Motor functions and adaptive behaviour in children with childhood apraxia of speech.
OBJECTIVE
Undiagnosed motor and behavioural problems have been reported for children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). This study aims to understand the extent of these problems by determining the profile of and relationships between speech/non-speech oral, manual and overall body motor functions and adaptive behaviours in CAS.


METHODS
Eighteen children (five girls and 13 boys) with CAS, 4 years 4 months to 10 years 6 months old, participated in this study. The assessments used were the Verbal Motor Production Assessment for Children (VMPAC), Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2) and Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System (ABAS-II).


RESULTS
Median result of speech/non-speech oral motor function was between -1 and -2 SD of the mean VMPAC norms. For BOT-2 and ABAS-II, the median result was between the mean and -1 SD of test norms. However, on an individual level, many children had co-occurring difficulties (below -1 SD of the mean) in overall and manual motor functions and in adaptive behaviour, despite few correlations between sub-tests.


CONCLUSIONS
In addition to the impaired speech motor output, children displayed heterogeneous motor problems suggesting the presence of a global motor deficit. The complex relationship between motor functions and behaviour may partly explain the undiagnosed developmental difficulties in CAS.
Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.
Şermin
Ş
Tükel
Helena
H
Björelius
Gunilla
G
Henningsson
Anita
A
McAllister
Ann Christin
AC
Eliasson
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D001072:Apraxias / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D000068079:Motor Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS); adaptive behaviour; motor comorbidity