Signs and Symptoms of Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurological speech disorder which affects the child's oral motor skills. The child with speech apraxia has difficulty positioning his or her mouth to pronounce words correctly, making it difficult for others to understand what he or she is saying. CAS is often called developmental apraxia, but it not a developmental problem that the child will grow out of. Childhood apraxia of speech is often detected when the child is two years old or older, when most speech problems are likely to be noticed by parents and physicians.

Childhood apraxia of speech is a neurological disorder which disturbs the signals between the brain and the mouth, resulting in difficulty making the correct mouth movements to produce certain vowel or consonant sounds. It is uncommon for a child with apraxia to have problems with other oral movements such as eating, swallowing, or licking and often they can produce sounds that at other times they are unable to say. According to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, some of the characteristics shown by children with speech apraxia are difficulty making speech sounds, using grunting to communicate, trouble trying to say the beginning sounds of words and struggling to produce words, limiting speech to only a few sounds that don't cause them difficulty, and showing the ability to understand what is being said (receptive language) to a much greater degree than the ability to communicate (expressive language.) The speech problems may also appear when the child is more anxious or nervous than when he or she is calm. Many children with speech apraxia are oversensitive or hyposensitive to objects in their mouth. For example, the child can't identify something in their mouth by the way it feels or they may have an extreme aversion to brushing the teeth.

As with many other speech and language problems, childhood apraxia of speech can result in a child having trouble learning to read, write and spell. Other motor skills problems have been seen in children with apraxia, such as the fine motor skills needed to color and cut. Expressive language delays can also result from childhood apraxia of speech, so early detection and treatment is very important. If you feel that your child may have a speech or language problem, discuss the issue with your family doctor. Typically, a doctor will refer you for an evaluation by a licensed Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP). Once the issue is addressed, the SLP can determine a program of services to help meet the individual needs of your child.

Sources:
Cinncinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center