Ages 2–12
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
Specialist-level care for a diagnosis that demands it.
CAS is a motor-planning disorder: your child knows exactly what they want to say, but the signal between brain and mouth misfires. It requires specific, evidence-based motor-learning treatment, delivered frequently and precisely. It is one of the most frightening words a parent can bring home from a first evaluation; it is also treatable, and we treat it every week.
Signs to watch for
- Very limited or highly inconsistent speech; the same word comes out differently each time
- Groping or visible effort to position lips and tongue
- Vowel distortions and unusual stress or rhythm
- A prior evaluation mentioning apraxia, suspected apraxia, or CAS
Our approach
Heather Hamilton, M.S., CCC-SLP leads our CAS caseload using Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC), the motor-learning treatment with the strongest evidence base for young children with apraxia. DTTC is its own discipline, distinct from play-based language therapy: sessions are short, frequent, and built around carefully selected target words practiced with precise cueing that fades as your child's motor plans stabilize.
What treatment actually looks like
CAS responds to frequency: we typically recommend 3–4 short individual sessions per week rather than a single weekly hour, because motor learning is built on repetition and rest. Every session collects probe data on untrained words, because real progress in CAS means the motor plan generalizes beyond the words we rehearsed. You see the probe data too.
Getting the diagnosis right first
At two or three years old, apraxia is a differential diagnosis: severe phonological disorder and dysarthria can look similar, and the treatments differ. We use dynamic motor-speech assessment to tease these apart, we say "suspected CAS" when the honest answer is suspected, and we tell you if it is not apraxia at all.
Second opinions welcome, truly
If you've been told "six months of general therapy and we'll see," and your gut disagrees, bring your reports. We build on prior testing rather than repeating it, and we are candid about prognosis: CAS is a marathon with a good finish line for most children, and you deserve a clinician who says so plainly and shows you the data along the way.
“After a year of conventional speech therapy with no meaningful progress, someone recommended Heather's practice to us and we haven't looked back since. Our son was ultimately diagnosed with severe-profound childhood apraxia of speech.”
Who treats this at TALK
Heather Hamilton, M.S., CCC-SLP
Heather leads TALK's childhood apraxia of speech caseload with DTTC-based motor-speech treatment.
Meet the whole team →Every plan begins with a comprehensive evaluation and ends with measurable goals reviewed on a set schedule. See the full process →
Begin here
Start with a conversation.
Your call reaches a person who knows speech and language, live or returned the same or next business day. We’ll listen, tell you honestly whether an evaluation makes sense, and explain exactly what happens next.
Calls returned the same or next business day · Evaluations typically within 1–2 weeks · After-school appointments available · TeleTherapy backup for busy weeks