Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is considered a childhood motor speech disorder which is “characterized by deficits in sequencing the movements required for speech production” (Teverovsky. Bickel, & Feldman, 2007). CAS can occur due to a co-occurring neurological disorder or it may be associated with neurogenic speech sound disorder that has no known cause. The features associated with a diagnosis of CAS are what it is usually distinguished by.
According to ASHA (2014), there are many signs and symptoms that indicate a child has CAS. It is found that these children commonly display these characteristics in order to be diagnosed. These characteristics include: “inconsistent errors in vowel and consonant production in repeated production of syllables and words, lengthened transitions between sounds and syllable and inappropriate prosody” (ASHA, 2014). These functional areas have been consistent deficits associated with CAS and are also involved in planning and programming of speech. These features are not considered to be the only associated characteristics with a diagnosis of CAS. These children may also experience co-occurring phonological and language problems.
The impairment of inconsistency and precision of the motor speech movements is what is to be considered the core problem for a child with CAS. The features that are included in CAS have not been considered by ASHA (2014) to be the only diagnostic features of CAS as not all signs and symptoms are seen in every child. No sites of lesion in the brain have been identified to be the cause of CAS. The diagnosis of CAS is considered to be without the presence of oral motor weakness (Daniel, 2009) It is also important to note that a child with CAS may experience other disord...

... middle of paper ...

... for additional assistance. Integral stimulation does not provide tactile cues, only providing visual and auditory cues during treatment (Dale and Hayden, 2013). Both treatments need further research to be done to improve on the idea of either as a motor based treatment for CAS.

Works Cited

Daniel, R. (2008). Effects of Integral Stimulation Therapy on Speech Intelligibility of a Child Diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.
Edeal, D, M. (2009). Integral Stimulation Deconstructed: A Treatment Efficacy Study for Childhood Apraxia of Speech. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.
Strand, E. (2000). The Efficacy of Integrated Stimulation Intervention with Developmental Apraxia of Speech. Journal of Medical Speech Language Pathology, 8(4), 295-300.