The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], (2007) defines childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) as ‘a neurological childhood (pediatric) speech sound disorder in which the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech are impaired in the absence of neuromuscular deficits (e.g., abnormal reflexes, abnormal tone)’ (p. 1). There are three main features: inconsistent production of syllables or words, abnormal prosody, and lengthened or disrupted coarticulatory transitions between sounds and syllables (ASHA, 2007). Despite its prevalence, there have been very few studies looking at its characteristics in Arabic-speaking children. Furthermore, there are no assessment tools with Arabic stimuli. As a result of this, it is important to develop protocols for assessing Saudi children with suspected CAS that are culturally appropriate.
The aim of the thesis was to develop an adapted version of the Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skill [Ar-DEMSS] in the Saudi dialect of Arabic. Further to this, the tool was then administered to two groups of children: one typically developing and the other with a diagnosis of CAS.
This study involved 49 Saudi children from public schools and speech and language clinics in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, aged 36 to 84 months (three to seven years old). A typically-developing group consisted of 43 children between the ages of 3 to 7, while the CAS group included only six children between the ages of 3 to 6.
Several tests, including the Ar-DEMSS, an articulation test, a nonverbal oral apraxia test, an oral structure and function test, and a DDK, were used to evaluate children with CAS and typically developing children.
The findings showed that typically developing children performed better than those with CAS on all sections of the Ar-DEMSS test. The results also indicated that children with CAS demonstrate vowel errors, prosody deficits, overall articulatory problems, and inconsistent productions across attempts. There were some features highlighted in the Saudi child population such as vowels and consonants being distorted/omitted, syllables being reduced, pauses, lexical stress errors, and inconsistent productions. There were difficulties with CV, CVC, disyllabic, and multisyllabic words for children with CAS.
This study represents the first adaption of DEMSS into a Semitic language. It indicates that Ar-DEMSS has the potential to be further validated for use in Saudi Arabia to assist with the identification of children with CAS.
