Children with CAS won't simply outgrow the condition, but over time and with regular (and often intensive) speech therapy, their speech is likely to improve. The speech pathologist will approach the treatment to address the specific motor planning difficulties that your child is experiencing.
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.
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.
CAS is not a disorder that can be “outgrown,” rather children with CAS will not make progress without treatment. There is little data available about how many children have childhood apraxia of speech.
First, there obviously is no “guaranteed” outcome for a child with apraxia of speech. However, many, many children can learn to speak quite well and be entirely verbal and intelligible if given early appropriate therapy and enough of it.
What causes developmental verbal dyspraxia? Acquired verbal dyspraxia is caused by damage to brain specific to the regions that involve the process of speaking. This can occur in a child after an infection, traumatic brain injury, brain tumour, stroke or an illness that can affect the functioning of the brain.
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.
Daniel Radcliffe (Actor)
Best known for his titular role in the Harry Potter films, Daniel revealed that he had a mild form of dyspraxia in 2008 in an interview for his Broadway debut in Equus. He was unsuccessful at school and 'he sometimes still has trouble tying his shoelaces.
Dyspraxic people tend to be good at bold 'big picture' thinking, pattern-spotting and inferential reasoning. Due to the challenges they experience they are often resourceful, persistent, and determined problem-solvers. Likewise, with the right support in place they are very reliable and hard working.
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.
Some Facts About Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD)
DVD is a rare speech condition, which appears to be more common in boys than girls. Some children might have a milder case and others might be more severely affected.
For children under 7 in Australia, a formal diagnosis of DCD can form the basis for an Early Child Early Intervention Plan with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Funding through this plan may assist with the necessary therapy.
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).
Dyspraxia does not affect your intelligence. It can affect your co-ordination skills – such as tasks requiring balance, playing sports or learning to drive a car.
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.
Research suggests that: Around 50% of people with dyspraxia/DCD also have ADHD. Around 10% of people with dyspraxia/DCD show signs of autism while around 80% of children with autism have movement difficulties consistent with a diagnosis of dyspraxia/DCD.
Can dyspraxia get worse with age? Childhood dyspraxia is not an illness and it won't get worse in the way that some illnesses do. However, because it can affect children in different ways at different stages in their lives, it may have more impact at some stages than at others.
The brain does not process the written word as do most brains and so people with this condition must learn in other ways. Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Ford and Richard Branson had/have this condition. Dyspraxia is a brain-based motor disorder.
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.
Tend to get stressed, depressed and anxious easily. May have difficulty sleeping. Prone to low self-esteem, emotional outbursts, phobias, fears, obsessions, compulsions and addictive behaviour.
Difficulty moving smoothly from one sound, syllable or word to another. Groping movements with the jaw, lips or tongue to make the correct movement for speech sounds. Vowel distortions, such as attempting to use the correct vowel, but saying it incorrectly.
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.