Seeking Anyone Who Has Had Experience with Apraxia

He's only 19 months old I would be VERY hesitant to put a label on him this early. My now 6 yr old didnt say ANYTHING anyone could tell what she was saying until she was 2 yrs old. Now I can't get her or her 3 yr old bro to shut up. Sometimes I have to litterly ask her to be quiet for just 5 mins so mommy can think, it never lasts that long.

Try reading the Out of Sync Child, and Out of Sync Child at Play.....

Good Luck!

Hi T.,

My now 5 1/2 year old daughter was diagnosed with severe Apraxia at the age of 3. At that time she was only saying about 5 words and making minimal sounds. After 2 1/2 years of private & school based therapy, she is now only receiving school based therapy and is speaking great! Not every child's progress is this good, but the earlier speech therapy can begin, the better. And it's very important that the therapist have experience with Apraxia. There is a great website with all kinds of information and resources for Apraxia: www.apraxia-kids.org/
They also have a great listserve for posting questions and advice. I cannot stress enough how wonderful this site is and how much it has helped me. Best of luck to you and your son. Don't be discouraged - there are some great therapists out there. We used CHOA.

G.

Calm down and don't worry too much. I know easier said than done. I think I posted about being in special ed for years and workign with EI to your last post. Apraxia can be scary to both kids and parents, however it doesn't mean that he has a learnign disability in the cognitive sense. Most children with apraxia are extremely intellegent and struggle to verbally express themselves but receptively are extremely smart. Also your son is very young and with intense services from babynet EI and speech therapy can do remarkable things before he is old enough for school. Remember to be patient and learn as much as you can from the therapist because you will be his best therapist.
M. J

That was the official diagnosis of my 2 year old after our speech eval. At 2 he had only about 15 words and not putting any together. Now a year later he is so verbal you wouldn;t believe it. As we were dismissed from our speech therapy last week, I told her, I don't think I could handle him being any more verbal. Not all cases resolve that quickly, but give it some time.

Apraxia is a neurological disorder characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. It is a disorder of motor planning which may be acquired or developmental, but may not be caused by incoordination, sensory loss, or failure to comprehend simple commands (which can be tested by asking the person tested to recognize the correct movement from a series). Apraxia should not be confused with aphasia, an inability to produce and/or comprehend language, or abulia, the lack of desire to carry out an action.

The root word of Apraxia is praxis, Greek for an act, work, or deed. It is preceded by a privative a, meaning 'without'.

Apraxia of speech

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) presents in children who have no evidence of difficulty with strength or range of motion of the articulators, but are unable to execute speech movements because of motor planning and coordination problems. This is not to be confused with phonological impairments in children with normal coordination of the articulators during speech.

Symptoms of Acquired Apraxia of Speech (AOS) and Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) include inconsistent articulatory errors, groping oral movements to locate the correct articulatory position, and increasing errors with increasing word and phrase length. AOS often co-occurs with Oral Apraxia (during both speech and non-speech movements) and Limb Apraxia.

I seem to remember your last post. I hope you get your son to the right doctor and find out exactly what is going on. I will put you on our prayer list at church. God bless.

And give yourself a big pat on the back that you listened to your gut and had him evaluated. Early intervention will go a long way towards helping him. Good luck!

T.,
I am not familiar with apraxia...but why don't you try to wait a couple of more months until he is a little closer to 2years old. Try not to worry right now. Sometimes boys develop speech a little later than girls and most doctors say that if they are not talking by age 2 to start worrying but not before 2. Is he playing with any other children around his age to help him in developing social skills?

K., 28, SAHM of 2 and an in home day care provider

My twins, now almost 20, were "supposed" to be developmentally delayed and retarded because they had a speech problem and were unable to speak intelligibly. Both twins are now in college on full scholarships and speaking quite well. It took years of speech therapy and tons of patience, but hang in there- it's worth it. Practice making sounds with your child- clicking, clucking- blowing bubbles, blowing out candles, making funny faces in the mirror. All these things help with the muscles used in speech. Besides, your child will have fun with the time and attention you are giving him. These exercises were some that I remember doing with the girls. They were in speech from 3 years old until freshman in high school.

T.,
I am the mother of four children. Our youngest child had apraxia. We noticed he wasn't talking or babbling as much and took him in for an evaluation with a speech therapist at two. We could tell that David was bright - but just pointed and made some gestures for what he wanted.

We got involved in babies cant wait a program that is sponsered through the state and is free to parents no matter their income level. Do this right away as they have a waiting list.

They sent a speech therapist to our home twice a week until he was three or four - can't remember. They were great therapist who also worked through the school system. At three or four we went through the school system and were able to have speech therapy there.

A great book to read about apraxia and speech delay is The Einstein Syndrome. It will help to ease your fears about learning disabilities. I was also afraid of this but it ends up that he has done great in school. He is going into the second grade now. He is confident in his speech and read more books than anyone in the first grade last year. (I had no idea he was doing this until Christmas when I saw almost 65 stickers by his name (a sticker for each book) where the other children only had 15 or 20.

