It's a collaborative team effort: Communication skills and intervention programs for the young minimally verbal child with ASD and CAS and only CAS

Abstract

Young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) often exhibit delays in the acquisition of spoken language. The purpose of this qualitative study was to: (1) examine the comprehensive ways minimally verbal children with ASD and CAS differ from minimally verbal children with only CAS; and (2) to examine why despite access and implementation of oral-motor intervention(s) for young minimally verbal children with ASD and CAS, many children fail to acquire spoken language. The study is significant because there are: (1) no current studies regarding the minimally verbal child with ASD and CAS; and (2) there is an absence of studies regarding the development of speech diagnostic markers for the young minimally verbal child with ASD that has led to a paucity of research regarding the effectiveness of oral-motor intervention(s) for these young children. This qualitative research design captured the inquiries regarding the experiences and perspectives shared by the educators and therapists. The methods included semi-structured individual interviews administered to fifteen participants. The participant responses to the five research questions were directly transcribed and categorized into five themes for the young minimally verbal child with ASD and CAS, four themes for the young minimally verbal child with only CAS and one sub-theme that corroborated the CAS responses. The findings suggest that the SLP’s and SLPA were the least congruent in their responses to what motor-based intervention(s) would be implemented for the young minimally verbal child with ASD and CAS. AAC communication devices were reported as the primary intervention tool to implement for both sets of youngsters. Lack of awareness of the latest research on the development of diagnostic markers for CAS was evident with additional questions regarding assessments tools for the young minimally verbal child with CAS. All the participants shared congruent answers as to what motor-based intervention(s) they would implement for a young minimally verbal child with only CAS. Further research should be conducted in the development of diagnostic markers for ASD and AAC implementation.