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10 Most Asked Questions
.about children with Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD)
by Belinda Hill
Speech Pathologist
(B. App. Sc. Sp. Path. M. App. Ling.)
1. What is dyspraxia?
Dyspraxia is an articulation disorder that can affect speech sound production and oral non-speech movements. Children with dyspraxia (oral or verbal) have difficulty planning, initiating and executing speech sounds and non-speech movements. It is a motor programming problem, not a muscular weakness.
2. How can we help?
We can train sounds and movement of the tongue, lips and facial muscles. We can learn a lot about what the child converses in so we have shared knowledge if the child is unable to speak clearly. Children may learn sight as an adjunct for promoting speech - this further encourages their speech development.
3. How long will it take?
Children's attendance can vary from between 6 months to 6 years. Progress depends on the nature of the severity and the amount of home practise that is done in between sessions.
4. Is using sign language going to stop my child talking?
No, research suggests that sign language promotes expressive language. In addition it reduces frustration and provides an immediate and readily transportable form of communication.
5. What can the school/preschool do?
If the speech pathologist provides a program you could take it to the child's educational setting so they can implement goals, practise on a 1:1 basis, or incorporate goals into class situations at school/preschool.
6. Will they have to go to a special school?
Not necessarily - depending on the degree of the intellectual and physical ability, children with special needs are often best served in a mainstream environment with special needs teachers (integration aides) that do 1:1 and classroom based training.
7. Should I make them talk in sentences?
If the child is only communicating using single words - then it is better to aim for one small step above (ie. 2-word level). Considering the effort it takes to sequence sounds in words, it is important that realistic goals are set in regards to sentence length. It is better if the child initiates a 2 or 3 word sentence rather than copying a 7 - 8 word sentence repeated slowly one word at a time.
8. Is he/she being lazy when he doesn't talk properly?
No, this is a common misconception. The child is often making a concerted effort to produce sounds and needs constant praise for trying, even if attempts are not successful. Remember they know what they want to say but they can't initiate the message to produce the sounds to make words to convey the message.
9. Will my child have motor dyspraxia too?
Not always. A child who has fine and gross motor skill difficulties in conjunction with DVD should be assessed by an Occupational Therapist to rule out the possibility of motor dyspraxia.
Some children exhibit signs of verbal and motor dyspraxia, or have only DVD or only motor dyspraxia.
10. Will they catch up in their own time?
Children with Verbal Dyspraxia need specific training and cueing systems training with lots of repetition and drill. It is highly unlikely that they will learn these passively through the environment or via correcting errors in their conversational speech. The longer a child communicates with disordered speech, the greater the frustration and the greater the chance the difficulties will impact on their academic literacy skills.
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