Help Those with Apraxia Talk | The Tools of Matching and Mirroring

Helping Those With Apraxia Talk:  The Tools of Matching and Mirroring

Matching and Mirroring
in Speech Therapy

Many speech therapists of those with apraxia do not address the actual apraxia, especially the severe variety because it's just too complicated and will take a long time to correct. Apraxia is  difficulty articulating the speech sounds because the tongue, teeth, and lips do not always go where they are supposed to.  The person with apraxia attempts to speak and the tongue does not follow the message sent from the brain.  This causes garbled speech.   The speech sounds that make up the words are omitted, distorted or replaced by other sounds.  The result of apraxia is difficulty understanding what the person with apraxia is saying since the sounds are not correctly produced.

However there are some short cuts that can help a family member or therapist help the person with apraxia talk.  It is called matching and mirroring.  We all know what matching is:  we match or duplicate a movement; we watch how somethng is done and then we match it just like what we see.
Mirroring is a similar maneuver, it requires that a person be directly in front of you as if you are looking into a mirror and matching exactly the movements that are seen and at the same time.  Matching and mirroring often helps those with apraxia talk.


As an example for apraxia, imagine you were awakened in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and you tried to get out of bed, and could not stand, or walk.  Your legs didn't hold the body upright and they could not move forward or backward.  And the result?  A fall.  The legs just did not obey the brain.  That is an apraxia.  The motor for the specific task is out of commission for activities such as walking or speaking due to the messages to the muscles and speech structures being out of synch.

Finding the Best Use of Time and Energy

The therapist must find a viable speech therapy for apraxia that will immediately lead to speaking clarity.  One way he or she does that is not to focus on traditional articulation, since it could take literally years to address, and often it is as much fun as watching paint dry!

Oral Motor Exercises Not Necessary if Given Within the Context of The Conversation

• One approach to helping people talk who have apraxia is to make it simple.
• Start out stimulating 2 words per utterance in conversation
• Determine which speech sounds, especially the lingual or tongue sounds are affected.
• Within the simple conversation of 2-3 words stimulate each word separately and determine if the person with apraxia can lift the tongue tip of the t, d, n, l, l blends, or sibilant s, the s blends, and sh and dj.

Often the Creative Therapist Can Improve the Apraxia with very Slow Speaking and Mirroring at very simple words, word pairs and phrases

It's alot of fun helping the person with apraxia talk, especially if it is done within a conversational framework.  Caregivers, spouses and family members are learning this approach and finding that speech does not have to be broken down to oral motor exercises or formal articulation therapy.  It can be quite easy if those who learn apraxia speech therapy can learn from an expert and be given the opportunity to practice under expert guidance.  Find out how you can learn how to help your loved one or client with apraxia through matching, and mirroring.

If you want to help your loved one or client with apraxia you must receive expert mentoring in order to learn the most efficient way.  There is no 1 approach that's fits all.  The best way to determine an approach to apraxia is by utilizing a speech pathology expert who understands the best ways to help people talk.

You can contact us today and get started by contacting us.    There is no substitute other than working with an expert.  You will learn that to be very true.  It takes time and attention.

Contact us today and we will arrange for a free get acquainted visit.