What are the symptoms of Childhood Apraxia of Speech?
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a severe speech disorder that affects two to three children per 1,000. To put it simply, with CAS the physical structures of the mouth are fine but the message is not getting from the brain to the mouth to produce clear speech. Some of the characteristics to look for that differentiate this speech disorder from other speech disorders include, but are not limited to: • adding extra sounds or syllables to words. • reversing sounds or syllables, such as “shif” for “fish.” • more difficulty with words that have two or more syllables. • saying a word one day and losing it the next day or even the next minute. • moving the mouth in funny ways to attempt to say a word before speaking. • changing vowel sounds when talking. Almost all children with CAS are late talkers, so these symptoms will show up when they begin to talk. That could be as early as 24 months or as late as 3 or 4 years old. However, all children who are not talking by the time they are 18 m
