What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech?
Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. These children have difficulties producing certain sounds and words. This is likely due to the brains having planning difficulties to move the body parts that are required for speech.
What are some signs or symptoms of Apraxia of Speech?
How can we help?
We will conduct an oro- motor assessment and a speech assessment to identify the sounds that the child has difficulty with producing. Subsequently, we will also look into the child’s production of stress syllables in words and sentences.
Children with CAS have more improvement when they receive frequent and intensive therapy. Intervention focuses on improving the motor planning, coordination as well as sequencing of the muscles required for speech.
New research data revealed that there is a significant increase in children diagnosed with speech and language delays or disorders in the recent years. We want to encourage parents to avoid the ‘wait and see’ approach that is all too common with speech and language disorders. The earlier we reach a child, the more successful, the less expensive, and the shorter the course of treatment. By delaying an assessment and/or treatment to see if a child outgrows a potential disorder, parents may be missing a key window of opportunity. This is why it is important for parents to educate themselves about the signs and seek an assessment from a speech therapist if they have any concern.
What is Speech Sound Disorder?
There is a range of ages when children should be producing the different sounds correctly. A speech disorder or articulation difficulties occur when it is difficult to understand the child as they are not clear enough when they speak and/ or they are unable to produce certain sounds clearly by the expected age. Some children may continue making mistakes in producing certain speech sounds after they reach a certain age and that is when speech therapy should be sought.
What causes Speech Sound Disorder?
Some of the common causes to speech disorders are:
What are some signs or symptoms of a Speech Sound Disorder?
How can we help?
We will do an oro- motor assessment to look into the movements of the articulators: lips, tongue, jaw to determine the strength, range and rate of the muscles. Following that we will do an assessment to look more in- depth in the sounds that your child may have difficulty producing.
We will then choose the most appropriate sounds to target based on the child’s age and results of the assessment after discussion with their parents. Thereafter we will use fun activities to help motivate the child to learn through play.
New research data revealed that there is a significant increase in children diagnosed with speech and language delays or disorders in the recent years. We want to encourage parents to avoid the ‘wait and see’ approach that is all too common with speech and language disorders. The earlier we reach a child, the more successful, the less expensive, and the shorter the course of treatment. By delaying an assessment and/or treatment to see if a child outgrows a potential disorder, parents may be missing a key window of opportunity. This is why it is important for parents to educate themselves about the signs and seek an assessment from a speech therapist if they have any concern.