Aphasia and Apraxia are two medical conditions that are the results of damage done to certain parts of the brain. These two medical conditions certainly exhibit certain differences between them. This is especially true when it comes to the nature of the two medical conditions. Aphasia is a kind of language disorder. The language disorder is caused by wounds on the left hemisphere of the brain.
On the other hand Apraxia is a disorder of the motor planning of the brain. This kind of disorder is caused by damage that occurs in the cerebrum. This is one of the main differences between Aphasia and Apraxia.
Apraxia is derived from the Greek ‘praxia’. It means ‘deed or work’. Apraxia gives the meaning of ‘without work of deed’. On the contrary the word ‘Aphasia’ is derived from the Greek ‘Aphatos’ and it means ‘speechless’.
The patient who suffers from Aphasia exhibits difficulty in comprehending languages. At the same time he is unable to produce languages. Hence it is a language disorder. Aphasia occurs when you know what to say but you are unable to put it down in writing or find it difficult to speak.
On the other hand Apraxia is all about inability to responding to some commands. It is true that the brain commands something. You would like to respond to the command at the outset, but find it difficult at the same time to respond to the commands. The inability to respond to the commands of the brain finally results in the inability to execute certain movements.
An interesting type of Apraxia is the buccofacial apraxia. It is the inability to perform or execute facial movements such as winking and coughing.