Apraxia is a neurological disorder that affects a person’s ability to perform precise movements or actions. There are different types of apraxia, including orofacial, verbal, joint-kenetic, ideomotor, ideational, oculomotor, and constructive. Physical, speech, and occupational therapy can help improve the condition, but the degree of improvement varies. Underlying neurological disorders can also cause apraxia, and treatment for those disorders can sometimes cure or improve apraxia.
Apraxia is the inability to perform precise movements or actions due to a neurological disorder. A person with this condition may want to perform a specific action or gesture and have the physical ability to do so, but their brain prevents them from doing so. Manifesting itself in many different ways, apraxia occurs when the cerebral hemispheres of the brain malfunction such that a person is unable to control specific types of fine motor control. Depending on which activities a person struggles with, the problem can fall into a number of specific categories. A person can have one or more types at the same time.
Orofacial apraxia, sometimes called buccofacial apraxia, is the most common type. This type restricts facial movement and makes it difficult or impossible for a person to lick their lips, whistle, or wink. This is the most common type.
Another common type is verbal apraxia. Those who suffer find it difficult to speak. It is often diagnosed in infancy if a child develops speech particularly late or has more than normal difficulty coordinating mouth movements when trying to form words.
There are several types of this condition that cause difficulties in performing tasks. Joint-kenetic apraxia makes it difficult for a person to move their arms and legs accurately. Ideomotor apraxia is the inability to perform an action in response to a verbal command. Ideational apraxia is the inability to perform multi-step tasks, such as making a sandwich or taking a shower.
Difficulty moving the eyes as desired is called oculomotor apraxia. Patients with constructive apraxia have difficulty or inability to draw figures or build shapes.
This condition can range in severity from mild, sometimes called dyspraxia, to very severe. Physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy can sometimes cause improvement. The degree to which the therapy relieves the problem varies among patients. Sometimes, there is an underlying neurological disorder causing apraxia, particularly in elderly patients. If this is the case, medical treatment for the underlying disorder can sometimes cure the disorder or make further treatment more effective with therapy.
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