Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), is also called developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) and dyspraxia. This is a motor speech disorder. Children with developmental apraxia have difficulty coordinating and sequencing their articulators (mouth, lips, jaw, tongue) to produce sounds, syllables and words. This is not at all due to muscle weakness, but rather it is due to poor communication between the brain and the muscles that are needed for speech. In other words, the area of the brain that is responsible for telling the muscles what to do and how to move to make partiuclar sounds is not fully developed or possibly damaged. In adults, apraxia of speech is caused by a stroke or other brain damage. In children the cause is not so clear.

Speech apraxia is only related to speech activities and so non-speech activities that use the same muscles such as coughing, chewing and swallowing are performed just fine.

More on Does Your Child Have Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)?

Tips to Encourage Language Development

If you have a 2 or 3 year old child that is barely saying any words, it's time to think about increasing his or her need to communicate. There are many ways to do this, but first and foremost, as a parent you need to try real hard not to anticipate your child's needs. You need to think of ways to create opportunities for your child to absolutely need to communicate. If your child's wants and needs are always anticipated by you or if your child as an older sibling that talks for him, then he won't ever have the need to communicate for himself.

Your child has to learn that in order to get what he wants, he needs to communicate these wants to the adults around him. By not anticipating his needs , your child will gradually learn the power of using words to get what he wants - the power of communication!

Here are a few examples that you can easily implement throughout your day.

More on Give Your Child Motivation to Communicate

This is not exactly speech/language therapy related, but I love this list and thought it was worth sharing.

The following list of encouraging words and phrases has helped many of us when we were looking for the "the right thing to say" to our child at the right time. The author is unknown but I got it from a preschool teacher I know - Debbie Caruso.  Enjoy reading and watch your child's face light up when he/she hears these words!

That's Incredible!  How Extraordinary!  Far Out! Outstanding Performance!  I can't get over it!  Great! Amazing Effort!  Unbelievable Work!  Wonderful!  Marvelous!  Phenomenal!  You've Got It!  Superb!  Cool!  Excellent!  You're Special!  Your work is out of sight!  Your projectis first rate!  You've outdone yourself!  Way To Go! Thumbs Up!  You're a good friend!  You came through! Terrific!  You tried hard! Your help counts!  You made it happen!  It coun't be better!  Fantastic work!  You're a real trooper!  Fabulous!  Bravo!  Exceptional!  You're Unique!  Awesome!  Breathtaking!  The time you put in really shows!  You're a great example for others!  Keep up the good work!  I knew you had it in you!  Dynamite!  Its everything I hoped for! You should be proud of yourself!  What an imagination!  You made the difference!  Well Done! 

More on 101 Ways To Encourage Kids