Foster Children Sometimes Have Special Problems

One of my current kids suffers from a disorder called Childhood Apraxia of Speech, or CAS. This is a motor speech disorder that makes him hard to understand and is apparently very difficult to overcome. I just found out the name of his disorder in a recent school SST meeting. Today I did some research online to find out more about it. According to the ASHA web site (click HERE to view it), “Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.”