Saying the Words I’ve Avoided My Whole Life - Apraxia of Speech

In this video, I practice saying words I’ve spent most of my life avoiding.

I have childhood apraxia of speech (verbal dyspraxia), and this isn’t about sounding fluent or polished. It’s about practicing out loud and not hiding when speech comes out messy or inconsistent.

I share words I still struggle with, words I’ve improved on, and why difficulty saying certain words once made me question whether I belonged in science. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be practicing these words on my own and with my former SLP, and I’ll share what changes and what doesn’t.

There are many parts of speech I don’t cover here, like prosody, monotone speech, and other challenges that come with apraxia. Those will be part of future videos.

Speech disorders are a spectrum, and everyone’s experience looks different. This video is about trying anyway.

Below are some other “Living with Apraxia of Speech” videos you should also watch:

Elina Csapo’s TEDx Talk: Living with Verbal Apraxia – My Journey
   • TEDx  

Jaron's Story: Living with Speech Apraxia
   • Living with Speech Apraxia  

Joy's Story: Living with Verbal Apraxia Post Speech Therapy
   • Verbal Apraxia Post Speech Therapy  

Simon Cleath’s Story – Oral Motor Apraxia (check her other videos too!)
   • Hi, I have Apraxia of Speech and the world...  

Apraxia Awareness Month Short Animation Film
   • What it is like Living with Oral Motor Apr...  

Katherine's Story: Living with Speech Apraxia (Achieving Independence)
   • Living with Speech Apraxia (Achieving Inde...  

Joanna's Story: Living with Apraxia of Speech
   • living with speech apraxia  

Jordan Christian LeVan's Q&A: Living with Verbal Apraxia
   • Living with Verbal Apraxia: Q&A  

Isela's Story: Living with Apraxia of Speech
   • Living With Apraxia of Speech | Beautywith...  

"My Son Has a Rare Speech Disorder Called Apraxia of Speech"
   • My Son Has A Rare Speech Disorder Called A...  

Emma's Diagnosis: Speech Apraxia
   • My Friend with Speech Apraxia (Difficulty ...  

Living with Speech Apraxia – My First Video
   • Living with speech apraxia. My first video  

Also check out Apraxia‑Kids.org:
A nonprofit resource dedicated to childhood apraxia of speech, Apraxia Kids offers families and professionals a wealth of support—including live Zoom groups, an extensive article library, on‑demand webinars, a national conference, specialized training, research grants, and local therapist directories. Their mission is to empower every child with apraxia to find their voice

00:00 Introduction
03:44 Words I Struggle with the Most
04:40 Words I’ve Improved On
05:41 Science Terms and Self-Doubt
08:13 Inconsistency
08:30 Names
09:55 Final Message

#apraxia #speechdisorders #neuroscience #speechtherapy #dyspraxia #disfluency #growthmindset #speech #voice