Childhood Apraxia of Speech
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), or “apraxia,” is a motor speech disorder. Children with apraxia have deficits with the motor planning aspect of speech, meaning their articulators (e.g., lips, tongue, jaw) have difficulty getting to the correct positions to make a sound, and they may have difficulty moving smoothly to the next sound.
Who Benefits from Speech Therapy for Apraxia:
Children who have difficulty forming more complex speech sounds or longer utterances.
Children who have challenges producing volitional speech (versus automatic speech, such as saying the ABCs).
Children with CAS often demonstrate limited babbling, but not all children with limited babbling receive a diagnosis of CAS.