To diagnose CAS, an SLP will learn about the child’s history, including any known medical problems. The SLP will also test the child’s oral-motor skills and intonation (pitch) and the way he or she says sounds. The SLP will also test the child’s ability to speak by: Checking for signs of mouth muscle weakness.

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.

These symptoms are usually noticed between ages 18 months and 2 years, and may indicate suspected CAS . As children produce more speech, usually between ages 2 and 4, characteristics that likely indicate CAS include: Vowel and consonant distortions.

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.

Apraxia is usually caused by damage to the parietal lobes or to nerve pathways that connect these lobes to other parts of the brain, such as frontal and/or temporal lobes. These areas store memories of learned sequences of movements.

When it’s caused by a stroke, apraxia of speech typically does not worsen and may get better over time. But, apraxia of speech often is ignored as a distinct entity that can evolve into a neurologic disorder, causing difficulty with eye movement, using the limbs, walking and falling that worsens as time passes.

A child with Apraxia of Speech will learn to read with a multisensory, structured, systematic, cumulative and repetitive reading program plus intensive therapy in phonemic awareness and phonological processing!

Children who receive an apraxia of speech diagnosis should begin speech therapy with a speech-language pathologist (SLP), preferably one that has had previous experience and success in treating apraxia. Exactly how often the child should have speech therapy will vary according to the individual needs of each child.

Children with apraxia also may have: sensitivity problems with their mouths, such as not liking to brush their teeth or eat crunchy foods. difficulties with fine and gross motor skills and coordination.

With speech-language therapy, a person with apraxia of speech can improve dramatically.