CAS is a speech disorder charactierized by the incapacity to program the positioning of speech muscles for articulation, phonation, resonation, and respiration for the volitional production of phonemes.  CAS is a neurologically based speech disorder that is caused by subtle brain impairment or malfunctioning.  

Key characteristics may include but are not limited to the following:

• limited babbling as an infant
• limited repertoire of vowels and consonants
• delayed onset of speech
• variability of errors
• errors increase with length of utterances
• difficulty with spontaneous (self-initiated) speech
• disturbances of prosody
• visual signs of speech output difficulty
• impaired non-speech movements
• loss of apparently previously spoken words 

A child with CAS will not simply "grow out of it".  CAS children will need intensive services on an individual basis. The frequency of therapy is dependant on the severity of the child's speech-motor impairment, functional communication disorder, the child's age, and willingness to practice with parents/caregivers. 

ACCESS has developed an area of expertise in regards to CAS. We utilize specific therapy approaches that are effective and ideal for the treatment of apraxia.  ACCESS includes training the family as part of the treatmet for children with CAS.

CAS is a complicated diagnosis that requires specific therapy.  A good source of information for both parents and professionals is Apraxia-Kids.org.