A Cochrane review of treatment for childhood apraxia of speech.

Background: The diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) remains heavily debated, and there is no agreement upon the etiology for the disorder. Whilst there is some consensus on the potential broad array of presenting features of children with CAS, only three key features are recognised as ubiquitous for diagnosis: 1) inconsistent error production on both consonants and vowels across repeated productions of syllables or words; 2) lengthened and impaired coarticulatory transitions between sounds and syllables; and 3) inappropriate prosody. Despite the typically severe and complex presentation of CAS, there is little evidence reported on intervention approaches for the disorder, perhaps as a result of the ongoing deliberation over etiology and diagnosis.

A Cochrane review of treatment for dysarthria following acquired brain injury in children and adolescents.

Background: The expression ''acquired brain injury'' (ABI) incorporates a range of etiologies including cerebrovascular accident, brain tumour and traumatic brain injury. ABI is a common cause of disability in the pediatric population, and dysarthria is a common and often persistent sequelae associated with ABI in children.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of intervention delivered by Speech and Language Pathologists/Therapists targeting dysarthric speech in children resulting from acquired brain injury.