Alexander Center > Common Conditions > Childhood apraxia of speech

Common conditions

This section includes conditions that can be evaluated and treated by Alexander Center professionals.

	[ hide list ] A B C | D E F | G H I | J K L | M N O | P Q R | S T U | V W | X Y Z Asperger's disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Auditory processing disorder Autism spectrum disorders   Bed-wetting, soiling Bed-wetting (enuresis) Behavioral problems Childhood apraxia of speech Chronic motor tic Developmental disorders Developmental dyslexia Emotional disorders Fluency disorder, stuttering Habit disorders Learning disorders Mathematics disorder Mixed receptive and expressive language disorder Pervasive development disorder Phonological disorder Psychophysiological disorders Soiling (encopresis) Speech, language disorders Tic disorders Tourette's syndrome Written expression disorders No conditions are available for this section.

Childhood apraxia of speech

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) – also called developmental apraxia of speech – is a neurologically (controlled by the brain) based speech disorder that makes it difficult to plan and carry out movements of the lips, jaw and tongue, which are all necessary for speech. Children who have CAS have the physical and mental abilities, as well as the intention to speak; however, they cannot produce and put sounds, syllables and words in order. 

Different severity levels exist for apraxia. Depending on the child’s level, he or she might only have a small number of problems or severe problems and have to use other ways to communicate (for example, sign language or a computer).

Symptoms

Children who have apraxia of speech may exhibit these symptoms.

• Incorrectly using and ordering sounds and syllables
• Understanding words better than they can use them
• Accenting and stressing words in places other than where they should be accented
• Using limited consonants
• Having trouble with vowels
• Skipping consonant sounds in words (for example, skip the first or last consonant in a word or skip a consonant when two occur together)
• Searching for a particular place to put their tongue or way to position their lips when trying to talk

Treatment

Treatment for childhood apraxia of speech likely will include speech therapy sessions with a licensed therapist. It is a lengthy process and requires a great deal of patience from parents.

Parents can help by:

• not pressuring children to speak
• practicing speech with children regularly
• offering encouragement and support
• repeating things that you do aloud, so that children pick up on the repetition
• offering other ways for children to communicate, such as sign language

See also speech and language disorders