![]() While the person who makes the diagnosis may seem unimportant, it really is extremely important.Ī neurologist can rule out any other neurological causes for a severe speech disorder however they should not be asked to make the diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech. If they don’t, a referral to Speech Language Pathologist who does is the more appropriate next step. Of course the Speech Language Pathologist should have extensive knowledge of childhood motor speech disorders to properly diagnose and to treat Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Because of this many Speech Language Pathologists do not feel as if it is their role to make this call when in fact it is. In fact there is no one agreed upon assessment tool within the field to make the diagnosis. Unfortunately diagnosing this severe speech disorder is not easy. Most of the time, they are put in this position by Speech Language Pathologists who don’t feel comfortable giving the diagnosis themselves. I am not blaming the Neurologists for this. There seems to be many Neurologists who will diagnose any child who has a normal neurological exam at age 2 and is not talking with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. It feels as if every time I turn around there is another non-verbal 2 year old getting this diagnosis from a well meaning Neurologist. So a full 87%, did not actually have the severe speech disorder. One study even reported that out of 53 children previously diagnosed or suspected of having Childhood Apraxia of Speech, only 7 did. There have been several studies over the past few years that have shown that when evaluated by an expert in Childhood Apraxia of Speech roughly 75% of children with the diagnosis are found not to have the disorder. ![]() However, most often they are wrongly diagnosed. Sometimes the child actually has Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Recently, I have been getting an influx of children with the diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).
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