Clarisse Marquis Colvard earned her Doctorate of Speech-Language Pathology in 2018. She has over 40 years' experience as a speech language pathologist. Clarisse developed the speech-language pathology program at Thomason Hospital in 1991 and in 1994 she founded the Silva Clinic, an outpatient clinical habilitation and rehabilitation center serving all ages and demographics. Clarisse and her colleagues continue to provide individualized speech-language pathology services which empower the patient and family and facilitate excellent patient outcomes.
CHILDHOOD APRAXIA OF SPEECH
Apraxia is a motor-speech planning disorder that occurs when the brain has difficulty creating the muscle movements necessary to move the body parts involved in speech (lips, tongue, jaw).
SIGNS OF SPEECH APRAXIA
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In a young child:
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As an infant, the child did not babble or coo
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A late appearance of first words, sometimes missing sounds
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Trouble connecting sounds
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Long pauses in between words
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Frequently changes or omits difficult sounds to simpler sounds
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Possibility of eating trouble
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In an older child:
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An ability to understand language much better than their ability to speak it
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Speech is difficult to understand
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A difficulty in imitating speech, but imitated speech is clearer than spontaneous speech
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Groping of the lips, jaw, and tongue occur while attempting to produce a sound
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Other problems include:
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Fine motor movement difficulties
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Over-sensitivity (hypersensitivity) or under-sensitivity (hyposensitivity) of the mouth, making some foods difficult to eat or a dislike of teeth brushing
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Difficulty with word order or recalling words
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Please reach out to us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
