Childhood AOS is present from birth. This condition is also known as developmental
Childhood apraxia of speech is a genetic disease, which means that it is caused by one or more genes not working correctly.
Causes of Apraxia of Speech
Damage to the parts of the brain that control how your muscles move causes apraxia of speech. Any type of brain damage can cause apraxia. This includes stroke, traumatic brain injury, dementia, brain tumors, and brain diseases that get worse over time.
These symptoms are usually noticed between ages 18 months and 2 years, and may indicate suspected CAS . As children produce more speech, usually between ages 2 and 4, characteristics that likely indicate CAS include: Vowel and consonant distortions.
CAS is sometimes called verbal dyspraxia or developmental apraxia. Even though the word “developmental" is used, CAS is not a problem that children outgrow. A child with CAS will not learn speech sounds in typical order and will not make progress without treatment.
Also known as CAS, childhood apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder that can sometimes accompany autism. Children with apraxia often exhibit different symptoms since the brain of each child has different strengths and weaknesses that correspond to movements made by the mouth, lips, jaw, and tongue.
Some studies suggest that, 1-2 children in every 1,000 children have developmental verbal dyspraxia.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a rare, significant, and lifelong speech disorder. Other names for the disorder are Developmental Apraxia of Speech (DAS) or Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD). CAS does not naturally resolve, and it is very different to other, more common speech problems children can experience.
Children with verbal dyspraxia will need to see a speech and language therapist for treatment and progress is often quite slow. They will need regular, direct therapy. Children with verbal dyspraxia might use different ways to communicate e.g. signing or special equipment that can be programmed to talk for them.
So although there are similarities, autism is primarily a social and communication disorder and dyspraxia is primarily a motor skills disorder. If your child has one of these conditions but you feel they also have other difficulties, you may think about further assessment.
It's not known what causes dyspraxia. You may be at a higher risk of developing it if you were born prematurely. Dyspraxia is more common in men and often runs in families.
Children with DVD have difficulties with accuracy, timing and speed of speech production in the absence of damage to the muscles. The core deficit in developmental verbal dyspraxia is in motor planning of speech production. The cause of DVD is yet unknown. DVD can cooccur with other developmental disorders.
Dyspraxia does not affect a person's IQ, but they may often have to navigate a mind which can be unorganized, meaning they are usually very intelligent people. Navigating around these barriers results in creating strategies to overcome problems really well.
Myth #4: Kids with dyspraxia tend to have low intelligence.
Fact: There's no connection between dyspraxia and IQ . Having dyspraxia doesn't mean a child isn't intelligent. However, the way kids with dyspraxia behave might make them appear less capable than they are.
Dyspraxia is most commonly caused by stroke or acquired brain injury. There are 2 types of Dyspraxia: (1) Oral dyspraxia– difficulty with non-verbal tasks - when asked to do so (E.g. please poke out your tongue), however the person can perform non-verbal tasks successfully and automatically (E.g. licking an ice cream).
While they do not get worse over time, their challenges may become more apparent with increasing academic demands. They have to work harder and/or differently than their peers to achieve the same goals. Despite their difficulties, pupils with dyspraxia can and do learn to perform some motor tasks quite well.
being slow to pick up new skills – they need encouragement and repetition to help them learn. difficulty making friends – they may avoid taking part in team games and may be bullied for being "different" or clumsy. behaviour problems – often stemming from a child's frustration with their symptoms. low self-esteem.
Dyspraxia can make it difficult for children to develop social skills, and they may have trouble getting along with peers. Though they are intelligent, these children may seem immature and some may develop phobias and obsessive behavior.
They do not usually have the accompanying learning disabilities associated with autism, but they may have specific learning difficulties. These may include dyslexia and dyspraxia or other conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy.
They have difficulty with the speed, accuracy and timing of movement sequences that are required to produce clear speech. Children with verbal dyspraxia do not learn speech sounds in typical order. They will NOT outgrow verbal dyspraxia and will not make progress without treatment.
Not every child who has dyspraxia has difficulties with their speech production. If they do have difficulties with their speech they may be referred to as having verbal dyspraxia or Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).
Diagnosis. Developmental verbal dyspraxia can be diagnosed by a speech language pathologist (SLP) through specific exams that measure oral mechanisms of speech. The oral mechanisms exam involves tasks such as pursing lips, blowing, licking lips, elevating the tongue, and also involves an examination of the mouth.
This video is about dyspraxia, a disability that can affect movement and coordination.