| Childhood Apraxia of Speech (often abbreviated as | | | | evaluation. Early detection and intervention is key for |
| CAS) is a somewhat rare speech disorder. It is | | | | a bright future for your apraxia child. If your child is |
| estimated that 1 in 1,000 children will be diagnosed | | | | older and has speech problems, it's never too late to |
| with apraxia. In comparison, 1 in 150 will be diagnosed | | | | get them evaluated. |
| with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Many parents, and | | | | Early warning signs: |
| indeed doctors, are not aware of what apraxia is, | | | | - little or no babbling during infancy |
| and thus the early warning signs may go unnoticed. | | | | - difficulty with nursing or feeding during infancy |
| Like many other neurological disorders, early | | | | - few consonants |
| treatment is the key to helping your child overcome | | | | - slow, effortful or halting speech |
| the difficulties this speech disorder can present. | | | | - poor speech intelligibility |
| In medical terms, Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a | | | | - difficulty imitating sounds or words |
| motor-planning disorder that is characterized by | | | | - late onset of first words (or "losing" words) |
| difficulty sequencing the speech movements | | | | - inconsistent or unpredictable speech errors |
| necessary for volitional speech. In layman's terms, the | | | | - groping during speech attempts |
| messages sent by the brain to the muscles and | | | | - high frequency of vowel and voicing errors |
| nerves that control voluntary speech get scrambled | | | | - high receptive language, but low or no expressive |
| and the muscles and nerves can't decode them to | | | | language (child understand everything being said, but |
| understand what to do. This is not a speech delay, | | | | can't say anything back) |
| but a true neurological disorder. It is unclear what | | | | - "soft" neurological signs, such as sensory problems, |
| causes apraxia, but it appears to be related to | | | | sensitivity to touch, fine motor problems |
| immature neurological development, rather than | | | | - slow or no progress with traditional speech therapy |
| caused by an injury to the brain, such as is seen in | | | | (apraxic kids benefit from specialized, intensive |
| stroke patients with apraxia. Though it has been | | | | therapy that isn't necessarily know by all |
| named "childhood" apraxia of speech, it is not strictly | | | | speech-language pathologists) |
| a childhood disease. A child diagnosed with apraxia will | | | | As the mother of a severely apraxic child, I |
| struggle their entire lives with their speech, though it | | | | understand the fear that hearing such a diagnosis can |
| will probably get easier to speak as they get older. | | | | bring. My son is not on the spectrum, nor does he |
| Many children with Autism, Down Syndrome, and | | | | have any other disability (well, he does have minor |
| Cerebral Palsy have been diagnosed with CAS, | | | | sensory issues and minor hypotonia). Unless you hear |
| though apraxia does appear in children who have no | | | | him talk, you would never know that he can't talk. |
| other disabilities. Common co-morbid conditions include | | | | My first thought upon hearing the diagnosis was "Will |
| hypotonia (low muscle tone), sensory integrations | | | | he ever speak?" You are probably wondering the |
| problems, and language delay. Many older children | | | | same thing about your recently diagnosed child. The |
| with apraxia have trouble with reading, writing, and | | | | answer is yes, more than likely your child will speak, |
| spelling. Because of this, early intervention with | | | | especially with early intervention. You child may not |
| speech therapy and occupational therapy is very | | | | speak "normally," he may need to use ASL (as mine |
| important for a child's future at school. | | | | does) or a communication device, but he will be able |
| While there are some warning signs that are | | | | to communicate and lead a pretty typical life. The |
| commonly seen in apraxic children, many parents are | | | | most important thing a parent can do is recognize |
| told by well meaning friends, family, and even | | | | the early warnings signs, push your pediatrician or |
| pediatricians to "just wait and see." If your child | | | | other professional for help, and get involved in your |
| shows several of the warning signs listed below, don't | | | | child's treatment. With hard work, and possibly years |
| take the wait it out approach. As your pediatrician to | | | | of therapy, most people will never even know that |
| refer you to a speech-language pathologist for an | | | | your child has childhood apraxia of speech. |