Childhood Apraxia Speech Therapy: Evidence-Based Techniques Parents Can Reinforce at Home

A big part of successful speech therapy outcomes is the support and practice your child gets outside of speech therapy. Integrating their learning into everyday life moments reinforces what we do in therapy and carries over those new skills in a variety of “everyday” scenarios. Today, we’ll be talking about Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and how parents and caregivers can reinforce their children’s progress and skills through at-home practice.

Understanding Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is what is known as a motor disorder. This means that a child with CAS experiences difficulty between the brain thinking the words and knowing which muscles to use to create the words and sounds they’re thinking of. Childhood Apraxia Speech therapy helps with strengthening the motor neuron pathways so that children can develop the motor skills to communicate the words they’re trying to say correctly. 

Evidence-Based Techniques Used in Childhood Apraxia Speech Therapy 

At Find My Voice Therapy in St. Petersburg, FL, we use a variety of evidence-based treatment techniques to treat CAS. Two common methods are Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC) and Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT). 

DTTC is based on motor learning theory. Children are asked to watch the mouth of the person leading the practice and repeat the functional target word. PROMPT, however, uses tactile cues to let the child know which part of their mouth or throat they should be using to successfully produce the target word. 

Any combination of these or other appropriate methods may be used to treat CAS in your child. We pride ourselves on a custom approach based on the specific needs of your child. These evidence-based treatment methods are powerful tools for treating motor speech disorders like Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Speech therapy using these methods is best supported through at-home reinforcement, which we’ll discuss next. 

Your Home-Based Practice Checklist

Step 1: Focus on 3-5 functional words

These words should be selected and agreed upon with your child’s speech therapist, based on the work they’re doing in speech therapy, and practiced one at a time. 

Step 2: Practice in short sessions 

While it is wonderful to practice multiple times a day if you can, keep all practice sessions to a maximum of 5 minutes at a time.

Step 3: Mix up your approach

Use DTTC style cueing - Say a word slowly and have them repeat it, and watch your mouth. You can also encourage them to watch your mouth and say the word at the same time as you.

Use PROMPT style cueing - Give gentle, hands-on tactile cues to help children feel and coordinate their mouth and throat movements needed for clear speech.

Step 4: Give specific feedback and lots of praise 

Examples: 

“What a great ‘sh’ sound! I love how your lips were out and rounded.” 

“Good try, make sure to round your lips. Try to kiss your finger!”

Correct with both visual and tactile cues when they get a sound or word wrong. During speech therapy, your speech therapist will give you cues that are specific to your child’s needs.

Step 5: Practice alongside daily routines

To normalize the importance of practice and include it as a normal part of daily life, consider stacking it with a routine like bathtime or mealtime.

Some tips to remember:

• If your child is getting frustrated, don’t push through. Stop and resume practice at a later time. 

• Stick to words that they’re very motivated to say that are functional for daily life. Remember to consult with your speech therapist on target words.

• If they don’t get a word or sound right after 3 times, let the word go.

• Leave corrections for practice time. Don’t correct the word every time they say it wrong throughout the day. 

• Focus on getting the sound correct, rather than repeating the same sound incorrectly many times.

If your child is struggling with Childhood Apraxia of Speech and you’re looking for the right speech therapy support in St. Pete, we’d love to see you at Find My Voice Therapy. Contact us today to learn more about how we may be able to help.