Eleven-year-old Jacobi Zigarski looks like your typical youngster.

He's good-looking, clean and has a ready smile although sheepish, with a reason.Jacobi finds it difficult to communicate. He has a condition called apraxia, which makes it difficult for him to speak.He is a fifth-grader at Lehighton Area Middle School. Although he has been struggling with the speech defect virtually all his life, it was a speech therapist in Franklin Township Elementary School who first diagnosed his condition last year.His mother said until then, she took him to several different doctors who had different reasons why he wasn't talking properly. Most "told us he had a speech delay," she said.Jacobi is one of four sons of William and Rachael Kattner, Lehighton. William is a full-time recruiter with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and a part-time police officer for Minersville borough.Jacobi's siblings are twins Jason and Jeremy, 17, and younger brother Billy, 2.Only Jacobi has apraxia, which is common enough that a day is recognized for it, but rare enough that some professionals don't identify it.Apraxia Awareness Day was observed Wednesday. Coming up are walks for apraxia and other special events. Information can be obtained at apraxia-kids.org.Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a specific speech disorder that impairs a child's ability to plan the movements of the lips, tongue and jaw that are needed for speech.Rachael Kattner said it was described to her as a condition where the brain and tongue don't react compatibly.The best treatment is therapy, she said.The condition has made it difficult for Jacobi to do well in such subjects as English and spelling, but he is very good at math. He said math is his favorite subject."He had this all his life," Kattner said, noting that when he started kindergarten, he didn't speak at all. By first grade, he was able to say a few words.It wasn't until second or third grade that he actually began talking.She said when she found out Jacobi had apraxia, she went on Facebook and discovered there are thousands of youngsters like Jacobi."But a lot of people don't know what apraxia is," she added.Kattner said of Jacobi, "He gets quiet and shy and wonders if people will judge him because of his speech problem."She recalls that one time at a doctor's office, a nurse gave Jacobi a hard time about not responding to her. "The nurse insisted that he speak," she said. "Sometimes things can get difficult with communication."She added, "Apraxia holds him back from doing a lot of things socially. He gets frustrated and he doesn't want to repeat himself."In the interview, Jacobi said very little to the reporter, except nodding that he plans to overcome the condition.His goal, he said, is to be a policeman, "like my dad."Jacobi had gone out for baseball, but found he didn't fit in socially.He admits that sometimes he gets picked on by other children because of his speech problem, but that he does have a few friends.Jacobi said his hobbies are playing video games and four-wheeling."He's come a long way with his speech," Kattner said. "I wanted to get it out there about his condition because nobody really knows about apraxia, and to protect my son. He feels left out with kids his age because of his speech."