<unk>  can be diagnosed by a<unk>  language pathologist (SLP) through specific exams that measure oral mechanisms of<unk> . The oral mechanisms exam involves tasks such as pursing lips, blowing, licking lips, elevating the tongue, and also involves an examination of the mouth. A complete exam also involves observation of the patient eating and talking. SLPs do not agree on a specific set of characteristics that make up the<unk>  diagnosis, so any of the characteristics from the section above could be used to form a diagnosis. Patients may be asked to perform other daily tasks such as reading, writing, and conversing with others. In situations involving brain damage, an MRI brain scan also helps identify damaged areas of the brain. A differential diagnosis must be used in order to rule out other similar or alternative disorders. Although disorders such as expressive aphasia, conduction aphasia, and dysarthria involve similar symptoms as<unk> , the disorders must be distinguished in order to correctly treat the patients. While<unk>  involves the motor planning or processing stage of<unk> , aphasic disorders can involve other language processes. According to Ziegler et al., this difficulty in diagnosis derives from the unknown causes and function of the disorder, making it hard to set definite parameters for<unk>  identification. Specifically, he explains that oral-facial apraxia, dysarthria, and aphasic phonological impairment are the three distinctly different disorders that cause individuals to display symptoms that are often similar to those of someone with<unk> , and that these close relatives must be correctly ruled out by a<unk>  Language Pathologist before<unk>  can be given as a diagnosis. In this way,<unk>  is a diagnosis of exclusion, and is generally recognized when all other similar<unk>  sound production disorders are eliminated. Possible co-morbid aphasias<unk>  and expressive aphasia (also known as Broca's aphasia) are commonly mistaken as the same disorder mainly because they often occur together in patients. Although both disorders present with symptoms such as a difficulty producing sounds due to damage in the language parts of the brain, they are not the same. The main difference between these disorders lies in the ability to comprehend spoken language; patients with apraxia are able to fully comprehend<unk> , while patients with aphasia are not always fully able to comprehend others'<unk> . Conduction aphasia is another<unk>  disorder that is similar to, but not the same as,<unk> . Although patients who suffer from conduction aphasia have full comprehension of<unk> , as do<unk>  sufferers, there are differences between the two disorders. Patients with conduction aphasia are typically able to speak fluently, but they do not have the ability to repeat what they hear. Similarly, dysarthria, another motor<unk>  disorder, is characterized by difficulty articulating sounds. The difficulty in articulation does not occur due in planning the motor movement, as happens with<unk> . Instead, dysarthria is caused by inability in or weakness of the muscles in the mouth, face, and respiratory system.
Apraxia of speech
Receptive aphasia
Ideomotor apraxia
Anomic aphasia
Executive dysfunction
Expressive aphasia
Global aphasia
Misophonia