DEVELOPMENTAL APRAXIA OF SPEECH .1. DESCRIPTIVE AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) is a putative diagnostic categor y for children whose speech errors presumedly (a) differ from the erro rs of children with developmental speech delay (SD) and (b) resemble t he errors of adults with acquired apraxia of speech. The studies repor ted in this series (Shriberg, Aram, & Kwiatkowski, 1997a, 1997b) conce rn both premises, with primary focus on the first-that children with D AS can be differentiated from children with SD on the basis of one or more reliable differences in their speech error profiles. Immediate go als are to identify a diagnostic marker For DAS and to consider implic ations for research and clinical practice. A long term goal is to iden tify the phenotype marker for DAS, on the assumption that it may be a generically transmitted disorder. This first paper reviews relevant de scriptive and theoretical perspectives. Findings From a local ascertai nment study support the clinical functionality of the term suspected D AS.