Which statement best describes dysprosody in AOS?

• A. Dysprosody is abnormal rhythm and intonation, distinct from prosodic planning impairment due to motor planning limitations.
• B. Dysprosody is a problem with vocabulary.
• C. Dysprosody is an absence of stress.
• D. Dysprosody is a physical tremor of lips.

Answer: (A)

Dysprosody refers to abnormal prosody—the rhythm, stress, and intonation that give speech its melody. In apraxia of speech, the motor system has trouble planning and programming the sequence and timing of movements needed for prosodic patterns, so the way speech rises and falls and the emphasis on syllables becomes irregular. The best description is that dysprosody manifests as abnormal rhythm and intonation, reflecting those prosodic production problems rooted in motor planning. It is not about vocabulary, it is not simply a lack of stress, and it is not a lip tremor, which would point to a different motor issue.