| "Bob" (not his real name) is a salesman who has | | | | there are some techniques that can help. People |
| had difficulty all his life in saying long words. | | | | who cannot speak at all can be provided with |
| Unfortunately, many of the products he sells are | | | | special devices that can talk for them, called |
| multi-syllabic. A technical expert by training, Bob | | | | Assistive and Augmentative Communication |
| creatively came up with short nick-names for | | | | devices (AAC). A speech pathologist or |
| each product, and a sales pitch of one syllable | | | | augmentative communications specialist needs to |
| words that he practiced until it was fluent. When | | | | assess a person for the correct device, as there |
| he left a telephone message asking me to | | | | are over 100 possibilities. The device, ranging from |
| contact him to help him with his speech, I was | | | | very simple to highly complex, can be |
| puzzled; his speech on the message sounded fine | | | | programmed to speak for a person. There are |
| to me. When I returned his call, however, Bob's | | | | also some speaking techniques that help many |
| speech sounded "mangled". Unprepared for my | | | | people. |
| call, he could not pronounce common two syllable | | | | A person with this problem needs to be acutely |
| words correctly. When he tried to correct his | | | | aware of safety issues.When stressed by an |
| speech, it sounded worse, and the variations | | | | accident or other emergency, his speech could be |
| were never the same. After a speech | | | | worse. First, the person should carry a card with |
| assessment, Bob was diagnosed with a | | | | his ID that explains he has difficulty speaking, and |
| little-known impairment called "verbal apraxia". | | | | gives his basic identification information. It should |
| Verbal apraxia is a neurological impairment in which | | | | also list his medical information, such as any |
| the signals from the brain to the mouth get out | | | | medical conditions, medication he is taking and his |
| of sequence. | | | | healthcare provider's name and phone number. |
| When there are two or three consonants | | | | Second, he should have a script written in words |
| together, such as "str" in "strong", one or two | | | | of one syllable if possible, and kept by his |
| consonants may be omitted, or they may be in | | | | telephone for use in emergencies. If his telephone |
| the wrong order. Sometimes entire syllables in the | | | | is a cell phone, the script could be kept in his |
| middle are omitted. While a one syllable word such | | | | wallet. |
| as "ban" may be spoken easily, a longer word | | | | There are two strategies people with difficulty |
| such as "bannister" is very hard to say. Each time | | | | speaking can try. First, write out a word that is |
| the same longer word is spoken, the variations | | | | hard to say. While looking at it, say each sound |
| may be different. It may be difficult for someone | | | | individually. Then very slowly, try to say them |
| to start speaking; however, this is definitely not | | | | together. Do this a total of three times. |
| stuttering. People are acutely aware that they | | | | Then try saying the word at a faster pace. This |
| have difficulty speaking, and are often quite | | | | rehearsal strategy should be started with two |
| frustrated. | | | | syllable words, and then expanded for three |
| Verbal apraxia can be congenital, occurring from | | | | syllable words. A second approach is to note |
| early childhood when it is often called "childhood | | | | which words are especially hard to say. Then go |
| apraxia of speech", or it can occur later. Often it | | | | to a thesaurus, often found online at sites such as |
| occurs after a head injury or a stroke. It has | | | | bartleby.com, to find synonyms. These other |
| nothing to do with how smart a person is. Many | | | | words that have the same meaning, such as talk |
| people try to compensate for it by speaking as | | | | for speak, may be easier to say. |
| little as possible, and then only in short words. | | | | If these strategies are not sufficient, people |
| Poor speech can impact self-esteem, career | | | | should go to a certified speech pathologist for a |
| growth, and happiness. People with poor | | | | speech evaluation. More can be done by an |
| communication skills often withdraw, and may | | | | expert in many cases to improve communication |
| become depressed due to social isolation. | | | | skills. Great speech makes business sense! |
| There is no cure yet for verbal apraxia. However, | | | | |