Helping children turn their thoughts into words.
Does your child seem to know exactly what they want to say but struggles to get the words out? Are they difficult to understand, becoming frustrated, or saying a word one day and not the next?
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), sometimes called Verbal Dyspraxia, is a motor speech disorder that affects a child’s ability to plan and coordinate the movements needed for speech. We provide evidence-based support for children with CAS across the Central Coast.
CAS is not caused by weakness of the speech muscles. Instead, it affects the brain’s ability to plan and coordinate the precise movements needed for speech. Children with CAS often know what they want to say, but their brain has difficulty sending consistent messages to the lips, tongue, jaw and voice box.
This can make speech sounds or words inconsistent, difficult to understand, effortful and frustrating — they may come and go and sound different on different days. CAS is different from a typical speech delay and often requires specialised assessment and therapy.
Every child is different, but some common signs include:
If these signs sound familiar, a comprehensive speech assessment can help determine whether CAS may be contributing to your child’s difficulties.
We use evidence-based approaches designed specifically for children with motor speech difficulties.
We help children develop the motor planning skills needed for speech while building confidence and reducing frustration.
A CAS assessment involves much more than listening to your child talk. We assess:
Children with CAS benefit from regular, targeted practice. Therapy may focus on:
Specialised tactile-cue and motor-learning approaches for clear, consistent speech.
Support for language, vocabulary and communication alongside speech.
Oral muscle coordination, tongue function, breathing and jaw control.
Where posture, tone or motor control impact communication.
For some children, speech develops slowly. While we work on building speech skills, we also support communication using gestures and visual supports where appropriate.
Supporting communication now does not stop speech development. In many cases it reduces frustration, supports language development and gives children a way to communicate successfully while speech skills continue to develop.
Many children with CAS benefit from a combination of services:
Supporting babies, toddlers and preschool children during the most important years of development.
Helping children understand language, use words, combine sentences and communicate more confidently.
Practical coaching to help parents support communication, feeding, emotional regulation and development at home.
Helping children who present with mouth breathing, tongue and lip ties, drooling, tongue thrust, lisps and oral muscle weakness.
Supporting children with delays across multiple areas — communication, play, feeding, social interaction and early learning.
Children with CAS often benefit from early identification and intervention, which can help:
Tumbi Umbi · Erina · Gosford · Terrigal · Tuggerah
Woy Woy · Wyong · Berkeley Vale · Killarney Vale · and surrounding communities
Telehealth appointments may also be available for families across NSW where appropriate.
A speech delay typically follows the normal pattern of speech development, just more slowly. CAS affects the brain’s ability to plan and coordinate speech movements, resulting in inconsistent and often more complex speech difficulties.
Yes. With appropriate therapy and practice, many children make significant progress in their speech clarity and communication skills.
Yes. Childhood Apraxia of Speech and Verbal Dyspraxia are often used to describe the same condition.
Inconsistent production of words and sounds is one of the common characteristics of CAS, because the brain has difficulty consistently planning speech movements.
Children with CAS often benefit from regular therapy and consistent practice at home. Recommendations are tailored to each child’s needs.
Absolutely. We support all forms of communication while speech skills are developing.
If your child understands what is being said but struggles to express themselves clearly, an assessment can help identify what’s happening and provide a pathway forward.
