PURPOSE: The primary aim of this study was to examine differences in speech/language and written language skills between children with suspected childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and children with other speech-sound disorders at school age. METHOD: Ten children (7 males and 3 females) who were clinically diagnosed with CAS (CAS group) were followed from the preschool years (ages 4-6) to school age (ages 8-10) and were compared with children with isolated speech-sound disorders (S group; n = 15) and combined speech-sound and language disorders (SL group; n = 14). Assessments included measures of articulation, diadochokinetic rates, language, reading, and spelling. RESULTS: At follow-up, 8 of the children with CAS demonstrated improvement in articulation scores, but all 10 continued to have difficulties in syllable sequencing, nonsense word repetition, and language abilities. The children also exhibited comorbid disorders of reading and spelling. Group comparisons revealed that the CAS group was similar to the SL group, but not the S group during the preschool years. By school age, however, the SL group made more positive changes in language skills than the CAS group. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: These findings suggest that the phenotype for CAS changes with age. Language disorders persist in these children despite partial resolution of articulation problems. Children with CAS are also at risk for reading and spelling problems.
PURPOSE: The primary aim of this study was to examine differences in speech/language and written language skills between children with suspected childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and children with other speech-sound disorders at school age. METHOD: Ten children (7 males and 3 females) who were clinically diagnosed with CAS (CAS group) were followed from the preschool years (ages 4-6) to school age (ages 8-10) and were compared with children with isolated speech-sound disorders (S group; n = 15) and combined speech-sound and language disorders (SL group; n = 14). Assessments included measures of articulation, diadochokinetic rates, language, reading, and spelling. RESULTS: At follow-up, 8 of the children with CAS demonstrated improvement in articulation scores, but all 10 continued to have difficulties in syllable sequencing, nonsense word repetition, and language abilities. The children also exhibited comorbid disorders of reading and spelling. Group comparisons revealed that the CAS group was similar to the SL group, but not the S group during the preschool years. By school age, however, the SL group made more positive changes in language skills than the CAS group. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: These findings suggest that the phenotype for CAS changes with age. Language disorders persist in these children despite partial resolution of articulation problems. Children with CAS are also at risk for reading and spelling problems.
Authors: Barbara A Lewis; Lisa Freebairn; Jessica Tag; Robert P Igo; Allison Ciesla; Sudha K Iyengar; Catherine M Stein; H Gerry Taylor Journal: Am J Speech Lang Pathol Date: 2019-10-10 Impact factor: 2.408
Authors: Jonathan L Preston; Peter J Molfese; Nina Gumkowski; Andrea Sorcinelli; Vanessa Harwood; Julia R Irwin; Nicole Landi Journal: Dev Neuropsychol Date: 2014 Impact factor: 2.253
Authors: Jennifer Zuk; Jenya Iuzzini-Seigel; Kathryn Cabbage; Jordan R Green; Tiffany P Hogan Journal: J Speech Lang Hear Res Date: 2018-03-15 Impact factor: 2.297