Apraxia of speech goals

Apraxia of speech goals are one way of navigating Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), which can feel like a complex task for Speech-Language pathologists. Treatment should be centered around motor planning and sequencing of speech sounds, and goal development requires careful planning.

When writing Apraxia of speech goals, SLPs should consider key factors such as movement sequences, cueing strategies, and functional communication outcomes. Here, we’ll provide practical guidance for writing strong apraxia of speech goals as well as examples across severity levels.

Summary

• Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor planning disorder, not a muscle-based articulation issue, requiring treatment focused on movement accuracy and sequencing rather than isolated sounds.
• Effective CAS goals prioritize syllable shapes, repeated motor practice, cueing hierarchies, and functional communication across real-life contexts.
• SMART, functionally meaningful goals help children generalize speech skills for requesting, commenting, and participation at home and school. Download my free SMART goals worksheet.
• Evidence-based strategies—including DTTC, PROMPT, visual cueing, and AAC—support progress while reducing frustration and improving communication access. Using an EHR can help therapists organize and manage goals easily.

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What is Apraxia of speech?

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), as defined by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), is a neurological childhood speech sound disorder, involving impaired precision and consistency of movements underlying speech. There is an absence of neuromuscular deficits, such as abnormal tone or abnormal reflexes.

CAS is not caused by muscle weakness. In children with CAS, the brain has difficulty planning and sequencing the precise movements of the lips, tongue, and jaw that are needed to produce intelligible speech.

The child often knows what they want to say, but the “message” from the brain to the mouth gets scrambled.

Key characteristics of CAS include:

• Inconsistent speech sound errors
• Groping or visible effort during speech attempts
• Errors occur more with increased length or complexity of utterances
• Clearer production of automatic speech than volitional speech
• Difficulty transitioning between sounds or syllables

What causes childhood Apraxia of Speech?

In most cases, the cause is unknown (idiopathic). In some cases, CAS is associated with neurological insults or genetic syndromes.

It’s important to remember that apraxia affects motor planning, so traditional articulation therapy often fails. Therapy must focus on the accuracy of the movement and sequencing, not just the sound. Motor learning principles should be at the forefront of treatment planning.

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How to write Apraxia of speech goals

Incorporating motor planning and speech sound accuracy

Effective apraxia goals focus on movement patterns, not just targeting isolated phonemes.

Key elements to include in Apraxia of speech goals:

• Production of specific syllable and word shapes (CV, CVC, multisyllabic words)
• Repeated practice of speech motor plans
• Use of cueing hierarchies (visual, tactile, verbal)
• Accuracy across multiple trials
• Generalization to functional contexts
• For example, instead of writing:
• “Client will produce the /p/ sound,”

An example of Apraxia of speech goals that focus on motor movements might be:

“Client will produce functional CV syllables starting with bilabial consonants with accurate sequencing of movement in 4 out of 5 opportunities.”

Using SMART and functional goal frameworks

Apraxia of speech goals should follow principles of SMART goal development:

• Specific: Identify the syllable shape (CV, VC, CVC, VCV)
• Measurable: Use defined accuracy or number of trials
• Achievable: Attainable given the child’s current motor abilities
• Relevant: Support functional communication through words that help the child navigate their world (i.e., “mama”, “go”)
• Time-bound: Include a clear timeframe

SLPs should focus on functionally relevant goals that link speech production to meaningful outcomes. For example, words or word approximations that allow the child to successfully request, comment, or participate in routines across environments, like home and school.

Examples of Apraxia of speech goals by severity

Early intervention speech goals

Young children with apraxia can benefit from targeting goals that focus on imitation, simple syllable shapes, and establishing consistent motor plans.

Examples of early intervention speech goals

• The client will produce Vowel-Consonant (VC) combinations during play routines with maximal visual and tactile cues in 80% of opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions.
• The client will imitate CV syllables with bilabials with accurate movement sequencing in 4 out of 4 trials across 3 consecutive sessions.
• The client will imitate/verbally approximate functional words with early developing consonants (e.g., “more”, “go”, “up”) to comment or request 5 times across 3 consecutive sessions.
• The client will sequence a production of 2 different vowels (e.g., “uh oh”) in 80% of opportunities over 3 consecutive sessions.

Moderate to severe goals (e.g., phrase production, self-correction)

As the child’s motor planning improves, goals can expand toward more complex targets and improved self-monitoring. Older children may also benefit from goals surrounding rate control, prosody, and generalization to conversational speech.

