Talking Speech Apraxia

Olesja Staroverova, a board member for the USA charity, Apraxia Kids talks about the challenges and successes of raising a daughter with CAS. From struggling with to find a school that fit, trying our different therapies and motor speech approaches. She talks about the cultural differences that influence the care of CAS in Germany.

is episode, Gabriela Drozina, speech and language therapist and specialist in Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Buenos Aires, Argentina, talks about the development of Apraxiasol®, her intensive intervention programme for children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and severe speech sound disorders.Gabriela discusses how the programme brings children together for intensive, highly focused speech intervention, while maintaining a playful and motivating environment. She explains how Apraxiasol combines principles of motor learning and DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) with active parent involvement, elements of the Hanen approach and a child-centred environment influenced by Montessori principles.The conversation explores why therapy intensity and repeated opportunities to practise speech movements can be particularly important for children with CAS, and how intensive programmes can be made engaging and enjoyable rather than feeling like continuous therapy.

Chantal Bryan OBE, is the co-founder of the UK charity Teach Us Too. In this thought provoking podcast she describes how she advocates for the right of every child, including those who are non-verbal or have complex disabilities, to learn to read and write. She campaigns to end educational labels and unlock children's voices. Chantal's work is inspired by her son, Jonathan. When Jonathan was a child, a special school did not teach him literacy. Chantal took matters into her own hands and taught him herself. He learned to spell, communicate, and went on to study creative writing at university.

How do you give a voice to children who have childhood apraxia of speech and are minimally speaking with autism. Ruth Jones, Speech and Language Therapist has years of experience working with this client group and offers a fascinating insight into best practice when there are so many areas of need. She has spent her time since qualifying supporting children and young people with complex additional learning needs. She works primarily with neurodivergent children and young people, and those who require additional support to access meaningful opportunities and their education. She believes in child led and neurodiversity informed practice and her core values are around acceptance, curiosity and connection.

Dr Pam Williams -Lecturer and lead author of the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme (NDP- 3rd edition) talks about her amazing career working with children who have childhood apraxia of speech. She discusses how the NDP came about and how she and her team went onto develop this amazing work into this resource that is widely used today.Pam was Consultant SLT and lead clinician for the dyspraxia service at the Nuffield Hearing and Speech Centre, (now known as the Paediatric Speech Clinic at UCLH), for many years. She was involved in the creation of the original Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme, and is first author of the current 3rd edition www.ndp3.org. Pam has lectured widely in the UK, Ireland, Europe and Australia. She continues to run training workshops on the subject of NDP3 and Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).Pam was a member of the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists’ project team that produced the (2011) Policy Statement on Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia and more recently the (2024) Position Paper on Childhood Apraxia of Speech