Often people ask me “what is an Apraxic moment” or “what happens when you have Apraxia?” While everyone with Apraxia experiences different Apraxic Moments, I wanted to share what my most common Apraxic moments, as an adult, look like.

First would have to be my volume, tone, and pitch control. My volume control is something I have always struggled with. Volume is especially hard, I am someone with Apraxia who’s volume is on the loud end of the scale, which can be a blessing and a curse. The blessing being that people can always hear me, mic or not, I can always get someone’s attention. The curse is that sometimes people think I am yelling at them, or don’t know how to approach my volume and end up making me feel bad. The pitch and tone are the same, sometimes I sound sarcastic or angry especially when I am tired or anxious about something As you can imagine this Apraxic moment has made an impact on my friendships, it is hard to find a good friend who accepts you for who you are.

My other main Apraxic moment is substituting words that have similar meaning or sound alike. For example, I find myself replacing breakfast for lunch or dinner, something which my family has learned to accept and figure out what I mean. When I see words like Desert for instance I may accidentally say Desert, because they look similar, and have a similar sound and mouth movement, therefore my brain just sorta mixes them up. This can cause some odd looks sometimes, and judgment from individuals who don’t know me.

I find for me my more noticeable Apraxic moments happen when I am having an Anxiety attack or when I am very tired. Therefore the people of the public can help me and others with Apraxia. By becoming educated on what to say, how to be patient, and how to be respectful of a person with Apraxia or ANY invisible or visible disability, you can help us feel more comfortable and help educate others about Apraxia.