Apraxia is a movement disorder. It is due to a brain injury and is manifested by difficulties in achieving and coordinating certain movements. The management of apraxia is often based on functional rehabilitation.

Apraxia is a medical term which designates a movement disorder, and more exactly a disorder of praxia in the same way as dyspraxia. By definition, praxis is the ability to coordinate voluntary movements for a specific purpose.

In other words, a person with apraxia has difficulty performing and coordinating certain movements. Although it can become disabling, apraxia is distinguished from other movement disorders by the absence of motor, sensory or intellectual disturbances. This means that a person with apraxia has normal motor, sensory and intellectual functions.

Depending on the case, it is possible to distinguish different forms of apraxia:

• Ideomotor apraxia, the most common form, which corresponds to an inability to voluntarily perform simple gestures of daily life, on oral or visual request;
• Ideational apraxia which is characterized by difficulty performing complex tasks or sequences of gestures;
• Motor apraxia which includes kinesthetic apraxia, with difficulty finding the movements necessary for simple gestures, and melokinetic apraxia, with disturbance of fine, selective, rapid or series movements;
• constructive apraxia which concerns the making of drawings with a difficult perception of space;
• bucco-facial apraxia, or bucco-linguo-facial apraxia, which occurs in one or more parts of the face, mouth and larynx, and which is characterized by difficulty in moving determined and non-verbal, such as whistling, opening your mouth or sticking your tongue out;
• clothing apraxia which reflects difficulties in handling, orienting and putting on clothing correctly;
• gait apraxia which is characterized by difficulty in properly positioning the legs for walking.

The different types of apraxia are the result of brain damage. These are usually due to:

• head trauma (TBI), a shock to the skull the intensity of which causes brain damage;
• cerebrovascular accident (stroke), sometimes called a stroke, which is caused by a problem with the blood flow to the brain;
• a brain tumor, which results in the growth and multiplication of abnormal cells in the brain;
• a neurological disease such as Alzheimer’s disease which is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by destruction of nerve cells.

The evolution of apraxia depends on many parameters including the form of apraxia, the type of lesion, the patient’s condition and the medical treatment implemented. In the most severe cases, apraxia can become disabling and lead to total disability. However, taking appropriate care often limits the risk of complications and improves the daily life of people with apraxia.

The management of apraxia depends on the origin of the brain injury. Depending on the case, appropriate medical treatment is put in place.

This treatment is generally accompanied by functional rehabilitation to improve the quality of life of people with apraxia. This rehabilitation can involve different specialists including occupational therapists, speech therapists and psychomotor therapists.