男子漢英雄競爭俱樂部

為了英雄大哥的"不會說話"，媽媽開始上網尋找看看有無相同的個案。但是，別人的語言發展遲緩都還是會叫爸爸媽媽，只是整句的表達比較不足或比較晚...這跟英雄的狀況似乎不大一樣...於是媽媽轉求國外網站，然後發現了這個詞Apraxia of Speech。實在找不到對應的中文翻譯，但照字面翻譯，大概是"語言失能症"或"語言失用症"之類的。總之，這個專有名詞讓媽媽有害怕的感覺，因為，似乎英雄符合了其中的某些徵狀 ><。媽媽試著翻譯內容，但是隔行如隔山，缺乏專業知識下翻譯出來的東西，唉，自己都很心虛。就盡量翻譯了一些跟英雄目前以及未來可能的症狀吧，後面還有一些更高難的專業英文，媽媽只好投降，跳過去不翻譯了。

Apraxia of Speech

Early Signs and Symptoms

Limited or little babbling as an infant (void of many consonants). First words may not appear at all, pointing and "grunting" may be all that is heard.

嬰兒時期極少有牙牙學語般的喃喃自語（缺乏子音）。沒有發出過任何一個字；能指向物品或許有出現低沉的喉音。

這第一個癥狀就是媽媽覺得英雄的嬰兒時期跟哥哥差很多的地方，英雄一直到了最近，都一歲十個月了才開始有"囈語"的現象，反觀哥哥在四個月大的時候就會利用雙唇發出一些有的沒的的聲音。從九個月到一歲半，英雄也都只能發出"ㄚ"的母音，偶有"ㄝ"，完全沒有子音的這件事，其實困擾了媽媽很久。果真，這癥狀的第一條就直白地指出了這個大問題。

The child is able to open and close mouth, lick lips, protrude, retract and lateralize tongue while eating, but may not be able to when directed to do so.
吃東西的時候能張口閉嘴、舔舐雙唇、伸吐或移動舌頭，但在其他時間則可能無法被引導而達成。

這第二個狀況也完全符合英雄的表現。可能是天生嘴唇構造上的問題，英雄無法輕鬆地閉上雙唇。沒有唇，唉，怎麼發子音呢?也就是因為閉不上唇，大哥到現在都快兩歲了還在流著口水。

First word approximations occuring beyond the age of 18 months, without developing into understandable simple vocabulary words by age two.
18個月大之前無法說出第一個字，兩歲前無法說出清楚能辨識的字彙。

Continuous grunting and pointing beyond age two.
兩歲後仍持續以手指物或發低沉的喉音。

Lack of a significant consonant repertoire: child may only use /b, m, p, t, d, h.
缺乏顯著的子音，可能僅能使用ㄅ、ㄇ、ㄆ、ㄊ、ㄏ的音。

All phonemes (consonants and vowels) may be imitated well in isolation, but any attempts to combine phonemes are unsuccessful.
或許能藉由模仿而發出所有的子音與母音，但無法組合使用。

Prosody is unusual, there is equal stress and sometimes a monotone quality.
音律不尋常。無輕重音或語音單調。

Speech may change or disintegrate with many repetitions.
不斷重複的發音過程中，語音會改變或語音結構會被削弱或瓦解。

Words may be simplified by deleting consonants or vowels, and/or replacing difficult phonemes (consonants and vowels) with easier ones.
發出的字可能因少掉了子音或母音而被簡化，也有可能將困難的音用簡單的音來替代。

Single words may be articulated well, but attempts at further sentence length become unintelligible.
或許能清楚說出一個字，但要表達句子時則會不清不楚。

Receptive language (comprehension) appears to be better than attempts at expressive language (verbal output).
對於語言的理解能力要比表達能力強。

One syllable or word is favored and used to convey all or many words beyond age two.
兩歲後，偏好某個音節或單字，並用之來表示或取代其他許多的字彙。

The child speaks mostly in vowels.
多使用母音。

Verbal perseveration: getting "stuck" on a previously uttered word, or bringing oral motor elements from a previous word into the next word uttered.
語言的慣性重複。會卡在先前發出的音上，或將前一個發出的字音帶入下一個字中。

Oral groping may occur when attempting oral motor movements or consonant/vowel production.

Struggle behavior may occur when attempting to imitate or to speak (without dysfluency or stuttering).

Deletions or replacements of consonants, vowels or syllables may occur at the end of a word, phrase or connected word levels.

Vowel distortions or replacements occur which are not due to oral motor weakness.

The ability to blurt out clear whole words, phrases or sentences may occur though there is difficulty imitating these same words "on command" or upon imitation.

Difficulty with maintaining clarity with extended word length or complexity.

Phonological processes are employed to simplify motor speech output.

Late talking with above characteristics or errors may be present.

Other fine motor challenges may be present.

Echolalic utterances (the automatic repetition of words, phrases or sentences often without comprehension) might be perfectly articulated but novel attempts at words or combinations might be more effortful.