Understanding Apraxia of Speech in Autism: Early Assessment and Communication Strategies

Learn how apraxia of speech and autism commonly co-occur, leading to unique speech and communication challenges. Discover the importance of early screening, targeted speech therapy, and the value of alternative communication methods—empowering every child to express themselves in their own way.

Published On Oct 29, 2025

By Ranjitha Ganesh

Late diagnosed autistic person and also a mother of an autistic teenager

Autism and apraxia are two distinct and different neurological conditions with difficulty in communication as a common factor. They sometimes present as co-morbid conditions. Apraxia of speech is a specific speech disorder where there is difficulty in planning speech movements. The children with apraxia struggle to produce the sounds or words and have serious motor planning issues related to the movement of the lips, tongue and the jaw. A percentage of the autistic population are either non verbal or minimally speaking. According to a recent research, as much as 65% of children with autism have apraxia of speech.

It is important to screen for both the conditions so that the necessary interventions and therapy can be started early.

PC: speechzilla.com

How to identify Apraxia in Autistic children?

  • Is your child having
  • Inconsistent speech
  • Limited verbalization
  • Difficulty in producing sounds
  • Struggles with motor planning words
  • Incorrect intonations for emotions
  • Think about scheduling a visit to a certified Speech language therapist (SLP) and getting an assessment done, if answer to any of the above is a yes.

Our struggle with speech

My son had difficulty in communicating right from the beginning, which was attributed to his autism. Till the age of 5, my son had huge issues in producing sounds when asked to do so. On his own, he would babble but when asked, he struggled to make the sound. The diagnosis of apraxia came when he turned 12 - ironic isnt it? Inspite of starting early, I felt defeated for wasting away precious early years.

How the diagnosis helped my son?

Finally, the jigsaw puzzle piece fitted in - as to why he wasn’t speaking on his own in spite of intense therapy. After the formal diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech, therapy specifically tailored to improve his motor planning of words was done and that is when spontaneous speech slowly happened. His Therapist recommended an alternative mode of communication to help him overcome the frustration of not being able to communicate his exact needs. We introduced the Augmentative and Assistive mode of Communication (AAC) with our therapist’s help

The AAC changed our lives for the better and helped us move forward as till then, it was so difficult to get him to express anything.

I would like this blog to serve the purpose of making parents aware of the need for an early assessment by an SLP and do the needful to help the child. Our apprehensions and biases should not come in the way of the child's need to communicate.

Every child has a right to communicate. Everyone has a right to voice their opinion.

Respect any mode of communication, assist them, provide them a device, help them communicate their feelings and thoughts.

Today, my son, who is now 15 years old, does have verbal speech, but he is minimally speaking. And we have learnt to respect his form of communication. Any communication that comes from him is music to our ears.

Author: Email: ranjithaganesh47377@gmail.com

pc: speechzilla.com, mywellnesshub.in