My previously nonverbal daughter started becoming more verbal in oct of last year. Since then her words have come a long way but are still difficult to understand at times. Like for example, she say "doh" instead of "no" or "chiss" for "chips", and "nana" for "banana." I am wondering if that's a normal thing (if there is a normal) when their language is emerging and just needs more use and fine tuning, or if it could be more. Like Apraxia? Can Apraxia be present in conjunction with ASD?
IMO, this can be a normal progression, but "co-occurring" apraxia is quite common in our kids. A good speech therapist should be able to help assess whether apraxia is part of your daughter's challenges.
Verbal apraxia is part of my son's unique mix of challenges. My son really benefitted from speech therapy exercises aimed at improving his mouth mobility, and, ultimately, his ability to pronounce words/progression to sentences. We found a speech therapist that helped us work on sounds, then combining those sounds into words, etc. You might want to try to find a speech therapist that is PROMPT certified (that is a method of speech therapy that helps cue specific sounds).
Another method that can be helpful is the Kaufman method.
http://www.kidspeech.com/specialized-treatment-...
Good luck, and let me know if I can help in any way.
My sons speech started out the same way. Each year his speech improves & is over 95% intellible now (age 10). He still has trouble with pronunciation of unfamiliar words & there are some words I haven't ever been able to get him to say right, though he can say them right...for example, he always says "bust" instead if "just".
My 19 year old son's are still not clear but he can be clearer if he slows down. Later in life in 8th grade it was discovered that he was totally deaf in his left ear, the same side where his eye bothers him also chronically. Slowing down was a major factor for him with clarity.
my daughter;s still arent always clear - there is process and alot of practice. her spelling is perfect
Thank you! She works with a great slp at school, and I feel like she would have said something to me if it seemed like apraxia was present, but I think I will ask her just in case. I feel like when their language just kinda explodes it will take a bit for it to sound right.