Create a 5 page essay paper that discusses What defines developmental apraxia of speech How and why does it differ from acquired apraxia of speech.Download file to see previous pages Very simply expla

Create a 5 page essay paper that discusses What defines developmental apraxia of speech How and why does it differ from acquired apraxia of speech.

Very simply explained, DOS is an inability to have verbal communication clarity or speech clarity that is known to result from impaired coordination of the muscles of the articulators(face, tongue, lips, jaw) for the production of speech sounds, syllables or words.While this is the now the most commonly accepted hypothesis for apraxia overall there is still much debate over differences between developmental and acquired apraxia of speech. There is also much speculation about which of the several theories defining apraxia are the most appropriate. The characterisation of these differences would indeed require a definition and clear understanding of the mechanisms and symptomolgy underlying both the problems.Acquired and developmental apraxia of speech (AOS and DAS) have been defined as disorders which result from dysfunctional shift from the phonological code to motor commands (Maasen2002). However, there is much difference in the natural course of these disorders which is attributed to the elementary difference in the developmental stage at which the apraxia expresses itself initially. We will address both the problems separately in order to acquire a complete picture of these disorders.It is estimated that approximately 60% of children on the ''autism spectrum'' have motor speech dysfunctions. about 13% report primarily symptoms of apraxia. 10% primarily dysarthria while the rest has mixed reports (Marili, Andrianopoulos, Velleman &amp. Foreman,2004). The incidence of primary apraxia in children is perhaps statistically lower. However as these epidemiological studies indicate DOS is considerably prevalent in the society.

Very simply explained, DOS is an inability to have verbal communication clarity or speech clarity that is known to result from impaired coordination of the muscles of the articulators(face, tongue, lips, jaw) for the production of speech sounds, syllables or words. It is hypothesised that this disability is caused by neurological malfunctions of certain regions of the brain and not of the muscles themselves. It is primarily associated with children in preadolescent stages of life. Different researchers have identified different means of identifying the disorder in terms of the processes involved. Maasen hypothesis is indicated in the following idea.

"a reduced capacity to form systemic mappings [between articulator movements and their auditory consequences might underlie the oral motor and early speech learning difficulties in DOS and put the child at a disadvantage for the acquisition of the motor aspects of phonology, that is, the phoneme-specific mappings" (Maassen 2002). However as Shrenberg has pointed out, this is not the only possibility or by any means adequate for diagnosis. There are several inconsistencies across children furthermore the symptoms are known to change over time (Lewis et al. 2004. Shriberg et al. 2003).

Given the incidence of such discrepancies the question that much of the clinical world and scientific community is struggling with is the diagnosis of the dysfunction.

Reliable differential diagnosis

The various symptoms related with AOS often overlap or occur simultaneously with deficits produced by other neuromuscular deficits the linguistic errors associated with such conditions. However AOS is a distinctive motor speech disorder that can occur independently. It is hence vital to make adequate diagnosis. However as Neil has correctly identified a lack of clear operational diagnostic criterion (Neil 2001) are one of the major hurdles for clinicians today.

On the grounds that primary deficit in DAS is still divisive Shriberg et al (!997) had concluded that exclusion of other symptoms was the only available diagnostic marker. However this is now known to be changing although the progress is slow.

Apraxia is often confused with conduction aphasia and much less frequently with dysarthria. However, evidently all these speech disorders are distinctly different in their eteiology. Reliable diagnosis is the key in this respect.