Bridging the Gap Between Speech and Language: Using Multimodal Treatment in a Child With Apraxia.

Publisher: American Academy of Pediatrics Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0376422 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1098-4275 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00314005 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Pediatrics Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Elk Grove Village Il : American Academy of Pediatrics
Original Publication: Springfield, Ill., Thomas.

Apraxias/*therapy ; Speech Disorders/*therapy ; Speech Therapy/*methods; Child, Preschool ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Sign Language

Childhood apraxia of speech is a neurologic speech sound disorder in which children have difficulty constructing words and sounds due to poor motor planning and coordination of the articulators required for speech sound production. We report the case of a 3-year-old boy strongly suspected to have childhood apraxia of speech at 18 months of age who used multimodal communication to facilitate language development throughout his work with a speech language pathologist. In 18 months of an intensive structured program, he exhibited atypical rapid improvement, progressing from having no intelligible speech to achieving age-appropriate articulation. We suspect that early introduction of sign language by family proved to be a highly effective form of language development, that when coupled with intensive oro-motor and speech sound therapy, resulted in rapid resolution of symptoms.
(Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Date Created: 20160806 Date Completed: 20170615 Latest Revision: 20180820

20231215

10.1542/peds.2016-0007

27492818