In this course, Renee Roy Hill discusses the treatment of clients diagnosed with apraxia of speech and related motor speech disorders. Many of these clients do not respond to traditional auditory and visually-based motor speech techniques because co-existing issues—including oral sensory deficits, feeding deficits, and oral placement deficits—are not addressed.

Renee demonstrates how OPT activities, which utilize a tactile approach, in conjunction with auditory and visually-based apraxia therapy techniques will improve speech clarity for clients with the diagnosis of apraxia.

• Discuss goals related to treatment of apraxia of speech.
• Define childhood apraxia of speech along with subsequent motor speech impairments.
• Gain an understanding of when a muscle-based approach is appropriate in a treatment plan.
• Study sensory, feeding and motor issues as related to children with a diagnosis of apraxia.
• Teach how oral placement activities through structured repetition improve muscle skill.
• Understand how a multi-sensory tactile approach is used to transition to speech production.
• Provide strategies for planning and implementing a multi-modality motor speech program.