Does my child have Childhood
Apraxia of Speech (CAS)?
What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)?
Children with CAS usually understand what others say to them, but they have great difficulty forming clear words in order to speak to others. One of the most telling signs that a child may have CAS is that they drop sounds off the beginning and/or ends of words. Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) can be
difficult to diagnose. Your speech pathologist needs to have worked with many
children with CAS in order to accurately identify signs of CAS. It is also necessary to be able to tell the difference between CAS and other disorders which can present in similar ways. The information provided below, as well as the parent checklist you will find on this webpage can help you work out whether a visit to our clinic may be appropriate for your child. Often the best way to understand what CAS is, is to hear it. Don’t miss the video listed in the ‘NDIS & Advocacy' page of this website, to hear what CAS sounds like.
Definition of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
“Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a neurological childhood speech sound disorder in which the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech are impaired in the absence of neuromuscular deficits” (Adhoc committee)
“The core impairment… in planning and/or programming…movement sequences results in errors in speech sound production and prosody” (Adhoc committee)
Childhood apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder where the speech muscles are fine, and the brain is fine, however, the difficulty lies with getting the message from the brain to the speech muscles in order to say sounds/words/sentences.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech is also known by other names such as Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia. Some children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech can also have Global Apraxia or Developmental
Coordination Disorder.
Understanding Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
One way to explain CAS is to think back to when you were learning to drive a manual car. There were times when, if you thought too hard, you were likely to become confused ("Do I put the clutch in and then press the accelerator, or do I accelerate first?"), however, when the process became more automatic and you didn't need to ‘think about it’ so much, driving was much less effortful. Another example is when we are riding a bike, if we really start to think about all the small steps involved, we may become confused, however, if we are well-practiced in bike-riding and ride without thinking through all the steps involved, the ride is likely to be a much smoother one.
What this may look like in a child that has apraxia of speech is:
Child with CAS wants to say: '‘Mummy I want to go to Rebecca's house'’
Actual realisation: “ummy, eh on oo ou oo Etta's ouse”.
This child experienced great difficulty thinking through all the steps involved in joining all the needed consonants and vowels, therefore a much more simplified version of the message was produced. One that perhaps, only the child’s parents would understand (provided they were aware of the context of what was being said), however, sometimes even parents of children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech are not able to understand what their child is saying.
Will My Child Ever Speak?
Childhood Apraxia of Speech is different to ‘late talkers’ where a child develops speech and language later and then catches up. A child with Childhood Apraxia of Speech won't "just
grow out of it'’. Although treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech is long-term, most children with CAS are capable of achieving significant progress.
