If your toddler has been diagnosed with apraxia you alongside with your speech therapist are in the search for the best protocols to help your child communicate and achieve progress in terms of developing verbal skills.
What is Apraxia?
According to the American Speech-Language Hearing Association ASLH Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.
For those with little ones Apraxia is generally noticed after your baby turns a year old. Parents with little ones diagnosed with Apraxia normally identify the following:
- The baby does not coo, babble or mimic sounds and mouth movements.
- Delayed speech or incomplete words even when the words are simple.
- Toddler is unable to use some consonants and vowels, particularly the ones that demand complex oral movements.
There are many other speech and hearing disorders that may impact the ability to verbalize therefore a parent that suspects apraxia should seek the diagnostic of an audiologist and a speech pathologist.
Why Baby Sign Language Materials Can Help During Therapy
One of the main reasons speech pathologists and language therapists are using baby sign language materials as part of their protocol for early intervention is simplicity. Many of the signs used by the baby sign language program are simplified versions of American Sign Language making it accessible to little ones who are experiencing motor delays.
Toddlers with apraxia are empowered to support their verbal efforts with signs aiding having clarity and reducing frustration for basic social interactions. Sign language serves as a bridge that helps little ones get to the point where through practice and therapy they are able to imitate the oral movements associated to each word.
In addition to using signs to aid in augmentative communication, many therapists are resorting to the flash cards to help little ones make associations between images and sounds.
With proper therapy and plenty of resources children with apraxia generally catch up by the time they are ready for preschool.
We encourage parents and therapists to take advantage of all the baby sign language resources available for free or consider purchasing the standard kits which are available at wholesale price for bulk purchases made by non-profits, medical and educational institutions. You can email us about it at [email protected]
