Apraxia of Speech

¶ … apraxia of speech in children, some of its characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and the future of children affected with the disease. Apraxia of speech is the difficulty of a child to form sounds into words. It is a neurological disorder, and can be called dyspraxia. "Children with apraxia have difficulty correctly putting together the movement patterns and sequences needed to produce sounds, syllables or words. This is especially true when they are trying their hardest to speak clearly" (Gretz).

Usually children who have apraxia understand language very well, they just cannot say what they hear, and what they want to say. "The problem occurs when the brain tries to tell the muscles what to do -- somehow that message gets scrambled. It's like trying to watch cable TV stations without the right descrambler. There is nothing wrong with the TV station, and nothing wrong with your set" (Faculty). Apraxia of speech has certain telltale characteristics.

Before a child is diagnosed with apraxia, and audiologist should be consulted to make sure the speech problem is not associated with a hearing problem. There are many signs in young and older children that they might have apraxia. They usually do not coo and babble when they are babies. They delay saying their first words, and when they do, they are missing sounds. They also only can say a few different consonants, and have a hard time combining sounds. The simplify words, and replace hard sounds with easier sounds.

They may have feeding problems, too. Older children may make errors in sounds that are not the result of immaturity. They can understand the language, but cannot reproduce it. They have a hard time imitating speech, they may have more difficulty saying longer phrases than shorter ones, and the condition appears to be worse when he or she is anxious. The child is often difficult for listeners to understand. (Developmental Apraxia).

Often, as the child gets older, they may not be able to say the word, but they can write it. Fortunately, there are many things that parents can do to help their child affected by apraxia. First and foremost, do not put pressure on the child to speak, it will only frustrate them, and make it harder for them. Instead, it is best to try other verbal exchanges, such as singing songs -- especially repetitive songs, like Old MacDonald.

Singing songs or using rhythm, like beating on a drum can be very valuable for the child. Recite poems with them. Do verbal games such as pat-a-cake, and Willowby Walloby Woo. Read repetitive books. Involve them in daily routines, such as prayers, salute to the flag, social greetings, etc. (Faculty). Families should always remember that treatment for this disease takes time, and a great deal of commitment. "The treatment program for children with speech apraxia must be individualized and flexible" (Various).

When you are working with your child, keep the sessions short, and work on repetitive sounds and phrases. Luckily for children and parents alike, there are many effective diagnoses and treatment options available for children that suffer from apraxia of speech. Some professionals have found that using sign language can help the child affected with apraxia; it can often help with speech development. There is still a lot of study that needs to be done on apraxia, and as professionals learn more, treatments that are more effective can be developed.

Intervention for the child diagnosed with developmental apraxia of speech often focuses on improving the planning, sequencing, and coordination of motor movements for speech production. The child is taught exercises that strengthen the muscles of the lips, jaw and tongue as well as those that improve the coordination of the speech mechanism...With this feedback, the child repeats syllables, words, sentences and longer utterances to improve muscle coordination and sequencing for speech.

If assessment reveals expressive and/or receptive language deficits, treatment will include improving these skill areas as well" (Developmental Apraxia). The future outlook of children diagnosed with apraxia of speech can be very bright. However, each child is different, their therapies are different, and their reactions to the therapies are different. "To date, there are no definitive studies of the outcome of children with apraxia.

This is due to the lack of agreement/identification of this group of children, and also due to the fact that there are no two children with apraxia who are exactly alike in terms of their apraxic characteristics, so establishing a control group to determine efficacy and results of long-term therapy is very difficult" (Hinkman). There is good news in the long-term prognosis of apraxia, however.

Studies show that the more often a child receives appropriate treatment, the better their long-term prognosis is for recovery, and so do children who have a good relationship with their therapist. Those whose parents support them, and work with them also show a better prognosis. Works Cited Agin, Marilyn C., M.D. "Apraxia, What's That?" CHERAB Foundation, Inc. 9 Oct. 2001. http://www.shopinservice.com/apraxia.htm Ball, Laura J., Beukelman, David R., and Bernthal, John E. "Profiling Children with Developmental Apraxia of Speech: Planning Comprehensive Intervention." University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 1998.

http://aac.unl.edu/ball/DASasha98/tsld001.htm Buesser, Jeanne. "Late Talker vs. Apraxia." CHERAB Foundation, Inc. 5 Oct. 2001.