Working with the birth to three population in the natural environment can be both rewarding and challenging. When Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is suspected, ongoing assessment and diagnostic therapy are critical to identify children who present with motor planning difficulties. Many of the young children SLPs evaluate in early intervention are minimally verbal, making standardized apraxia tests difficult to administer. Because the standardized tests utilized in early intervention to determine eligibility are heavily weighted in language, not speech, some young children with suspected CAS may not qualify for services under Part C of IDEA. The burden then falls on the Speech-Language Pathologist to use informal assessment to determine if the child is following a typical or an atypical path of development, focusing primarily on communicative intent and the acquisition of pre‐linguistic milestones during the first 15 months of life. Identifying and documenting deviant development will aid the SLP in determining which children present with characteristics consistent with suspected CAS.