "elephant becomes efuhlunt"?
find speech easy one day and difficult the next?
correctly say a word once and then be unable to repeat it?
speak too slowly or too fast?
place inappropriate stress on certain syllables or words?
find speech easy one day and difficult the next?
exhibit "groping" behaviors trying to find the proper mouth position?
have a limited vocabulary?
have grammar or syntax errors? (omit auxiliary verbs, pronouns, etc.)
have established hand dominance? (by age 2)
have any sensory issues to noise, touch, vision?

Is there a history of speech, language, behavior, learning or hearing problems in your family? Please describe.
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