First, there obviously is no “guaranteed” outcome for a child with apraxia of speech. However, many, many children can learn to speak quite well and be entirely verbal and intelligible if given early appropriate therapy and enough of it.
You may be referring to the recent report that speech apraxia – a relatively rare disorder – affects up to 65 percent of children with autism.
Although Childhood Apraxia of Speech—or CAS—is not listed in the SSA's blue book, your child may still qualify for disability benefits. There are two ways in which your child may qualify for SSI without meeting a blue book listing: Match the specific medical criteria listed under a separate but similar listing.
CAS is sometimes called verbal dyspraxia or developmental apraxia. Even though the word “developmental" is used, CAS is not a problem that children outgrow. A child with CAS will not learn speech sounds in typical order and will not make progress without treatment.
Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a speech disorder in which a child's brain has difficulty coordinating the complex oral movements needed to create sounds into syllables, syllables into words, and words into phrases. Typically, muscle weakness is not to blame for this speech disorder.
Please note that children with apraxia and other communication problems can and have successfully moved on in grade level or school setting with appropriate support and attention.
Childhood apraxia of speech is a type of speech disorder. It's present from birth. A child with this condition has problems making sounds correctly and consistently.
Is childhood apraxia of speech genetic? The cause for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) has remained unknown since the condition was first described in the 1950s. In many cases, the suspected cause is due to a complex interaction between a child's genetic and brain makeup, and their environmental influences.
Speech therapy. Your child's speech-language pathologist will usually provide therapy that focuses on practicing syllables, words and phrases. When CAS is relatively severe, your child may need frequent speech therapy, three to five times a week. As your child improves, the frequency of speech therapy may be reduced.
What can you do to help at home?
- Repetition, repetition, and repetition! Intervention has to be systematic, hierarchical and repetitive to help teach different sound sequences.
- Practice at home! Practice the words/approximations that your Speech-Language Pathologist is working on with your child.
- Isolate one word.
Abnormalities in the FOXP2 gene appear to increase the risk of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and other speech and language disorders. The FOXP2 gene may be involved in how certain nerves and pathways in the brain develop.
Disorders of articulation or speech-sound disorders (SSD) are common in early childhood. Children with these disorders may be at risk for reading difficulties because they may have poor auditory, phonologic, and verbal memory skills.
In some cases of acquired apraxia, the condition resolves spontaneously. This is not the case with childhood apraxia of speech, which does not go away without treatment. There are various treatment approaches used for apraxia.
While there is no CURE, regular and intensive speech therapy using the principles of motor learning that is accessed early in the child's life/diagnosis is known to best treat CAS. This means consistent attendance to therapy where the Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) has experience in treating CAS.
Aphasia is when a person has a problem understanding or using words. This can make it hard to speak, read, or write. But apraxia is when someone has a hard time making the movements to speak because of a problem with their muscles.
Apraxia is an effect of neurological disease. It makes people unable to carry out everyday movements and gestures. For example, a person with apraxia may be unable to tie their shoelaces or button up a shirt. People with apraxia of speech find it challenging to talk and express themselves through speech.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Diagnosis and Tests
- Checking for signs of mouth muscle weakness.
- Looking at non-speech oral motor skills such as blowing, smiling, rounding lips, and how quickly the child can move his or her mouth.
- Observing how the child pauses or changes the pitch of his or her voice.
- Checking how well the child makes consonant and vowel sounds.
Children with communication disorders frequently do not perform at grade level. They may struggle with reading, have difficulty understanding and expressing language, misunderstand social cues, avoid attending school, show poor judgment, and have difficulty with tests.
Muscle-strengthening exercises and controlled breathing help improve the way your words sound. You'll also learn ways to practice smoother, more fluent speech. Some people with speech disorders experience nervousness, embarrassment, or depression. Talk therapy may be helpful in these situations.
A child with a speech-language delay is likely to have difficulty following instructions, especially if the instructions are only given orally and if they contain multiple words and/or steps. In addition, children who have problems with speech-language skills may also have difficulty learning how to read and spell.
Language and speech impairments can negatively impact a child's social life and academic performance. Oftentimes these children are bullied by their peers, which then leads to social awkwardness, isolation, or behavioral trouble. 40-75% of children with a language impairment will have problems learning to read.
Clinical interventions of reading disorders by speech-language therapists are highly recommended by scientific-based evidence [11]. Intervention should encompass decoding and coding at the word level to improve reading and spelling accuracy, fluency and prosody, as well text comprehension and writing [32].
Children who can articulate their words and thoughts clearly have an advantage in learning to read over those children who have poor oral language skills. Oral language teaches children cultural nuances, giving them specific background knowledge that aides in reading comprehension.
What Causes Speech or Language Delays? A speech delay might be due to: an oral impairment, like problems with the tongue or palate (the roof of the mouth) a short frenulum (the fold beneath the tongue), which can limit tongue movement.
There are four types of errors in articulation. These are best remebered as the acronym S.O.D.A. SODA stands for Substitution, Omission, Distortion, and Addition.
Your child may have trouble producing speech sounds, using spoken language to communicate, or understanding what other people say. Speech and language problems are often the earliest sign of a learning disability.
