FORMAL PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

FORMAL PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

FORMAL PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS, Parents can never be more excited when they bring a child into the world. When parents bring a new bundle of joy into the world, most parents worry about whether their child has all ten fingers and toes and whether their child is healthy.

No parent ever worries about whether or not their child will have a speech and language developmental disorder.

When a child reaches a certain stage in their development they begin to coo, babble, and eventually begin to speak words. Unfortunately, some children do not do this and so begins the journey to find out why the child may not be doing these things.

Children who are diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia (CAS) are children who have a speech and language disorder. Why? This is because there happens to be a motor speech problem.

Children with CAS have problems when it comes to saying sounds, syllables, and words and the problem lies within the brain communicating with the body parts such as the lips, jaw, and tongue in an effort to help the child communicate the necessary muscle movement to say these words. “

Let’s face it: Apraxia children can be a puzzle and although they can be bright, Apraxia children don’t start talking until they are two or three years of age or older” (Marshalla, 2001).

Therefore, because Apraxia is a rare and uncommon disorder if Apraxia is left untreated it can continue into the child’s adult years, causing the child to suffer years of frustration from not being able to communicate effectively. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is defined as a motor speech disorder (ASHA, 2015).

Specifically the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) (2015) defines CAS as: 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 2

FORMAL PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS 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.

Although this disorder is relatively new to research the ASHA (2015) indicated that children diagnosed with CAS is increasing, therefore bringing awareness to this disorder will help promote research opportunities in the future.

The purpose of my study is to find a better way to help in the communication and motor development of my niece who has been diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia.

This will help my niece, her parents, and other family members to be able to communicate with her more effectively. This research will be done by implementing different strategies that will be beneficial in getting the child to use words in their entirety instead of using one syllable words when commun…………………………