How can a child with apraxia be diagnosed

In most cases, the cause is unknown. There is little data available about how many children have childhood apraxia of speech. The number of children diagnosed with the disorder appears to be on the rise, but it is hard to measure how the incidence has changed over time.

Some additional characteristics of speech production associated with childhood apraxia of speech include:. An accurate diagnosis of childhood apraxia of speech requires a comprehensive speech and language evaluation by a speech-language pathologist SLP.

The SLP will evaluate your child's speech skills and expressive and receptive language abilities, while gathering information from your family about how your child communicates at home and in other situations. It is important that the SLP evaluating your child has experience and expertise in diagnosing and working with childhood apraxia of speech so an accurate diagnosis can be made and other possible diagnoses are ruled out.

For example, childhood apraxia of speech is often confused with a severe articulation disorder, since both diagnoses include poor speech intelligibility. Unfortunately, the approach taken to address an articulation disorder is vastly different than the approach for childhood apraxia of speech, and confusing the two could result in reduced therapy gains. An assessment for childhood apraxia of speech must include an evaluation of your child's expressive and receptive language abilities; many children with this disorder demonstrate deficits in their language skills.

In addition, gaps between receptive and expressive language skills, word order confusion, and difficulty with word recall are common in children with apraxia of speech. To speak, messages need to go from your brain to your mouth. These messages tell the muscles how and when to move to make sounds, all of which takes place in the blink of an eye and without any thought at all. If your child has apraxia, the messages do not get through correctly. Only 3 to 5 percent of kids have childhood apraxia of speech CAS.

According to the America Speech-Language-Hearing Association ASHA , telltale signs of apraxia include inability or difficulty imitating what others say, difficulty initiating movements of the mouth or tongue, difficulty stringing words together to make a clear sentence, speaking in a monotone voice, and difficulty saying vowels.

It's important to note that a child with apraxia understands more language than they're able to use and are completely aware of what is going on around them. So, the brain knows what the lips and the mouth should do, and the lips and the mouth are strong enough, but the message to the oral part of the process is impaired.

Though Damian had started to receive weekly therapy treatments and made huge gains in his speech over the year, by the time he was 3, only his parents could make out what he was saying.

Damian wasn't the only one struggling with this experience. I started pulling everything out to figure out exactly what he wanted. I was in a state of sheer panic that I couldn't understand my own child and help him with his basic needs.

It was probably the worst feeling in the world, I was completely heartbroken and in so much pain. Show references Daroff RB, et al. Dysarthria and apraxia of speech. In: Bradley's Neurology in Clinical Practice. Philadelphia, Pa.

Accessed March 21, Carter J, et al. Etiology of speech and language disorders in children. Childhood apraxia of speech. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Apraxia of speech. Technical report: Childhood apraxia of speech. Overby M, et al. Volubility, consonant, and syllable characteristics in infants and toddlers later diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech: A pilot study.

Journal of Communication Disorders. Childhood apraxia of speech: Signs and symptoms. March 22, What is childhood apraxia of speech? Speech sound disorders. Lee ASY, et al. Non-speech oral motor treatment for children with developmental speech sound disorders. The muscles must move in the right direction with the correct speed and force to produce sounds for understandable speech. The brain controls the planning and programming of these muscle movements. When the speech-language pathologist observes signs of difficulty with planning and programming movements for speech, the child is given the diagnosis of CAS.

CAS is simply a label for this specific type of speech disorder. If the child does not have intentional communication and does not attempt to imitate, the diagnosis of CAS is not possible. For these children, it is more likely that other factors like joint attention or listening comprehension should be the initial focus of treatment.

When the child can attempt imitation of speech, then a dynamic motor speech examination is the best method to diagnose CAS. It also reveals how the child benefits from cues provided by the therapist, an indicator of the expected rate of treatment progress. It is important to understand that CAS is both under diagnosed some children who have it are not diagnosed and over diagnosed some children who do not have it are given the diagnosis. In both instances, incorrect diagnosis can result in a therapy plan that is not addressing the primary, underlying cause of the communication problem.

The following characteristics occur from a variety of speech sound disorders and are not good indicators of CAS:. If your child has been given a diagnosis of CAS based on these symptoms, you should have a follow-up discussion with your speech-language pathologist. Remember, CAS is a rare disorder, and the speech-langauge pathologist may be unfamiliar with the best methods of assessment.

You may want to talk to your therapist about your research and share resources you have found, such as this website.