How Can I Support My Child with Childhood Apraxia of Speech?

HOW CAN I SUPPORT MY CHILD WITH CAS?

One of the questions parents often ask is “What can we do to help?” – “How can I support my child’s communication at home?”. Receiving a diagnosis of childhood apraxia of speech, or CAS, can feel overwhelming, but knowing how to help provides comfort and empowerment. After all, your child spends the majority of his time outside of the therapy room.

TIPS FOR AT HOME

Gross motor play is your friend. Play games that involve running, jumping, swinging, clapping, etc. Oftentimes children who have trouble with fine motor planning and movement, as is the case with CAS, also experience some level of difficulty with planning and coordinating gross motor movements. Working on these larger movements serves as a bridge to executing fine motor movements with increased speed and accuracy.

Allow your child time to express himself. Frequently, children with CAS have difficulty initiating speech because their articulatory muscles can’t process the motor plan the brain is sending them. By allowing their child as much time as he needs to communicate, parents and family members can immeasurably boost their child’s confidence. In so doing, parents will also avert the inevitable frustration that children experience when they know what they want to say and just can’t get the words out in a timely manner. Additionally, it’s vital for children to be able to experience successful verbal communication attempts and to practice executing the oral motor movements necessary for speech in natural situations.

Pay attention to other communication cues. Sometimes our children with CAS won’t be able to produce speech, or at least not intelligible speech. At these times, watching for other communication cues, such as body language, facial expressions, pointing, and similar gestures becomes critical. By attending to these other communication modalities and cues, the child’s needs and wants will be met more swiftly with reduced frustration on the part of the child and the caregiver.

Engage in repetitive play routines. Repetitive play routines provide a perfect opportunity for children to learn and process language, as well as to practice speech sounds and combinations thereof. Through the repetition of play routines and the language that accompanies them, children encounter the same speech, language and motor movements every single time. As with any motor pattern, repetition is the key to achieving accurate and effortless execution.

Sing songs and read books. Songs and books enable children to learn new vocabulary and to practice saying new words, sounds, and phrases within the context of a fun story paired with visuals or a catchy tune. Some of my favorite books for children include “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and various Dr. Seuss books. For singing, “The Wheels on the Bus”, “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and “Five Little Monkeys” are few examples of fun and engaging songs that children tend to love.

Complete home practice suggested by your SLP. When a child has mastered a sound, group of sounds, or syllable shape, the speech therapist will likely provide parents with ways to practice that mastered skill to further solidify it. Consistent completion of this practice at home will ensure that your child retains the skill he has attained.

Use hand signals. Frequently, children with CAS require visual cues to help them better understand how their tongue and lips should be moving to make different sounds. Using hand signals or speech sound hand cues is a common way to add these visuals. Hand signals that mimic the movement of the lips, tongue, and voice during the production of sounds aid children in accurately producing them.

Let them know when they communicate successfully! When your child successfully communicates his wants or needs, whether through his words or through another means such as gestures or facial expressions, make a big deal out of it! Let your child know that you understand him and that you appreciate him communicating his thoughts with you.

ADVOCATE FOR YOUR CHILD

Above all, the best thing parents can do for their children with CAS is to advocate for them. Let friends and family know that your little one knows what’s going on and what he wants to say – he just has trouble getting it out and making it sound exactly as it is supposed to. Let them know that it might take him longer to say what he wants to say and it might be difficult to understand him, but please don’t talk over him or ignore him because this will shatter a child’s confidence and repress their desire to communicate.