Language Fix

Apraxia

- an independent problem of auditory processing deficits
- general awareness of speech problems
- problems in volitional or spontaneous sequencing of movements required for speech with relatively unaffected automatic speech
- compensatory strategy of reduced rate in some but not all patients
- significant articulatory problems, diagnostic of AOS, such as frequent sound substitutions
- more pronounced difficulty with consonants than vowels; more severe problems with affricates and fricatives and consonant clusters; more frequent errors on infrequently occurring sounds
- anticipatory substitutions, e.g. lelo for yellow
- metathic errors (e.g. tefalone for telephone)
- increased frequency of errors on longer words
- trial and error groping and struggling, associated with speech attempts
- greater difficulty on word-initial sounds in some cases
- easier automatic productions than volitional/purposive productions
- attempts at self-correction, not always successful
- errors in prosody, such as slow speech rate, silent pauses between words, and impaired intonation

Autism

- lack of interest in human voices and a better response to environmental noises; a fascination with mechanical noises
- slow acquisition of speech sound production and language in general
- disinterest in interaction with others
- use of language in a meaningless, stereotypic manner including echolalia
- perseveration on certain words or phrases
- faster learning of concrete than abstract words, including more ready learning of words that refer to objects as opposed to emotions
- lack of generalization of word meanings
- lack of understanding of the relationships between words
- pronoun reversal (use of you for I and I for you; referring to self as she, him, or her)
- use of short, simple sentences; occasional use of incorrect word order
- omission of grammatic features such as plural inflections, conjunctions
- pragmatic problems such as lack of eye contact and lack of topic maintenance; reduced initiation or lack of assertiveness

(from An Advanced Review of Speech-Language Pathology, Celeste 

Roseberry-McKibben and M.N. Hedge; ProEd; 2000.)