This is a (hands-on) type of demonstration of what apraxia feels like. Please perform the following movements. (If your hands become hopelessly locked, remember the number to call with your elbow is 911)

{just kidding!}

1. Cross your arms at the wrist; rotate the wrists (thumbs moving down); and join your palms with your fingers interlocking. (See Figure 1 below)
   
   
   
   Figure 1
   
   
   
   
2. Draw your clasped hands down, back (to you) and up (See Figure 2 below)
   
   
   
   
   
   Figure 2
   
   
   
   
3. Ask someone to point to one of your fingers (without touching it). You may notice a little difficulty in moving that finger. You may not be able to find the right motor movements and other fingers may move instead. In your mind, mulitiply this feeling by a whole arm; or both arms and both legs; or the lips and tongue and jaw and you have a notion of what a person with apraxia experiences most of the time. (See Figure 3 below)
   
   
   
   

Good job. Now if you can unwind your hands, you may scroll down further and hear an example of an apraxic speaker.

This is an example of an adult with Apraxia speaking. There is also some expressive aphasia present. This is often the case because damage due to stroke does not always stay within neat boundaries. He understands pretty well what is being said to him, and he is fairly aware of his errors. In this example he is trying to explain what you do with a cigarette (other than throw it away).

(Please note, that the reason our examples are from adults and not from children is because it is difficult sometimes, because of the many varialbes associated with growth, to know how a child should sound. But we all know how an adult should sound. Hence the impact of the disabled process on adult speech is crystal clear.)

(Please allow around 55 seconds for the Example audio files to download)