Assessment and management of apraxia
This week’s podcast focused on the assessment and intervention of apraxia of speech. The first step of an apraxia of speech assessment is a screening. During the screening process the individuals’ comorbid language, cognitive communication and swallowing deficits are observed and a hearing screening is done to rule out the presence of a hearing deficit contributing to apraxia and its possible effects on the results. After that the individual is referred to a comprehensive assessment of apraxia of speech. The assessment consists of a case history, OSME, assessment of voice and resonance as well as an assessment of motor speech planning skills. There are a number of approaches to intervention of apraxia of speech, these include articulatory kinematic, rate and/or rhythm, alternative/augmentative communication (AAC),reorganization. There are a number of treatment techniques that can be used when applying these approaches. These include sound production treatment, speech motor learning treatment, integral stimulation, tactile cueing, prosodic facilitation and many others. We hope you enjoyed listening to the last instalment of our podcast. Thank you!