Assessment and treatment of childhood apraxia of speech: An inquiry into knowledge and experience of speech-language pathologists

Objectives: The present research aimed to identify the assessment and treatment processes implemented by Iranian speech-language pathologists (SLPs) for CAS and to investigate the possibility of impact of their knowledge level and years of experience on their choice of assessment and treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional method using survey design was employed to obtain a sample of 260 SLPs who were holding a minimum of Bachelor’s degree and, at least one year of experience of working with preschoolers. The CAS assessment and treatment was measured by a validated questionnaire, which was filled out both physically and online. Results: The results of assessment methods showed that the tests including, diadochokinesis (DDK) (66%), single-word speech sampling (58.1%), Oral-motor assessment (54.6%) and connected speech sample analysis (53.1%), were the popular tests chosen by the participants. The Results of the treatment approaches indicated that oral motor exercises (OMEs) (57.7%) were the only treatment in which over half of the participants voted for. The experts tended to choose phonologically based treatments and integrated phonological awareness (IPA) and the less-experienced were more inclined to favor PROMPT. The majority of the participants (70.8%) believed that children with CAS make very slow progress and 21.9% declared that speech problems of such children persist through school years. Conclusion: The participants’ choice of assessment tasks is in line with the results of recent studies, while opting for outdated treatments such as OME, indicates a gap between the clinicians’ knowledge and experience in using evidence-based treatments.