Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

CAS is a relatively rare speech disorder that is neurological in nature. It is the breakdown of messages sent from the brain to the muscles required for speech, rather than muscle weakness. The child’s motor planning and ability to say sounds and words is impacted and as a result they present with lots of sound errors. Diagnosis is complex and involves the careful analysis of the following components:

· Inconsistent errors vowels and consonants in repeated productions of syllables or words (if the child is asked to repeat the same word many times, it may sound different every time)

· Lengthened and disrupted coarticulatory transitions (The child’s speech sounds may sound broken or disconnected due to difficulty transitioning between sounds or words)

· Inappropriate prosody (The rhythm, intonation, and stress of speech may sound wrong, the child may sound robotic, have incorrect phrasing, or place emphasis on the wrong words or syllables).

The intervention we provide involves the use of multi-sensory feedback to help the child plan, sequence and coordinate the fine motor muscle movements required for accurate speech production. We advise strongly that regular, intensive therapy is undertaken in conjunction with home practise to achieve the best outcomes. We implement the following in our programs:

· Speech Sound Production: Facilitate planning and coordinating speech sounds to help the child form functional communication

· Language: We help your child develop the language skills required to construct grammatically correct sentences and participate meaningfully in conversations.

· Prosody: We help your child use intonation, pauses and different stress patterns to create more fluid speech.

· Augmentative-Alternative Communication (AAC): Some children with CAS will require nonverbal supports such as an AAC device. This is always something that should be considered and discussed with the child and their family when a diagnosis has been given.