Childhood Apraxia of Speech is some degree of disrupted speech motor control. In other words, a child diagnosed with CAS experiences difficulty rapidly and accurately moving and sequencing the tongue, lips and palate for the required movements for continuous and intelligible speech production. While the data on incidents of CAS in children is lacking, the estimates of some sources indicate that CAS is low incidence with perhaps 1 – 10 in 1000 children affected or 3 – 5 % of speech-impaired preschoolers.
What does this look like at home, one the playground, in preschool? A child with CAS may experience a limited number of vowel sounds, difficulty imitating mouth movements and/or words/sounds, or a variety of errors that may be unusual or idiosyncratic. Children with CAS may or may not experience receptive language deficits. Depending on the child, negative behaviors associated with not being understood may also be evident.
What does a parent do? Where do you go? An experienced Speech-Language Pathologist in the area of CAS can help navigate families and children through the CAS journey. As a parent/caregiver, do not feel intimidated asking if your SLP has experience in the area of CAS. The therapists at Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC. are happy to answer your questions about CAS as well as provide specific therapeutic interventions.
February is CAS awareness month. If you would like more information, please feel free to ask your Speech-Language Pathologists as well as visit The Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America.
Yours in Speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.
