Let’s Talk About Childhood Apraxia of Speech!
May was Apraxia Awareness Month and while I’m a little late in this post, it’s important to highlight this since one of the most common questions I get asked is “what is Apraxia of Speech?”. It’s one of my favorite topics, let’s get into it.
What is Apraxia of Speech?
For the purposes of this blog, I’m going to focus on what we consider Childhood Apraxia of Speech, also known as CAS. CAS is a motor speech disorder, with varying characteristics. The easiest way to explain CAS is that a child may often have an idea of what they want to say but it’s difficult for their articulators (that’s your teeth, tongue, and jaw) to make a motor plan for the speech movements required for their message.
Oftentimes, these children have a tough time sequencing movements between consonants and vowels. This might lead to them having fewer consonants that they utilize or fewer vowels. Sometimes they have vowel distortions, meaning they’re trying to say one vowel but it sounds slightly “off”. They may experience groping or extraneous movements of their articulators when trying to make these speech movements.
What is it NOT?
CAS is not an articulation disorder. It’s not errors on 1-2 sounds that a child may need support with. Children with CAS often have a variety of sounds in error, errors may be inconsistent, or they may have issues with the timing of speech production.
How is speech therapy beneficial for CAS?
CAS often requires intensive speech therapy because children require repeated practice with targeted sequences of sounds in order to be successful. There are a handful of evidence-based methodologies that speech therapists can utilize for Apraxia of Speech, including PROMPT, DTTC, Kaufman, and REST. Clinicians trained in these methodologies often understand the intricacies of planning goals and treatment for Apraxia of Speech.
What’s your approach to treating CAS?
First of all, it has to be fun. But if you been here a bit, you know I was going to say that!
Second of all, words we focus on have to be functional. Duh!
But the real meat is in having a dynamic approach. With training in many methodologies to support kids with Apraxia, I pull from each of them in session. Each of those approaches has areas of strength that I pull from based on a client’s current challenges, willingness to participate, current level of functioning, and what’s working for them specifically.
What’s one thing that surprises me about CAS?
Often the first sign that a child may have Apraxia of Speech is that they’re a really quiet baby. This means that instead of babbling along in their crib while they wait for a parent to come get them, that they’re rather quiet. Maybe they continue to be quiet with little noise or babbling as they play with their toys or engage in gross motor activities.
While this isn’t an official diagnostic feature of CAS, it’s one that has repeatedly been reported to me by parents over the years!
Where’s the best place to learn more about Apraxia of Speech?
Apraxia Kids is a wonderful organization that provides a lot of incredible information and resources about Apraxia of Speech. I highly encourage parents, clinicians, or educators looking to learn more about CAS to check out their website at www.apraxia-kids.org.
