The Role of Kinesiotape in Speech Rehabilitation and Oral Motor Improvement in Children with Developmental Apraxia: Case Control Study

Background: Kinesio Tape (KT) is a flexible tape, can support and stimulate muscles, providing sensory feedback to enhance muscle awareness and coordination. Purpose: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of KT combined with oral motor training in improving speech performance and oral motor skills. Methods: A two-group experimental design was carried out on 10 children with developmental apraxia, divided into two equal groups: an experimental group and a control group. The intervention consisted of KT application, oral motor training, and sensory stimulation, provided to the experimental group, while the control group received regular speech therapy. The intervention lasted six months, with progress measured before and after using the assessment tools developed by the researcher. Results: There was a significant improvement in speech clarity, fluency, sound articulation, oral motor coordination, and oral muscle strength following the intervention with KT (p < 0.05). Specifically, speech clarity improved by 60.87%, oral muscle strength by 58.33%, and sound articulation by 59.09%, Sensory processing also improved, particularly in responses to tactile stimuli (p = 0.042, effect size = 1.22). Post-intervention analysis showed a clinically meaningful improvement in verbal and motor performance metrics. KT had the most significant positive impact (p = 0.005, effect size = 2.55) on verbal articulation, oral muscle strength, and motor coordination. Conclusions: KT was considered as an effective tool for improving verbal and oral motor performance in children with apraxia, based on the results showing significant improvements in speech clarity, fluency, articulation, and oral muscle strength.