title: School-age follow-up of children with childhood apraxia of speech.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim of this study was to examine differences in speech/language and written language skills between children with suspected childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and children with other speech-sound disorders at school age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten children (7 males and 3 females) who were clinically diagnosed with CAS (CAS group) were followed from the preschool years (ages 4-6) to school age (ages 8-10) and were compared with children with isolated speech-sound disorders (S group; n = 15) and combined speech-sound and language disorders (SL group; n = 14). Assessments included measures of articulation, diadochokinetic rates, language, reading, and spelling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At follow-up, 8 of the children with CAS demonstrated improvement in articulation scores, but all 10 continued to have difficulties in syllable sequencing, nonsense word repetition, and language abilities. The children also exhibited comorbid disorders of reading and spelling. Group comparisons revealed that the CAS group was similar to the SL group, but not the S group during the preschool years. By school age, however, the SL group made more positive changes in language skills than the CAS group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that the phenotype for CAS changes with age. Language disorders persist in these children despite partial resolution of articulation problems. Children with CAS are also at risk for reading and spelling problems.
authors.affiliation: Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-6038, USA. bxl@po.cwru.edu
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Freebairn
authors.forename: Amy J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Sudha K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Iyengar
authors.forename: H Gerry
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D001072:Apraxias / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D013060:Speech; D014956:Writing