Motor Speech

This topic refers to a person’s ability to maneuver their oral musculature. Apraxia of speech results when the client cannot program the movements of their mouth to articulate the speech sounds correctly. There is no difficulty with the actual muscles or nerves for the mouth. Typical characteristics are struggling or groping to produce the speech sounds of words, particularly as the words get longer. The client may or may not be able to perform other typical mouth movements such as whistling, blowing, or chewing. Apraxia of speech typically results following a brain injury, such as stroke or traumatic brain injury. Developmental apraxia of speech (link to phonology) is seen in children who have similar difficulties regarding motor planning for producing speech.

Another area of motor speech is dysarthria. This occurs when there is actual damage to muscle or nerve or motor pathways that control the oral musculature. There are different types of dysarthria depending on where the damage occurs.

A range of comprehensive assessment services is available through professionals affiliated with OSU.


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