Data in Apraxia Therapy

Dynamic Therapy First… Data Later

It’s tempting to take data after every trial—especially if you were trained in traditional articulation therapy. But apraxia therapy is different.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a motor planning disorder. Our goal isn’t just correct sounds. It’s building a stable, flexible motor plan. That requires therapy that is dynamic and responsive in the moment.

Apraxia Therapy Is Meant to Be Fluid

When using DTTC, we don’t move neatly up the hierarchy and stay there. We often shift levels within the same block of practice.

You might:

• Start with simultaneous production and strong cueing
• Move to direct imitation
• End with delayed imitation and reduced support

You might:

• Start with direct imitation and need to move back to simultaneous production

Moving up and down the hierarchy isn’t disorganized, it’s intentional.

Click here to learn more about DTTC

Why Not Take Data Every Trial?

Stopping to record each response interrupts the flow of therapy and pulls your attention away from what matters most:

• What cueing helped? Click here to learn more about multisensory cueing
• Is the movement more accurate?
• Do I increase or fade support next trial?

Effective apraxia therapy requires real-time clinical decisions. That’s hard to do when you’re focused on tallying.

What I Document Instead:

After the block of practice, I quickly jot down:

1. The highest level of the hierarchy the child achieved by the end of the block.
2. The cueing that was most effective.

It takes seconds and gives me meaningful information for the next session.

In apraxia therapy, quality of practice matters more than quantity of data points.

Dynamic therapy first. Data later.

Do you want to see samples of dynamic therapy? Click here to watch dynamic therapy in action.

In my comprehensive Treatment of Childhood Apraxia course, you’ll receive a detailed handbook with guided session notes and sample plans to help you run more effective therapy sessions.  Click here to learn more about the learning and mentorship that you will receive to feel confident treating CAS.