Motor Speech Disorders

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and Dysarthria

         
   
  • CAS and dysarthria are motor speech disorders that impact a child's intelligiblity of speech sounds. 
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  • A child may have CAS, dysarthria, or both of these diagnoses.  
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  • Differential diagnosis is important as treatment varies depending on the underlying problem.
    
   

 

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a neurological speech disorder which causes a breakdown in the motor planning required for speech production.  That is, a child may know what he or she wants to say, but when attempting verbal production the sounds do not project as the child expected.  Muscle weakness is not a significant concern in children who have a sole diagnosis of CAS.  Muscles prove to be healthy and strong during involuntary movements such as sneezing and chewing.  The breakdown in ability is seen during tasks that are voluntary, or executed on command.  Sound errors tend to be inconsistent, and a child who has CAS is commonly difficult to understand.  If left untreated, these children can become frustrated and even refuse to try speaking.

    
         
    Dysarthria is diagnosed when a child presents with weakness of his or her articulators.  This problem can affect all aspects of articulation including respiration (breathing) and phonation (use of voice).  Sound errors tend to be consistent with dysarthria and the quality of speech is slurred as though the child is speaking with marbles in the mouth.    
         
   
  • Both of these motor speech disorders can be treated and improved through specialized therapy provided by a qualified speech-language pathologist. 
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  • The younger a child starts treatment the better. 
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  • Early intervention can help remediate these problems to the fullest.
    

 

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