Trainings and resources for SLP’s on childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).

I recently posted a quote from my book Overcoming Apraxia on social media that garnered quite a bit of attention. It wasn’t to criticize or disparage SLP’s. It’s just a fact many of us speech-language pathologists, (myself included) didn’t get adequate training in graduate school on how to treat apraxia. I had maybe 15 loose leaf pages on it, and that wasn’t about treatment.

Many SLP’s asked what trainings I would recommend and many parents asked what questions they should ask. I’ve compiled a list of trainings and resources on childhood apraxia of speech for speech-language pathologists.

SLP training and resources

There are numerous online free trainings for apraxia, believe it or not.

  1. Currently Edythe Strand has a free course on DTTC (dynamic temporal tactile cueing) that gives you CEU’s through the University of Texas at Dallas found at Child Apraxia Treatment.
  2. Another FREE resource is out of the University of Syndney that has a free online training and AND supplemental materials for ReST (Rapid Syllable Transition Training)
  3. PROMPT (Restrucuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) is a method of tactile cueing that only offers in person training and is pricey.
  4. Lynn Carahaly has the Speech EZ Apraxia program with videos for sale and workshop opportunities.
  5. Nancy Kaufman has a commercially available video detailing her method that I liked when I was first learning about CAS because she gives a lot of video examples.
  6. Apraxia-Kids.org offers on demand videos that can be accessed through a yearly subscription fee that is relatively cheap (around $90 for the entire year).
  7. ASHA.org has a recently updated practice portal on CAS.
  8. A book that is awesome on how to treat apraxia is by Margaret Fish called “Here’s how to treat childhood apraxia of speech.”
  9. Another book that is fantastic is by Cari Ebert and David Hammer called “The SLP’s Guide to Treating Childhood Apraxia of Speech.”
  10. A newer and AWESOME book targeted for parents and early intervention professionals is “Let’s Get Talking,” by Mehreen Kakwan. It explains direct therapy tips to use when a child has suspected motor planning difficulties including visual and verbal cueing ideas.

*Both DTTC and ReST have the current highest evidence base in the research on apraxia*

Fellow speechies, here’s the deal. Yes we come out of graduate school with a wealth of knowledge, and yes, the Certificate of Clinical Competence behind our name makes us qualified to treat speech/language disorders; however, the field is VAST. We should not apologize or feel bad about not being an “expert” in every speech and language disorder from birth to geriatrics.

However we DO have a responsiblity to be honest with parents, clients, and families about our level of expertise in a given area, and whenever possible, try to gain additional training and expertise in that area if we are lacking.

Laura Smith, M.A. CCC-SLP is a 2014 graduate of Apraxia Kids Boot Camp, has completed the PROMPT Level 1 training, and the Kaufman Speech to Language Protocol (K-SLP). She is the author of Overcoming Apraxia and has lectured throughout the United States on CAS and related issues. Currently, Laura is a practicing SLP specializing in apraxia at her clinic A Mile High Speech Therapy in Aurora, Colorado. 

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