To justify providing individual treatment for a 2½ year old with apraxia of speech, which item would be LEAST important to include in the evaluation report?

• A. A description of the language development of the child's older siblings
• B. Relevant prognostic data
• C. Information about apraxia of speech
• D. A description of the child's typical interaction with peers

Answer: (A)

The main point in justifying individual treatment for a 2½-year-old with apraxia of speech is to document the child’s specific speech-motor difficulties, how severe they are, and how they affect everyday communication. You want clear evidence that the child has a motor planning/programming issue for speech, levels of consistency in errors, and the need for targeted therapy to improve intelligibility and functional communication. Including prognostic data helps families and clinicians set realistic expectations about outcomes and the likely course with therapy, which supports the decision to pursue individualized treatment. Describing how the child interacts with peers shows the real-life impact of the speech difficulty and helps establish relevant goals within therapy, such as improving communication in social contexts. Information about apraxia of speech itself is essential to justify the diagnosis and the chosen treatment approach.

The description of the language development of the child’s older siblings is less directly relevant to the child’s current motor speech disorder or the decision to start individual therapy, so it provides background context but does not meaningfully support the justification for treatment.