Sue Caspari is a speech-language pathologist and faculty member at Temple University. Sue has over 20 years of experience working with children and adults in a variety of settings including early intervention, private practice and inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, including the Mayo Clinic. Sue has advanced training in and is nationally recognized for her expertise with respect to childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). At Temple, she teaches graduate level courses focused on CAS, and supervises the clinical work of students in the recently established Childhood Apraxia of Speech Treatment, Learning and Evaluation (CASTLE) Center. She frequently gives national and international presentations on the clinical management of CAS, and has published scientific research in top journals since 2008. Sue is a professional advisory council member for the Apraxia Kids organization and an instructor for the Apraxia Kid’s intensive CAS training institute. She is the owner of Caspari and Colleagues, LLC, a group of SLPs dedicated to providing consultation, evaluation and therapy services for children with CAS and other severe speech sound disorders; and the director of an intensive 5-week summer program for children with CAS.
SLP-Seminars on Childhood Apraxia of Speech taught by Sue Caspari, MA, CCC-SLP
The ABC’s of CAS
In this 3-hour session, Ms. Caspari will cover the foundational aspects of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS): A) what it is, B) how it is diagnosed, and C) how it is treated. Specific questions related to evidence-based management of CAS will be addressed such as:
- What IS CAS (and what is it NOT)?
- Can we diagnose CAS in a speech-language evaluation or is this a medical diagnosis?
- What do we need to be able to document to make that diagnosis?
- How do we talk to a parent about CAS? How much information should I share?
- What are functional and effective therapy strategies for CAS?
- How is a goal written for a child with CAS?
- What kind of service levels are recommended for children with CAS?
Participants will be provided with guided learning questions and given opportunities for reflection throughout the session in order to synthesize their learning.
Updates on the Latest CAS Assessment Tools
This 3-hour hands-on workshop will provide clinicians with a solid foundation of knowledge in the assessment of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), including the Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skill (DEMSS) (Strand & McCauley, 2019). This criterion-referenced assessment was designed specifically to help differentially diagnose CAS in young children with severely impaired speech production skills. This dynamic assessment can help clinicians confirm or rule out a diagnosis of CAS, estimate the severity of the disorder and prognosis, inform treatment goals, and make decisions about effective methods of cueing for treatment. Other evidence-based assessment procedures will be covered as well. Video tape examples will be shown throughout the session to demonstrate the assessment procedures. Hands-on group activities will be utilized to give participants practice in making clinical decisions about when to use each of the assessment methods discussed.
CAS Updates: What’s new in CAS Assessment and Treatment?
This 1-day session will review the latest updates on evidence-based practice for the assessment and treatment of CAS. In the morning session, participants will learn how to identify breakdowns in a child’s speech that are indicative of this movement disorder, and will practice how to assess a child for this disorder based on these speech movement breakdowns. In the afternoon session, clinicians will be provided with an understanding of research-based principles that guide how to practice to improve motor learning. Clinicians will learn a practical treatment method that employs these principles of motor learning that they can use in every day treatments sessions with children with CAS in order to help the child improve their movement gestures for speech. Video tape examples will be shown throughout the day to help demonstrate both assessment and treatment procedures. Hands-on small group activities will be utilized throughout the day to give participants practice in the assessment and treatment methods discussed.
CAS Clinical Competency Seminar
The diagnosis and treatment of children with severe speech sound disorders, including CAS, can be challenging in any clinical setting. This 2-day, comprehensive seminar will provide clinicians with a solid foundation of knowledge about CAS, and in-depth practice in the assessment and treatment of this complex motor speech disorder. An interactive instructional format will be utilized in which participants will actively engage in the learning as concepts are taught. Participants will practice identifying behaviors suggestive of CAS; administering a dynamic assessment; making clinical decisions based on behavioral observations from a variety of tasks; and implementing evidence-based treatment practices. Case studies and video examples will be used to further support learning. This 2-day intensive course will allow clinicians to increase their confidence and competence in their clinical skills related to CAS.
Contact us for detailed overviews, hourly agendas, and learning objectives - OR let us custom-design a workshop specifically for your needs. Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..