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Comment
. 2021 May-Jun;38(4):309-317.
doi: 10.1080/02643294.2021.2009790. Epub 2021 Dec 9.

Apraxia of speech and the study of speech production impairments: Can we avoid further confusion? Reply to Romani (2021)

Marja-Liisa Mailend  1   2 , Edwin Maas  3 , Brad H Story  4
Affiliations
Comment

Apraxia of speech and the study of speech production impairments: Can we avoid further confusion? Reply to Romani (2021)

Marja-Liisa Mailend et al. Cogn Neuropsychol. 2021 May-Jun.

Abstract

We agree with Cristina Romani (CR) about reducing confusion and agree that the issues raised in her commentary are central to the study of apraxia of speech (AOS). However, CR critiques our approach from the perspective of basic cognitive neuropsychology. This is confusing and misleading because, contrary to CR's claim, we did not attempt to inform models of typical speech production. Instead, we relied on such models to study the impairment in the clinical category of AOS (translational cognitive neuropsychology). Thus, the approach along with the underlying assumptions is different. This response aims to clarify these assumptions, broaden the discussion regarding the methodological approach, and address CR's concerns. We argue that our approach is well-suited to meet the goals of our recent studies and is commensurate with the current state of the science of AOS. Ultimately, a plurality of approaches is needed to understand a phenomenon as complex as AOS.

Keywords: Apraxia of speech; clinical diagnosis; methodological approach; speech/language production.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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