What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech?

Childhood apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder. The child has difficulty working the muscles in the face and tongue in order to produce speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say but cannot coordinate the muscles to produce the words. Speech therapy in your local area of NH or MA can help. The Therapy & Learning Center realizes how important it is to help children with this difficulty. Now with better understanding, they do not have to feel alone.

Symptoms

Infants may not babble or “coo”. Younger children may have difficulty saying longer words or phrases, or may have difficulty when he or she is anxious. For older children, this issue can be tough to deal with as he or she may be teased at school for having difficulty with language, or may appear to understand language better than he or she can talk. Sometimes, children with apraxia may have delayed language development and may be hypersensitive (over sensitive) or hyposensitive (under sensitive). Some may not like toothbrushes or crunchy foods, or cannot tell the shape of an object in their mouth.

Diagnosis

A speech pathologist can check for weakness in the facial muscles and have the child imitate non-speech movements such as smiling and pursing the lips. A speech pathologist will also listen to the child and determine how well he or she can pronounce certain sounds and how well others can understand the child’s speech.

Treatment

Individual, intense therapy sessions work best for starting out. As the child improves, group therapy may be more appropriate. Practice at home is very important and the child’s family will be asked to help the child practice his or her speech. Apraxia is not a disorder of the muscles, so exercises designed to “strengthen” the muscles will not work.

When a child has a speech disorder, it can be upsetting for everyone involved. With your patience, understanding and support, the child may soon either overcome the disorder completely or work with the disorder in order to feel normal again. Contact the Therapy & Learning Center at 603-577-5517 or visit them at 142 Main Street, Suite 206 in Nashua, NH. You can feel comfortable and rest assured that you or your child no longer has to work through this disorder alone.