Exploring Childhood Apraxia of Speech and Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a speech sound disorder that is estimated to occur in 1 to 2 children per 1,000 (Shriberg et. al. 1997). SLPs often experience challenges when differentiating CAS from other speech sound disorders and have varied degrees of confidence in the management of CAS. Requisite knowledge of CAS is critical in the assessment and intervention processes. If a child is not accurately diagnosed this can lead to incongruent intervention practices and thwart the child’s progress. SLPs will often face managing care of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLD). Around 23% of school age children in the US are from households where languages other than English are spoken (FIFCFS, 2019). Nearly 16% of children from diverse backgrounds have a communication disorder and 95% of SLPs report serving at least one client from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (CLD) (NIDCD, 2016; Kritikos, 2018). As the U.S. landscape is becoming more culturally and linguistically rich, it is essential that SLPs are equipped with the knowledge and skills to address speech sound disorders like CAS and provide linguistically responsible and responsive services. Instilling these areas of knowledge and skills are particularly important as the majority of SLPs are monolingual and are not from CLD backgrounds. This course will provide SLPs with the foundational knowledge necessary to navigate CAS and differentiate it from other speech sound disorders. This course will also explore considerations in assessment and intervention planning for children from CLD backgrounds.

Presenters

Alayna E. Townsend
Ph.D. CCC-SLP
Dr. Townsend is the lead speech-language pathologist at UT Physician’s Center for Autism and Related Conditions (CARC) in Houston, TX. She is an Adjunct Professor and Clinical Educator at the University of Houston in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She earned her doctoral degree from Howard University, a master's degree from the University of Cincinnati, and her bachelor’s degree from Xavier University of Louisiana. Dr. Townsend specializes in performing diagnostic speech, language, and social communication evaluations for infants and young children suspected or diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She has had the opportunity to provide speech and language services in the Bahamas, St. Lucia, Belize, and Ecuador.

Learning Objectives

Explain fundamentals of CAS including statistics, definitions, and discriminative characteristics of CAS.
Describe 3 ways to modify their current assessment and intervention strategies to enhance their specificity in addressing CAS.
Identify at least 3 strategies to tailor assessment and intervention planning to children from CLD backgrounds.

Agenda

5 minutes	Introduction and Explanation of Learning Objectives
5 minutes	CAS Fundamentals-Signs and Symptons, Incidence and Prevalence, and Key Terms
10 minutes	Revisit Speech Sound Disorders
10 minutes	Exploration of Discriminative Characteristics of CAS
15 minutes	Brief Introduction to CAS Assessment and Intervention Practices
5 minutes	Overview of Cultural and Linguistic Landscape of the US
25 minutes	Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Assessment and Intervention Practices
10 minutes	Case Studies
5 minutes	Q&A

Disclosures

Speakers - Financial	Alayna is an employee of the University of Houston. She is the owner of Alto Publishing-Higher Learning SLP. She receives compensation from sales of her products. Dr. Townsend is receiving compensation from Bright Ideas Media.
Speakers - Nonfinancial	Alayna has no non-financial relationships to disclose.
Course - Content	Alayna has no additional content information to disclose.
Course - Financial Support & In Kind	This course is sponsored by SLP Toolkit.

ASHA

This course is offered for 0.15 ASHA CEUs, Introductory Level, Professional Area, Professional Area