Early Warning Signs of Childhood Apraxia of Speech
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (often abbreviated as CAS) is a somewhat rare speech disorder. It is estimated that 1 in 1,000 children will be diagnosed with apraxia. In comparison, 1 in 150 will be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Many parents, and indeed doctors, are not aware of what apraxia is, and thus the early warning signs may go unnoticed. Like many other neurological disorders, early treatment is the key to helping your child overcome the difficulties this speech disorder can present. In medical terms, Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a motor-planning disorder that is characterized by difficulty sequencing the speech movements necessary for volitional speech. In layman's terms, the messages sent by the brain to the muscles and nerves that control voluntary speech get scrambled and the muscles and nerves can't decode them to understand what to do. This is not a speech delay, but a true neurological disorder. It is unclear what causes apraxi...