Childhood apraxia of speech

[armpants]

My son is 2 (3 in July) and has been in speech through a state program for a little over a year. Today his therapist told me she thinks he has CAS. She isn't able to give us an official diagnosis, we'll need to go through a private therapist who can do the test battery for that. We decided that I'll get him tested when I'm on leave in June/July. He will be changing state programs when he turns 3 and will go from the individual therapy he has now, to a small group therapy. She let me know if we do get the official diagnosis of CAS then he will benefit greatly from also having individual therapy.

I really trust his current therapist, and the reasons she described to me as well as what I've read since our session this afternoon makes me think this diagnosis is a strong possibility for us. I was able to chat a little with a friend who is a SLP in another state who pointed me in the direction of a few resources, and I have a few books on the way so I can educate myself and have ideas of what to expect and ask when we have him tested.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with CAS they wouldn't mind sharing. Any tips, what therapy has looked like, what the testing battery consisted of. TIA.

[McBenny]

I have a friend from my BMB Nov 2005 who has a child with CAS and has a lot of knowledge about resources. I can put you in touch with her. She is very active among parents of CAD.

[armpants]

Thank you McBenny, that would be wonderful and greatly appreciated.

[smilesp]

I could have written your post. DS is 3 in May and we’ve been doing EI speech therapy since he turned 3 with no real progress. The EI coordinator told me she thinks he is CAS but they don’t diagnose it. I have a meeting with the school since we’ll be starting therapy through them in May. We are also starting private therapy in May. DS says bye, yeah, and uh uh (for no) and makes some animal sounds but understands everything as far as we can tell.

There was another thread about CAS here not too long ago.

[lucilleaustero]

My 3.5 year old has CAS. He started EI at age 2. He was diagnosed with CAS at age 3, while getting evaluated for district services.

He gets PROMPT speech therapy 3 times a week, 30 minutes a session. PROMPT is considered a great therapy for CAS because it physically manipulates a child's mouth into proper form.

My son went from zero words to an age appropriate amount of words but with horrible articulation. Truly, 99% of his language was not understandable. Just had his 2nd IEP meeting and his gains have been remarkable. Most people understand most of what he says.

With CAS, you generally are talking years of speech therapy instead of months, but the difference, even in severe cases, can be remarkable.

I will answer any questions I can. Feel free to pm me if you want to. Going to bed now, but will check in the morning.

[lucilleaustero]

Mar 15, 2018 19:10:25 GMT -6 smilesp said:

I could have written your post. DS is 3 in May and we’ve been doing EI speech therapy since he turned 3 with no real progress. The EI coordinator told me she thinks he is CAS but they don’t diagnose it. I have a meeting with the school since we’ll be starting therapy through them in May. We are also starting private therapy in May.

There was another thread about CAS here not too long ago.

Most EI providers do not really go near CAS, since articulation is not expected until age 3, when kids get district services. My son was diagnosed through the district when he was evaled since they do provide services for articulation disorders.

[armpants]

smilesp I'll search for the thread in the morning, thank you. We can hold each other's hands through this process.

[armpants]

Thank you lucilleaustero. Once I can clarify what I want to ask I'll send you a message.

[smilesp]

armpants Here is the link
howeverithappened.proboards.com/thread/10473/developmental-apraxia

[lupincat]

No advice, just following along. Our sons are the same age (DS1 will also be 3 in July) and our speech therapist is suspecting apraxia of speech at this point as well.

So, solidarity. It's tough.

[dogbutt]

My daughter will be 3 April 1. We got her in ST at 18 months they suspected apraxia but wouldn’t diagnose until 3. We ended up moving at 6 months of therapy once a week and it turns out she has a motor planning /processing issue. It was confirmed by our new therapy group. She will being going twice a week for 30 minute session. Girl cannot make a kissy face to give you a better ide of what I mean. Anyways during my time with our first gerapist she recommended a Facebook group for apraxia. Apraxia kids-every child deserves a voice. there’s a to. Of support and great resources. I’m sorry you are dealing with this, it’s frustrating and freakin hard. I personally felt and do feel I failed my child. It’s a hard for us parents but I keep reminding myself I’m doing the best by acknowledging my kid needs help and we will do what we need to do to get her up to speed. I’m here for you and honestly use me to
Vent bc damn it’s exciting to see you
Kid make a step forward in speech and then a buzz kill to see them stall. I’m rambling but I hope what you get
From this that you are not alone.

[dogbutt]

Mar 15, 2018 19:22:18 GMT -6 smilesp said:

armpants Here is the link
howeverithappened.proboards.com/thread/10473/developmental-apraxia

Lol I pretty much wrote what I said I t his thread.

[armpants]

Mar 15, 2018 21:49:19 GMT -6 dogbutt said:

I’m here for you and honestly use me to
Vent bc damn it’s exciting to see you
Kid make a step forward in speech and then a buzz kill to see them stall. I’m rambling but I hope what you get
From this that you are not alone.

So much this right now. We had been working heavily on vowel sounds recently and he was doing great, but recently he's stalled. I know I'm so lucky to have a therapist who is willing to keep working with him to find new ways to engage him, and also one who recognized the signs pig possible CAS. But it's so hard not to look for what I did wrong.

[Deleted]

I know she’s been busy but cribs has experience

[dogbutt]

Mar 16, 2018 3:43:18 GMT -6 armpants said:

Mar 15, 2018 21:49:19 GMT -6 dogbutt said:

I’m here for you and honestly use me to
Vent bc damn it’s exciting to see you
Kid make a step forward in speech and then a buzz kill to see them stall. I’m rambling but I hope what you get
From this that you are not alone.

So much this right now. We had been working heavily on vowel sounds recently and he was doing great, but recently he's stalled. I know I'm so lucky to have a therapist who is willing to keep working with him to find new ways to engage him, and also one who recognized the signs pig possible CAS. But it's so hard not to look for what I did wrong.

I’m so glad you have a therapist that knows how to keep him engaged. That’s the biggest struggle with toddlers. Our new place they did and evaluation and I was like this isn’t going to go anywhere and she got my shy kid to play with her and get her to try and repeat phonetic sounds back. She was able to rule out apraxia and pin point motor planning. It’s so hard to not try to find blame in myself. I’m like did I not engage with her enough as a baby. We need to try and remember it’s not anyone’s fault they are just learning how to talk differently and need a little extra help to get there.

[bookworm]

Wow there are so many of us in the same boat! My DS will also be 3 in July and CAS is strongly suspected. His neurologist, developmental pediatrician and speech therapist think that's whats going on but because he is non verbal it's still hard to say for sure. My son is not at all receptive to PROMPT therapy (he has severe anxiety and would freak out when someone put thier hands to his face) so it has been a really slow process. I don't really have any advice but I couldn't not respond!

[beaf12]

My 7 year old son had severe apraxia. No words at all until he was over 3. I really love the blog uncommon sense
niederfamily.blogspot.com/?m=1

It helped steer me to resources for my non-verbal son. The most helpful was getting the iPad app "Speak for Yourself" giving him a way to communicate improved his life immeasurably. He is now a talkative, articulate 2nd grader.

His story is chronicled in this video.



We did lots of speech therapy (including PROMPT) and it was very helpful, but nothing was more helpful than Speak for Yourself. Our SLP was 100% onboard and was so helpful with implementing the speech generating app into our lives. Good luck