Int J Child Health Hum Dev 2013;6(2):00-00.
Running title: Verbal motor learning
Using VML (verbal motor learning) method techniques in treatment of prosody disorder due to childhood apraxia of speech: A case study
Elad Vashdi, BPT, MPE, DPT
Yael Center, Aloney Aba, Israel
Abstract: Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor deficit phenomenon that affects the child’s ability to communicate verbally with his environment and has a wide spectrum of classifications. One of these classifications is a prosody deficit which has a pragmatic manifestation. In this case study we examine the influence of a manual VML techniques on prosody. The subject is a 14 years old teenager diagnosed with severe CAS and limb apraxia. The subject was treated for years for prosody with no success. We applied a new manual technique as an experiment for a month involving daily sessions. Results showed reduced volume, differentiation between high and low pitch and improved control over word lengths. This is one step in creating a wide inventory of manual techniques to treat prosody among CAS patients.
Keywords: CAS, apraxia, child development, speech, prosody, intonation, pitch
Correspondence: Vashdi Elad, BPT, MPE, DPT, Yael Center, POBox 197, Aloney Aba, Israel. E-mail: Center@yaelcenter.com
Submitted: February 05, 2012. Revised: April 09, 2012. Accepted: April 23, 2012.