Adults in Washington may acquire apraxia of speech after having a stroke or sustaining a traumatic brain injury. Apraxia of speech is a condition that affects a person’s ability to produce certain sounds. Although people who suffer from apraxia may be perfectly aware of what words sound like, their brains are unable to tell the right muscles how to move in order to say the words correctly.
Apraxia cases can range in severity, with the most severe cases causing people to be unable to produce any sounds at all. Most people with apraxia have a hard time producing certain sounds, so they either omit or substitute these sounds in their speech. A person with apraxia might have inconsistent speech errors and have an easier time producing automatic greetings than words that they are thinking about.
A speech therapist diagnoses a person with apraxia of speech by assessing their sound production, melody of speech and oral-motor abilities. Once this condition is diagnosed, an individual with apraxia might benefit from speech therapy that is designed to retrain their facial muscles. People with severe cases of apraxia might require alternative communication tools in order to function in their daily lives.
A person who developed apraxia of speech after sustaining a brain injury in an accident caused by the negligence of another may want to discuss with an attorney the advisability of filing of a personal injury lawsuit against the responsible party. Victims of serious brain injuries often need a lifetime of care and treatment, and a successful claim could result in an award of damages to cover the required medical costs.