MGH Institute of Health Professions
Comorbid Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) may be one factor that limits speech development in some minimally verbal children with autism. CAS is a disorder affecting speech movement planning. This study tests whether CAS-specific treatment, appropriately modified for minimally verbal children with autism, improves their speech.
Although one in four children with autism remain minimally verbal past age five, not all the factors that limit spoken language in these minimally verbal children are known. One powerful contributor may be a motor speech disorder, Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). CAS is an impairment in the ability to plan and sequence for speech, which makes speech inconsistent and imprecise. This project proposes to investigate whether CAS makes the speech of minimally verbal children with autism unintelligible, and then to test whether treating the CAS improves children's speech. First, a cohort of 20 mi…
Inclusion Criteria: * Meets criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder * Able to correctly repeat at least 2 syllables * Meets criteria for Childhood Apraxia of Speech * Lives in an environment where child is exposed to English at least 50% of the time Exclusion Criteria: * Poorly controlled seizures * Factors such as blindness or deafness that contribute to minimally verbal status * Lives in an environment where English is not spoken at least 50% of the time * Child experiences behavioral challenges that preclude participation in the study
Treatment involves principles of motor learning embedded in a naturalistic developmental milieu
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