الإصدار 5 - العدد 14 (2026-05-20)

Childhood apraxia of speech: A survey of knowledge of Jordanian speech-language pathologists

1- Dr: Jawdat Shawki Sarsak

2- Researcher: Mawada .a. Saleem

3- Researcher: Fadwa Khwaileh

1- Amman Center for Speech Language and Swallowing

2- Hamad Medical Corporation

3-Jordan University of Science and Technology

Objectives: The study compared typical speech features and comorbid conditions of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) identified by speech language pathologists in Jordan with those identified in previous surveys and consensus studies on speakers of English. It also investigated current diagnostic practice of CAS in Jordan.

Methods: 143 Jordanian speech-language pathologists answered questions of an online questionnaire about their perception of typical speech characteristics of CAS and the comorbid conditions. They also reported own assessment procedures and estimated proportion of CAS cases on their caseload.

Results: The top speech features identified typical for children with CAS were: sequencing difficulties (99.3%), polysyllabic difficulty (97.2%), groping (91.6%), inconsistent speech errors (90.9%), unintelligibility (90.2%), vowel errors (88,8%), inappropriate prosody (85.3%), and disrupted coarticulation (80.4%). The top reported general CAS features and comorbid conditions were: higher occurrence in males compared to females (81.1%), use of nonverbal communication (80.4%), language impairment (72%), behavioural disturbances (75.5%), and neurodevelopmental disorders (74.1%).  All features perceived as typical characteristics of CAS were consistent with those reported in previous literature on English speaking children with CAS. Responses were relatively uniform across educational and experience level of SLPs.

Conclusions: The results provide data on speech features regarded typical of CAS from Jordanian Arabic speakers that are similar to those identified for speakers of English and other languages.  Results may contribute to cross linguistic consensus of typical CAS characteristics.