Overcoming Childhood Apraxia of Speech
WHAT IS APRAXIA OF SPEECH?
Childhood apraxia is a condition in which the child’s brain and nervous system have difficulty processing and planning the sequence of movements involved in producing speech effectively and efficiently. The brain knows what it wants to say, but there is interference in word processing and actual production (expression).
When a child has apraxia of speech, the messages from the brain to the muscles involved in speech do not get through correctly. Think of it as trying to use your cell phone in a very remote area — the phone may connect, but the messages and signals do not get through clearly or much at all.
The unique aspect of childhood apraxia is the muscles are not actually weak (this is a different speech disorder known as dysarthria) or genetically altered; it’s simply that the neurological pathways of communication are not working correctly. A child with apraxia knows what they want to say but cannot effectively form and express the words.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF APRAXIA OF SPEECH?
While the traditional medical approach still tends to report no known cause for childhood apraxia, many practitioners like speech therapists, occupational therapists and pediatric chiropractors have begun to note a high correlation between birth trauma and apraxia of speech. Specifically, practitioners have found breech presentation, vacuum extraction, and c-section deliveries correlate most with speech disorder and apraxia diagnoses.
While more research is needed to investigate the role of subluxation in pediatric speech and neurological disorders, it’s easy to see how the neuromuscular interference and incoordination caused by subluxation could play a role in childhood apraxia. Subluxation alters the nervous system’s ability to properly perceive and coordinate communication between nerves and muscles, which is the central issue with apraxia of speech.
Additionally, birth trauma is commonly known to interfere specifically with the function of the vagus nerve, which has speech amongst the many other things it helps control and coordinate.
HOW TO CARE FOR KIDS WITH APRAXIA OF SPEECH
Speech-language therapy is the primary treatment for apraxia of speech, and it’s likely to have already begun for your child. SLPs often use various methods to treat apraxia, hoping something will help improve the quality of life. They may try things like:
Articulation or phonological therapy
Adapted cueing technique
Prompts for restructuring oral muscular phonetic targets therapy (PROMPT system)
Multiple repetitions and repeated practice of sound sequences, words, and phrases during therapy
Co-production, or having the child say the word at the same time as the SLP or caregiver
Many parents report that while speech therapy helps make small and marginal gains, their child’s struggles remain significant.
While speech therapy is phenomenal at helping to learn methods and options for working around the challenges caused by apraxia of speech, pediatric chiropractic care seeks to address the root cause uniquely.
The first thing that must be done to determine if subluxation is involved is to have a trained Pediatric Experience doctor go through the PX Clinical Process. Your child’s case history (especially birth history) can provide all sorts of clues as to whether or not subluxation is involved. But most importantly, the neurological stress scans run by a PX Doc will determine if subluxation and dysautonomia are involved.
The goal of a pediatric chiropractic is not to treat or cure the apraxia of speech but to address the interference that may be contributing to the child’s health challenges.
HOW WE FIND OUT IF WE CAN HELP
Many parents report to us that deep down they feel like there must be more that can be done while they continue to see marginal gains with speech therapy and the traditional approach. For thousands of families, that something more is neurologically-focused pediatric chiropractic care!
Reach out to us if you have any questions to talk with one of our doctors to find out more about the role subluxation and nerve interference may be playing in your child’s challenges.
So much can be done to help a child heal and restore neurologically and the sooner you start, the better the results can be!
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