Diagnostic characteristics of childhood apraxia of speech: experiences of Lithuanian SLPS’
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
Lahtein-Kürsa, Marju | University of Tartu | EE |
| Date | Start Page | End Page |
|---|---|---|
2024 | 320 | 320 |
Background. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor-based speech sound disorder with a core impairment in planning the precise spatiotemporal parameters of speech movement sequences (ASHA, 2007). Key diagnostic characteristics of CAS, emphasized by Yorkston et al. (2010), Fish (2016), Strand (2016) can be categorized into non-speech oral motor difficulties, speech sound errors, prolonged and interrupted coarticulation, inappropriate prosody, context-related speech issues, and other associated conditions. This research aims to identify the diagnostic characteristics that Lithuanian speech and language pathologists (SLPs) consider important for diagnosing CAS.
Methods. The data of this research were collected as part of Lahtein-Kürsa (2002) PhD project 'Manifestation and Assessment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Estonian-Speaking Children'. An online survey was designed to assess how strongly SLPs from Estonia, Finland, and Lithuania associate specific features with the diagnosis of CAS. In this paper, particular attention is given only to the open-ended responses provided by SLPs from Lithuania (N=69). Both qualitative and quantitative content analyses of the data were conducted.
Results. Lithuanian SLPs consider prolonged and interrupted coarticulation (N=38), specific non speech oral motor (N=20) and speech sound (N=19) error patterns as the most important diagnostic characteristics of CAS. In contrast to theoretical findings, features related to inappropriate prosody (N=6) are identified as diagnostic markers of CAS infrequently. SLPs highlights other significant conditions associated with CAS diagnosis, including coexisting language disorder (N=27), slow progress in therapy (N=11), poor gross and fine motor skills (N=11), concentration and behavioral issues (N=15), other learning difficulties (N=11).
Conclusions. SLPs tend to focus less on appropriate prosody and context-related speech errors and highlight the coexisting challenges in language, motor and learning difficulties, faced in CAS cases. SLPs acknowledge the complexity of CAS and the need to address multiple factors in assessment.