Therapy for childhood apraxia of speech through a dynamic systems lens: a tutorial

Purpose: Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) has been used as a foundational lens through which to observe and understand child development and disorders. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor planning speech disorder that can be difficult to treat. This tutorial outlines how a DST framework can be used to understand the therapy process for children with CAS, thus aiding clinicians to provide more individualized and focused therapy for these children. Method: This tutorial will focus on three concepts from DST that may have relevance for CAS related therapy. These are: (a) multi causality, (b) variability, and (c) self-organization. This tutorial will describe DST and demonstrate its useful-ness in understanding the therapy process in children with CAS through a case study that outlines how the application of a dynamic systems framework can enhance the clinical practice of speech-language pathologists. Conclusions: DST can be a useful theoretical framework to apply when attempting to understand the nature of a child’s presentation of CAS. This can then be used to develop individualized and flexible treatment plans that help to support the child through developmental change.