Communication Disorders Assistant Professor Shelley Velleman is a forerunner in the field of childhood apraxia. She recently discussed what led her to focus on this area of research. Her recent invitation to the first Childhood Apraxia of Speech Research Symposium is recognition of her important work. The symposium will bring together more than 20 researchers from many countries. Their goal will be to "define the speech characteristics and potential underlying mechanisms associated with childhood speech disorder," according to Dr. Thomas Campbell of the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Communication in an announcement about the symposium.

After completing her undergraduate work at Wellesley, Velleman then went on to earn her master's in applied English linguistics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Her main focus was the teaching of English as Second Language (ESL) and building her theoretical knowledge. While earning her PhD in linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin, she took a course in child phonology and disorders and it became her focus. She then went on to earn her master's in speech pathology at the Communications Disorders Department within the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences. She also did seven years of clinical work with young children in area hospitals. It is this blending of her theoretical background with clinical expertise that Velleman feels makes her unique in her field of research. She also taught at Elms College prior to joining the faculty at UMass. She believes her initial work with ESL speakers, combined with her study of linguistics, now enhances her current area of work with child phonology, and specifically, apraxia.

Velleman's specialty, developmental verbal dyspraxia (DVD), is also sometimes called developmental apraxia of speech or oral motor planning disorder. In describing DVD, Velleman uses the analogy of trying to watch cable television stations without the correct descrambler device. She adds, "There is nothing wrong with the t.v. station, and nothing wrong with your set. It's just that your set can't read the signal the station is sending out. The child's language-learning task is to figure out how to somehow unscramble the mixed message her/his brain is sending to her/his muscles."

Techniques like "backward build ups," a technique that she used with ESL students, is one that Velleman has brought to her work with child phonology and apraxia therapy. This crossover of techniques is one that she sees as highly beneficial. With her PhD in theoretical linguistics as well as her 10 years clinical work, she sees the benefit to the field of apraxia of combining theory with hands on knowledge of techniques. Velleman would like to see more connectedness between the theoreticians and the clinicians.

Velleman continues her clinical contact through her work at UMass. She has worked for a decade in the UMass Amherst Center for Language, Speech and Hearing, which is housed within the Communication Disorders Department. Currently, she provides an expert opinion for children with a tentative diagnosis of apraxia. She also supervises phonology evaluations at the Center.

Velleman talks animatedly about a recent genetic discovery about apraxia. In England, "a gene associated with speech/language disorders similar to apraxia was found," she says. She adds that the fact that the gene affects the basal ganglia, the waystation between motor and cognition, this discovery may help explain the effectiveness of therapy that utilizes not only verbal but also kinesthetic modalities, such as music and movement.

The diagnosis for DVD can be a controversial one to apply, Velleman says. She is currently studying a group of five to seven year old children who have been identified as having significant phonological disorder(s). As a researcher, their possible diagnosis of apraxia is not considered or known to her. Her work is leading her to develop a more precise picture of the charateristics of apraxia that will help her colleagues fully understood what she calls a syndrome since it includes a "constellation of symptoms" rather than "a unitary disorder" that typically consists of a list of specific symptoms.

And what does the future hold for the treatment of DVD? Velleman is very positive when discussing the prospects for therapy for apraxia clients. How long does typical therapy for apraxia remediation last? "Sometimes it's for a very long time," she says, but if children are diagnosed early they can show improvement by first grade. The youngest client she saw was an 18-month-old who was diagnosed with the syndrome. Velleman adds that Larry Shriberg, PhD, professor emeritus, University of Wisconsin, estimates that between 1-3 children in 1,000 have apraxia.

As Velleman continues her 11 years of dedication to apraxia research, she and her small group of fellow colleagues will provide more information to unlock some of the answers to this syndrome. She looks forward to this winter's conference, which will hopefully yield some important information among her colleagues. She believes that it is through the collective sharing of information that more answers will be found to treating this syndrome.