Does My Child Have Apraxia of Speech?
Was your child described as the "quiet" baby who rarely babbled? Does your child continue to speak significantly less than peers of the same age? When they do try to speak, do they seem to struggle? These are strong indicators of a motor speech disorder known as childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).
What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech?
CAS is a complex neurological childhood speech disorder, impairing one’s ability to plan and coordinate speech movements. Speaking is a complicated task! Our brains work hard to create a thought, designate which speech sounds to combine, then signal our mouth to produce speech movements, creating speech and communicating our message to another person. By our first year of life, the signaling from our brain to our mouth has finally developed enough to produce our first 1-2 words.
Children with CAS typically know precisely what they want to say and understand everything others say to them. However, they experience significant difficulty coordinating speech movements correctly due to the lack of coordination between their brain and the muscles in their mouth.
This limits their ability to speak and results in many of the following symptoms:
Early Signs (birth - 2 years)
Little to no babbling or cooing.
Saying their first consonant after 1 year.
Saying less than five consonants by 2 years.
Later Signs (>2 years)
They are able to say very few words.
They are not adding any new words as they get older.
Inconsistency - they frequently repeat or imitate a word differently each time.
Their words are unintelligible, with distorted vowels, consonants, rate, and/or stress.
Your child is groping or struggling to move their mouth correctly when they speak.
How is Childhood Apraxia of Speech Diagnosed?
Due to the complexity of this disorder, a comprehensive and dynamic assessment is recommended to confirm the presence of CAS and any other possible co-existing disorders. This evaluation should be performed by a licensed speech-language pathologist with expertise in Childhood Apraxia of Speech.
As your child grows, their social relationships may be impacted, affecting their mental and emotional well-being. Children with CAS are also at a higher risk of encountering significant difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling compared to peers, causing them to fall behind academically. If you suspect your child has CAS, it is important that you seek professional support to get as much support as early as possible.
What Does Treatment For Childhood Apraxia of Speech Look Like?
If CAS is diagnosed, a speech-language pathologist will begin intervention to improve your child's sequencing to improve the coordination of motor speech patterns. For younger clients, research shows shorter, more frequent sessions are more effective in achieving results. Specialized CAS intervention strategies and techniques can include:
PROMPTS for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT)
Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC)
Rapid syllable transition treatment (ReST)
With the right therapist, consistent treatment, and carryover of skills in the home by the family, children with CAS can achieve tremendous progress and success in their speech! For more information on CAS, we recommend the following:
An excellent book for parents: “Overcoming Apraxia” by Laura Baskall Smith, M.A., CCC-SLP, who shares her experiences as a parent of a child with CAS.
Children’s book: “The Boy Who Couldn't Speak, Yet (Jordan's World),” based on author Jordan Christian Levan’s journey as a child with CAS.
A free, recorded seminar by Mayo Clinic・Childhood Apraxia of Speech with Edythe Strand, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, providing tailored information for parents of children with CAS.
Apraxia Kids is an invaluable source for information, education, research, and support groups for CAS clients and families.
