OLGA KOMADINA
APRAXIA THERAPY
Submission - Thriving Kids Consultation (Childhood
Apraxia of Speech)
Key Ask
Keep Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) under NDIS OR create a CAS-specific stream within Thriving Kids guaranteeing 1:1 therapy 2-4x/week by CAS-trained SLPs.
Date: 30 September 2025
To: Committee Secretariat, House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and
Disability
Via: Online submission portal (Thriving Kids consultation)
Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a rare, lifelong neurological speech disorder affecting 1-2 in 1,000 children — a prevalence comparable to Down Syndrome. CAS is recognised in the DSM-5 and by the NDIA’s internal Standard Operating Procedures as a primary disability category, yet it remains poorly understood and inconsistently supported.
Submission - Thriving Kids Consultation (Childhood Apraxia of Speech) 1
CAS is not a simple “speech delay.” It is a complex motor-planning disorder that requires frequent, intensive, one-to-one therapy delivered by speech pathologists with specific expertise. Research shows that children with CAS need 2-4 sessions per week, especially in the early and severe stages, for optimal outcomes. Group models, school based programs, and low-frequency therapy are not effective for this population.
Why Thriving Kids is Not Suitable for CAS Without Safeguards
The proposed Thriving Kids model relies heavily on group delivery and generalist supports within schools and community health. While this may work for children with mild communication delays, it will not meet the needs of children with CAS. Placing children with CAS into these settings risks wasting government funds on interventions that will not produce progress, while families lose access to the specialised support their children require.
As seen in recent ABC News coverage, teenagers such as Jade don’t just “grow out of” CAS. It took Jade 10 years to finally access specialised therapy, through the NDIS, after years of missed opportunity. If children with CAS are removed from the NDIS, we risk going backwards to a time when children were routinely misdiagnosed, misunderstood, or left unsupported.
® ABC News: Jade’s Story
The NDIS itself has published the story of Jayelan, a young man diagnosed with both autism and severe apraxia. The article presents him as non-speaking primarily due to autism, with only a brief mention of apraxia. Clinically, however, severe apraxia likely played a major, if not primary, role in his lack of speech. With early, intensive motor speech therapy, many children with CAS do go on to develop spoken language. Jayelan appears to have missed that opportunity, was placed in a special school, and mislabelled as having an intellectual disability, something later disproven by his communication using a letterboard. His story illustrates the real risks when apraxia is misunderstood or under-treated, particularly in children who also have autism.
NDIS Story: Jayelan
Recommendations
To ensure children with CAS are not left behind, we recommend that:
e CAS remains within the NDIS, where families retain choice and control to select a speech pathologist with demonstrated CAS expertise.
e If Thriving Kids does include children with CAS, it must create a separate, clearly defined category with guaranteed access to individual, intensive (2-4x weekly) therapy by trained speech pathologists.
Submission — Thriving Kids Consultation (Childhood Apraxia of Speech) 2
e CAS should not be grouped under general “speech delay” categories, as this misrepresents its severity and lifelong impact across communication, literacy, social participation, and mental health.
Summary
Children with CAS represent a small but highly vulnerable group. Without early and ongoing access to evidence-based intervention, they face long-term consequences across education, social development, mental health, and future employment. Thriving Kids must either explicitly exclude severe CAS from its group-based model or establish a dedicated pathway to ensure access to intensive, specialist therapy.
Recent case examples, Jade’s decade-long delay in accessing the right therapy, and Jayelan’s missed opportunity for speech due to mislabelling, demonstrate what is at stake. These stories highlight why CAS must remain under the NDIS, where families can secure the specialised therapy their children need.
Yours sincerely,
Olga Komadina, B Health Sc (Sp Path), CPSP
Speech Pathologist | Director — Olga Komadina Apraxia Therapy
ABN: 36 785 314 076
Email: info@olgakomadinapraxiatherapy.com.au
Phone: 0414599745
Website: www.olgakomadinapraxiatherapy.com.au
Submission — Thriving Kids Consultation (Childhood Apraxia of Speech) 3
References
Carrigg, B., Baker, E., & Skuse, A. (2016). Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Outcomes of intensive intervention. International Journal of Soeech-Language Pathology, 18(2), 179-192.
Lewis, B.A., Freebairn, L. A., Hansen, A. J., lyengar, S. K., & Taylor, H. G. (2004). School age follow-up of children with childhood apraxia of speech. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 35(2), 122-140.
Lewis, B.A., Freebairn, L. A., Hansen, A. J., Taylor, H. G., lyengar, S. K., & Shriberg, L. D. (2011). Family pedigrees of children with suspected childhood apraxia of speech. Journal of Communication Disorders, 44(6), 640-656.
McCabe, P., Murray, E., & Thomas, D. (2017). A review of childhood apraxia of speech: Considerations for the diagnosis and treatment. Speech Pathology Australia National Conference Presentation.
Ruben, R. J. (2002). Redefining the survival of the fittest: Communication disorders in the 21st century. The Laryngoscope, 112(2), 241-245. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005537-200002010-00010
Speech Pathology Australia. (2022). Childhood Apraxia of Speech (Fact Sheet). https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/common/Uploaded%20files/Communic
ationHub/Fact-Sheets/Childhood™%20apraxia%200f%20speech%20FINAL.pdf
University of Sydney. (2024). Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Evidence Brief. https://rest.sydney.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/CAS_evidence_brief_2024.pdf
Submission — Thriving Kids Consultation (Childhood Apraxia of Speech) 4