{"id":1585,"date":"2012-10-09T20:31:37","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T20:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2015-02-17T11:38:10","modified_gmt":"2015-02-17T19:38:10","slug":"treatment-for-apraxia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/speech-therapy-techniques\/treatment-for-apraxia\/","title":{"rendered":"Treatment for Apraxia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image source: Article.wn.com<\/p><\/div>\n

For a parent of a kid with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), it can be difficult to see the forest for the trees. There are countless occupational therapy and speech therapy sessions to rush off to for treatment for apraxia. There are IFSPs<\/a> and IEPs<\/a> to deal with, and a whole host of other acronyms to learn<\/a>. And when your child has trouble pronouncing two-syllable words, it can be difficult to imagine him as an adult. Will he go to college? Will he have a career? These are overwhelming questions. Although speech therapy progress may seem slow at times, children with apraxia who receive intensive speech therapy at an early age often grow up to do remarkably well. Your child may even grow up to become a keynote speaker<\/a> at childhood apraxia of speech conferences. In the meantime, work closely with your little one\u2019s speech-language pathologist (SLP) and other professionals to develop the right treatment for apraxia to suit his needs.<\/p>\n

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Intensive Speech Therapy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Experts agree that for treatment for apraxia, speech therapy treatment early and often is critical for the best outcomes. Apraxia-KIDS<\/a> recommends scheduling individual therapy sessions, rather than group sessions. Three to five speech therapy sessions per week is ideal. The degree of intensity is also important. This typically refers to the number of repetitions of target sounds that the child achieves per session; ideally, the number should be in the dozens, according to Apraxia-KIDS<\/a>. It is also essential for parents to work with their children at home to reinforce the lessons.<\/p>\n

Children who are more or less nonverbal may benefit from increasing simple vocalizations. For example, the SLP may encourage vocalizations such as \u201cwhee,\u201d \u201cuh-oh,\u201d and \u201coops,\u201d as well as fun noises and sound effects like vehicle sounds and animal noises. Gradually, the SLP will introduce new sounds and new structures of sounds, although not both at the same time. For example, if the child already has the \u201cp\u201d sound, he might be encouraged to start saying \u201cpop.\u201d When he has mastered \u201cpop,\u201d he might move on to \u201cpour,\u201d and so on. As the child increases his oral motor coordination, he can begin to combine more consonants and vowels to form more words.<\/p>\n