When working with a child with moderate to severe CAS, I prioritize looking at the whole child and developing an effective intervention plan to target the individual child’s needs and family priorities. While each intervention plan will be developed specifically for each child, I consistently implement the principles of motor learning and research-based therapy techniques specific to CAS in every plan. I have experience with implementing Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC) when working with children with CAS and have training in this area. Specific features implemented in my therapy for CAS include:
- Shorter, frequent therapy sessions.
- Selection of functional and achievable target words, including words that are meaningful to the child and family.
- Fewer target words targeted at one time for severe CAS and more targets for mild-moderate CAS.
- Planning for high numbers of correct repetitions of target words during each therapy session. This is achieved by engaging in practice during a fun activity and/or with frequent reinforcements, especially for the younger kiddos!
- Repeated, mass practice when learning a new target word; distributed practice for retention and carryover of learned target words.
- Having the child watch my mouth when learning a new target word.
- Use of a leveled hierarchy when working on target words (i.e. saying the word simultaneously with the child, then moving to direct imitation, then delayed imitation, and then spontaneously).
- Use of a cueing hierarchy to achieve correct production of a target word, moving from less cueing/prompting to more as the child requires it in order to correctly say a word.
Above all, my therapy for CAS is focused on the individual child’s needs and the family’s desires for that child, with evidence-based practice as the underlying framework. My goal is for each one of my students to become effective and functional communicators!