I recently attended the Colorado Speech, Language and Hearing Association Spring Conference and the speaker gave me a lot to think about. At the conference, Christina Gildersleeve-Neumann, Ph.D., from Portland State University discussed current theories of phonological development and various treatment approaches. What she said made a lot of sense and affirmed the approach I take in therapy for the young nonverbal child.
It is very risky to diagnosis a young nonverbal child with childhood apraxia of speech. The child has not yet developed a phonological system so how do you know if it's impaired? The first step in therapy is to get the child talking. In HOW TO Start Apraxia Therapy with the Young Child, I outline my approach in three steps and provide toy choices to use in play to stimulate speech and language development. Check it out on TeacherspayTeachers.