As far as learning disabilities go I would be very cautious in lableling with any disabilities. From what I understand a lable of a learning disability doesn't really change the teaching approach of children.

David was accepted into the gifted program at school this year along with his oldest sister. Just enjoy the journey with your young one. I'll bet he will surprise you with the creative ways he communicates with you until he can use his words with ease.

J.

What did he do that made them say he has apraxia?? Just wondering cause I still think he is too young and that this is silly for your son's Ped to stress you out over this. I had to Google it cause I've never heard of it before and wanted to understand what it was about. My son is almost 26 months and says T.B. instead of T.V., everything that can be drank is juice, he just recently started saying duckie instead of back back (how he said quack quack). He also like your son would stop saying words when he was in the 18 month range and now he says them again with no problem. What my son does have is drifting eye and he is going through some vision therapy to see if we can correct it instead of surgery. He also has inverted ankles and flat feet but he is still my son!!

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/apraxia.htm

I truly think your son is normal from what you've discribed and that you are being put though undo stress. Just be careful and take all these specialist with a grain of salt.

Good luck
S.

I am an SLP and we are certified to work with children with apraxia. E-mail me at ____@____.com and I'll try to send you some links of information to help you out!!

I am a mother of two boys. My first born is 3 1/2 yrs old and was diagnosed with apraxia 1 1/2 yrs ago. We have been going to therapy since then. My second born is 1 yr and speaks more than my 3 1/2 yr old. I understand the fustration you are going through. In regards to the response below, do not worry about "labels" but if the possibilty exist that your son has apraxia you are better off having your son go to therapy than waiting. The sooner you go the better prognosis it can be for him. I honestly don't think some people think before they open their mouths. I mean you are on a website talking with fustrated parents dealing with apraxia and you have a parent that states "I can't get mine to shut up??" I wish I were in those shoes. You do what you have to for your son as soon as possible. He will eventually talk with therapy. Try ordering the Vibe Critter. It helps with the oral muscles and increasing tone. Good luck! :)

T.,
My son was diagnosed at 38 moths old with oromotor dyspraxia or oromotor apraxia. Our concerns were feeding difficulties and expressive language delay. His receptive language is good and he has overall intelligence. We worked with babies can’t wait - state program in my area- without results. Their therapists never got close to the root of his problem, so the therapy was not working. Some of them treat him as having sensory issues and a possible autism. I knew in my heart it wasn’t the problem. I search and read about it, and just to make sure we took him to a developmental pediatrician 5 months ago. It took us one year to get to see her, but it was worth it. She found the problem. Her diagnosis is oromotor dyspraxia. She told us that he is a normal kid with a hole, the oromotor dyspraxia is the hole, and that his long-term prognosis for functioning within the normal range is excellent. Starting this early should assure his return to mainstream at a much faster rate. She recommended a myofunctional therapist with experience in these problems, because the traditional approach usually doesn’t work. We are been working with her 4 months and we are having great results. Find the best to help him. If you want more information contact me. I know how frustrating is this.

Hi T.,

You said it right there yourself, "My bright little 19 month old son." There you go. I have a bright 8 year old with a disability that has been a major factor in his life, especially when he was younger. Now, not so much, as we have learned that his disability is the minor detail and whatever comes up as a result of it we will deal with then focus on what's great about him and our lives. I feel for you. I know the heartbreak of finding out your child may have a disability, that some of your dreams for your child need to shift. Just this year I realized a private school placement for my son that I wanted for him, a lifestyle truly, was simply not in the cards for him. At that point I really let go of my wants for him and realized that tis is his journey. He has his own life lessons. God has his own plans for my son.

Your son is a blessing, an absolute miracle just the way he is. Whatever comes up for him and you and your family y'all will deal with. Maybe I can save you some of the distress and struggle I suffered by helping you see early on that it is the disability that is the small detail....even when sometimes it looms large......that you have the grace and strength to mother your son just the way he is through whatever struggles God gives him.......and that by focusing on the positive you will spare yourself much of the heartache I created for myself. This does not mean do not feel your sadness and sense of loss or whatever comes up for you. This does not mean do not scream if you need to. Go for it! I'm only suggesting that after a short while you make a choice to shift back to the positive. This one action is one of the secrets to living a great life.

Also, if you haven't yet call your local public school and ask about Babynet services. Your son should qualify. Also, both my children, (yes both, my younger had very delayed speech but is up to age appropriate development now after about 3 years of speech therapy) got services from Coastal Therapy Services which is owned by Ron Thayer. We had 2 different therapists from there, (1 paid for through Babynet) and they were both fabulous. You can reach them at ###-###-#### in Mt Pleasant. They have an office in Goose Creek, too.

Blessings on you, your son and my family.

Warmest Regards,

E.