This is Part 2 of my neuroaffirming CAS + Autism series — a practical and compassionate look at regulation, motivation, and keeping everyone (including you) out of meltdown territory during therapy and daily routines.

In this episode, I share gentle, immediately usable strategies, including:

• ​Building choice and control into tasks
• ​Using simple visual schedules and visual timers
• ​Giving clear warnings before transitions or change
• ​Weaving in sensory and movement breaks
• ​Using first–then, countdowns and predictable expectations
• ​Keeping goals small and wins frequent
• ​Knowing when to drop demands and shift into calming
• ​Keeping therapy playful, meaningful and connection-driven

If you support a child with CAS + Autism, this episode will help make sessions feel lighter, calmer and more connected.

This is also the final episode of Season 1. Next year, I’ll be introducing parent interviews and guest conversations with CAS specialists, and I’m excited for where this podcast is heading.

In the meantime, if you’d like more support:

You can find my complete guide to how I treat CAS here:

https://www.olgakomadinapraxiatherapy.com.au/product-page/the-apraxia-cas-therapy-handbook-live-examples-detailed-strategies-1

You can also follow me on Instagram or Facebook for regular CAS therapy tips and teaching:

https://www.instagram.com/olgakomadina_apraxia_therapy?igsh=dmRxdHVtaXV6c3d5&utm_source=qr

Episode 6 is out — the first part of a 2-part series on Neuroaffirming CAS Therapy (for children with both CAS + Autism).

A lot of families don’t know this, but I trained in two worlds at the same time:

🧡 Autism — inside a large autism non-for-profit

🧡 CAS — inside a CAS-only clinic

This overlap shaped my entire therapy philosophy.

It taught me that you can hold both:

• motor-speech precision

• neuroaffirming principles

• connection and co-regulation

• meaningful participation

In Part 1, I share the foundational strategies I use to support children with both CAS and Autism — in ways that feel safe, respectful, and effective.

🎧 Episode 6 — listen now:

Neuroaffirming CAS Therapy (Part 1 of 2)

In this episode, Olga dives into one of the most practical (and often overlooked) parts of therapy — writing meaningful progress notes and NDIS reports for children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).

You’ll learn:

• How to write notes that are useful for both therapy planning and NDIS reporting

• What makes a report effective for demonstrating progress and functional impact

• How to balance clinical accuracy with parent-friendly language

• Why every report can also double as a powerful advocacy document

Resources mentioned in this episode — including free downloads and templates — can be found on Olga’s website or under “Files” in the Apraxia NDIS Support & Advocacy Facebook group.

In this episode of the Olga Komadina Apraxia Therapy podcast, we dive deeper into the treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), focusing on strategies for helping children progress from single words to clear, connected sentences. Olga shares real-life insights from her therapy sessions, offering practical tips for speech pathologists and parents alike. You'll learn about the importance of syllable shapes, how to break down and build up multi-syllabic words, and techniques for teaching natural-sounding sentences. The episode also covers common challenges like consonant clusters, coarticulation, and the role of prosody in making speech more understandable. Whether you're a clinician or a parent supporting a child with CAS, this episode is packed with actionable advice, resources, and encouragement for every stage of the journey.

In this episode, I dive into the first part of our Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) treatment series. I share my top tips for simplifying words so that even our youngest or most severely affected kids can say them. We explore how to use syllable shapes to create functional, achievable target words and I walk you step by step from those earliest stages—when kids can’t yet join consonants and vowels—to forming simple words and then tackling more complex multisyllabic ones.

This is Part One of our CAS treatment discussion, focusing on those foundational word shapes and the cueing hierarchy I use to scaffold a child’s progress. We’ll talk about how to adjust when things are too easy or too hard, and how to keep therapy fun and flexible.

You can also find free downloads on my website to support this episode:

🏠 Syllable House

🧩 Syllable-Level Problem Solving Guide

🎯 Cueing Hierarchy Chart

For more structured detail, check out my CAS Therapy Handbook and Module 1: Selecting Target Words, both available through my website. These resources are designed to help speech pathologists and parents understand how to choose, simplify, and build target words step-by-step.

Stay tuned for Part Two, where we’ll move on to sentence-level practice, multisyllabic words, and later-developing sounds — and explore how to weave everything together into engaging, meaningful therapy.

If you’ve ever felt unsure about identifying Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), this episode is for you. I’m breaking down what to look for, how to approach assessment with clarity, and what truly matters in a diagnosis.

Whether you’re a speech pathologist wanting to refine your clinical eye or a parent trying to make sense of mixed messages, this episode will help you feel more confident about what CAS looks like in real life.

We’ll talk through key red flags, how to differentiate CAS from phonological delay, and why trust in your clinical judgment matters more than ticking every box on a checklist.

By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away knowing:

✅ What to pay attention to during assessment

✅ How to describe CAS clearly and confidently

✅ And how to trust yourself in the diagnostic process

Hit play, and let’s take the mystery out of CAS assessment together.

Research mentioned:

Namasivayam, A. K., Li-Han, L. Y., Moore, J. G., Wong, W., & Van Lieshout, P. (2022). The articulatory basis of phonological error patterns in childhood speech sound disorders.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16, 1079289.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1635096/full

Xu, Y. (2025). Syllable as a synchronization mechanism that makes human speech possible.

Brain Sciences, 15(1), 33.

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15010033

© 2024 by the author. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

University College London, Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences ([email protected])

Vihman, M. M. (2019). Phonological templates in development (Oxford Studies in Phonology and Phonetics, Vol. 4).

Oxford University Press.

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/phonological-templates-in-development-9780198793564?cc=au&lang=en&

Vihman, M. M. (2013, November 20). Early Speech Workshop 2013 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-S110j9xJo&t=1430s

(From 9min19sec)

Everyone says CAS therapy is complicated — but is it really? In this episode, Olga explains why the process is more straightforward than most people think, and how a clear structure and consistent practice can transform outcomes for kids with apraxia.