Home Strategies for CAS Success

Home Strategies for Carryover and Generalization of CAS

• Children with CAS benefit from extensive practice.
• CAS typically involves 60-120 trials per session, whereas phonological disorder approaches typically use 10-30 trials.
• Higher production frequency results in faster target acquisition, better in-session performance, and generalization to untrained sounds.
• Increased practice leads to more success, better carryover, and generalization.

Self-Esteem

• Prioritizing the child's self-esteem, crucial for parental involvement.
• Home carryover strategies should not be burdensome or unpleasant for the child.
• Modeling correct target production, and focusing the child's attention, aids in learning.

Setting Up the Home for Success

• Home practice targets should be easily produced.
• Limit the number of targets.
• Realistic expectations for target accuracy are essential.
• Use appropriate feedback strategies.
• Ensure communication between the therapy team, clarifying targets.

Blame the Muscles!

• Attribute imperfect target production to the muscles, not the child.
• Repetitive positive reinforcement, and encouraging repetition, helps the child to feel good.
• Frustration is inappropriate; focusing on the motor neuron excitation is better.
• A signal to the child (indicating error), aids in identifying mistakes.

Speech Model

• Use a slower speaking rate to allow for processing.
• Model words like "please" and "thank you," but do not require repetition.
• Pause before asking questions to let the child to answer.

How Many Targets to Include in Home Practice

• Fewer targets to start, especially for less verbal children.
• More verbal children can handle more targets, suited to their capacity.
• Repetitions of targets, 3-5 times, are recommended.

Speech Models to Avoid!

• Avoid stressing final sounds to prevent schwa insertion.
• Avoid unnatural word separation.
• Avoid equal syllable stress.

Include Siblings!

• Incorporate interactive games like Simon Says.
• Sibling instruction is beneficial for target word practice and awareness.
• Sibling correction is encouraged to improve skills.

Don't Wait to Work on Prosody

• Model prosody by extending the duration of stressed vowels.
• Employ varied intonation and pitch (e.g., a low voice "like a man" and a high voice "like a woman").
• Use varying levels intensity (e.g. whisper, loud, angry or happy).

This quiz focuses on effective home strategies for carryover and generalization of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). Discover the importance of practice frequency, self-esteem, and realistic expectations to enhance communication skills in children. Learn how to set up a supportive environment for successful target production.