Are you wondering how to help your child with apraxia make progress in speech therapy? Childhood Apraxia of Speech presents unique challenges to communication.
Why do Different Therapy Approaches Help Kids with Apraxia Make Progress?
When a child has an apraxia diagnosis, it means that they struggle with coordinating the necessary motor plan to sequence speech sounds for coordinated speech production. Their challenge lies in sending the signal from their brain to their articulators and as a result, speech sound errors are present.
Treatment improving sequencing of sounds and movements helps kids with apraxia
Apraxia treatment requires lots of opportunities for practicing movement between different sounds. This is different from other types of speech therapy, for example, phonological therapy, which helps kids learn the rules of the sound system.
Treatment needs to be a maximum level of intensity and frequency to see progress
Because kids with apraxia need to practice so many different types of contexts for speech, it’s typically the case that they need frequent services with a high number of practice opportunities each session.
Kids with Apraxia may benefit from unique teaching methods to help them make progress
In addition to the need for high frequency and high intensity treatment, sometimes the types of techniques a therapist uses for kids with Apraxia may be a little different than those used in other speech sound disorder treatment sessions.
Will Using an AAC Device Help Progress for Kids with Apraxia?
Some kids with apraxia will benefit from using an Alternative or Augmentative Communication device or system to support their communication.
How Do I Know if my Child with Apraxia is Making Enough Progress?
Progress with speech therapy can be a process. Sometimes it takes awhile before you may see definite changes in day to day function, particularly if a child is working on foundational skills like learning the mouth movements for a new sound.
Conclusion
If you’re interested in talking with a Verboso speech-language pathologist about your concerns, learn about how Verboso’s solutions can work for kids with apraxia.