Examples of moderate to severe Apraxia of speech goals

• Phrase production: “The client will produce functional 2-word phrases (e.g., “my turn”, “go more”) in 80% of opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions."
• Multisyllabic words: “The client will produce 3-syllable words (e.g., “ba-na-na”) accurately in 80% of trials over 3 consecutive sessions."

Treatment strategies that support Apraxia of speech goal progress

Effective Apraxia of speech goals go hand-in-hand with evidence-based treatment strategies. Therapy should focus on the nature of apraxia as a motor learning disorder, and best practices indicate the need for high-frequency practice, multisensory cueing, and structured progression.

Visual cueing

Visual supports such as gestures, mirrors, or pictures of mouths can help clients understand how to place articulators and follow movement patterns.

PROMPT therapy

PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) is a program that uses tactile-kinesthetic input to the child’s face to guide speech movements.

Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC): This “listen, watch me, do what I do” hierarchy fades support as the child gains independence in their speech production and sequencing abilities.

AAC supports

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) supports the individual’s functional communication while motor speech skills develop through speech therapy by giving them a “voice”. AAC does not hinder speech development and has been shown to reduce frustration and support language development.

Example: Apraxia IEP or treatment plan template

Here is an example of a therapy plan for an early intervention client with moderate apraxia of speech:

Long-term goal

The client will improve motor planning and speech intelligibility to effectively communicate functional needs across environments.

Short-term goal

The client will produce functional CV words with accurate movement sequencing in 80% of opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given moderate visual and tactile cues.

Skilled therapeutic intervention strategies

• Direct modeling
• Multisensory cues (visual modeling, mirror feedback, tactile cues)
• Drill and repetition
• AAC support for message completion
• Functional practice within play

Data collection

• Trial-based accuracy
• Cueing levels
• Consistency across repetitions

Therapy frequency and duration

Individual Speech Therapy 3 times per week, 30 minutes per session, for 6 months

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Tracking progress and adjusting Apraxia speech goals

SLPs need to monitor a client’s progress when providing apraxia treatment, as improvements can be gradual and nonlinear. Besides accuracy, clinicians should track:

• Cueing level required
• Consistency across trials
• Generalization abilities across new contexts
• Self-monitoring and correction
• Depending on the client’s progress, goals may need to be adjusted by:
• Modifying intervention strategies
• Shifting the focus to more functional targets
• Increasing practice intensity
• Reducing linguistic complexity

With clear documentation of the motor characteristics the client shows, clinicians can justify the need for ongoing services.

Apraxia of Speech goals should reflect a focus on movement patterns rather than an articulatory placement of isolated sounds. By prioritizing functional communication, SLPs can empower clients to find their voice.

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How EHRs can help with documentation

Modern EHR/practice management platforms (such as TheraPlatform) assist greatly with documentation by providing HIPAA‑compliant, integrated systems for note entry, storage, scheduling, and billing. They allow therapists to:

• Use and customize templates (e.g., SOAP, DAP, and others) or build their own to streamline note writing and ensure consistency.
• Link notes to treatment plans, goals, and session history so client progress is easily tracked over time.
• Utilize e-fax and secure document sharing via client portal to safely exchange information with clients or other providers while maintaining confidentiality.
• Leverage dictation and telehealth transcription, which can automatically convert sessions into therapy or assessment notes, saving time and reducing manual entry.
• Take advantage of AI features that streamline documentation by automatically populating intake form data into assessment templates and generating complete therapy and assessment notes from the information you provide, all with a single click.

Meanwhile, AI‑assisted note tools are emerging which can further help clinicians by:

• Automatically transcribing session audio (if permitted) and highlighting key moments (e.g. emotional shifts, major themes).
• Suggesting draft notes or filling in objective or assessment sections based on observed data, freeing up clinicians’ time.
• Supporting consistency and reducing missing components in notes, which helps from both clinical, legal, and insurance perspectives.

Together, structured SOAP‑type notes, good EHR platforms, and smart AI tools support better therapeutic outcomes, more efficient workflows, and stronger accountability.

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Resources for speech therapists

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References

Iuzzini-Seigel, J., Allison, K. M., & Stoeckel, R. (2022). A tool for differential diagnosis of childhood apraxia of speech and dysarthria in children: A tutorial. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 53(4), 926-946. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-21-00164

Lewis, B. A., Miller, G. J., Iyengar, S. K., Stein, C., & Benchek, P. (2024). Long-term outcomes for individuals with childhood apraxia of speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9S), 3463-3479. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00647

Murray, E., McCabe, P., Heard, R., & Ballard, K. J. (2015). Differential diagnosis of children with suspected childhood apraxia of speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58(1), 43-60.