Which statement describes slow speech rate with pauses and lengthened vowels and consonants?

• A. Slow speech rate with pauses and with lengthened production of vowels and consonants.
• B. Short periods of error-free speech.
• C. Automatic speech better than propositional.
• D. Limb apraxia or nonverbal oral apraxia.

Answer: (A)

The thing being described is a pattern typical of apraxia of speech: a disrupted ability to program the precise sequence and timing of oral movements for speech. When this planning is off, speaking becomes slower, with noticeable pauses between sounds and lengthened vowels and consonants as the speaker searches for the right articulatory gestures. This combination—slow rate plus lengthened segments and hesitations—is the hallmark feature of AOS.

The other statements don’t fit this description as well. Short stretches of fluent speech can occur in other fluency disorders and don’t capture the characteristic slowed rate with lengthened sounds. Automatic speech often differs from propositional speech in people with AOS, but that observation doesn’t specifically describe the rate and segment lengthening. Limb apraxia or nonverbal oral apraxia involve planning problems for non-speech movements or nonverbal oral tasks, not the speech timing and articulation sequence itself.