22/02/2025
Autism and Childhood Apraxia of speech
Children with apraxia have difficulty coordinating the use of their tongue, lips, mouth and jaw to produce clear and consistent speech sounds.
Recently a study has revealed that Apraxia affects 65% of children with autism, due to which they have difficulty putting together words and have clear speech.
Evaluating apraxia in a child with autism can be particularly challenging. So the assessment may require a few sessions, in order to avoid overtaxing your child.
Typically, we need children to have at least some speech in order to hear and see if they have symptoms of apraxia.
Once a speech-language pathologist has diagnosed apraxia and developed a personalized treatment plan, a variety of professionals – including speech and occupational therapists - can help with various parts of the intervention program. As a parent, you will also have an active role to play.
The intervention strategies to be used will vary child to child
👉 visual gesture cuing
The parent or therapist touches his or her mouth while saying a sound. For example, we would place the index finger in front of the lips and move it away while saying the “p” sound. The cue draws the child’s attention to how the lips form the sound.
👉 building a core vocabulary
This will help in practice and consistency.
Remember the treatment needs lots of patience and consistency. A SLP can only provide the skills and tailor made your plan.
Is the information helpful??
