Re: OT: Best program to get child to speak??

[Guest guest]

nne,

My son had apraxia also. He began speaking at about 6 years old, a

few months after learning and using some basic sign language. (I had

also been doing some ABA at home with him and teaching him using

printed words and pictures.) At first, when the speech

therapist suggested teaching him sign language, I was very worried,

but his speech therapist went ahead and taught him many nouns and

verbs. He definitely began using hand signs more than he ever

spoke. However, he continued to try to say the word as he signed

it. I really think this helped him to begin speaking. He can speak

in sentences now (he is 13), and he doesn't use any signs anymore,

but he still has trouble with pronounciation and sometimes he sounds

like he has a French accent.

Heidi T.

> Listmates:

>

> I need some advice regarding success with getting children to speak.

> My son is very apraxic. He has been improving a great deal with

the

> chelation regarding cognition and his apraxia but langauge is so

hard

> for him. He does try but it almost seems painful to get the words

> out. Do I force him with ABA? Or do I wait? Sometimes the bottom

> lip comes out (he is so sad), he is frustrated and so am I. He

will

> be 5 at the end of septemper and does not say much spontaneously.

He

> say up, down, mama up, hi ,bye and can say alot more when forced

with

> some type of treat. Has anyone run into this dilemma. I think it

> should get easier the more he talks. ANy advice?

>

> nne

[Guest guest]

I think it has to be a combo of things... Grace is 4.3 and also

VERY apraxic, and just in the last 6 mos has " she " wanted to

talk! But does not want to do the work to get there!

There has been a bit of controversy in our family because I too

am " making " her talk! we also sign and use PECS.... But the

really only " proven " way to fix apraxia is practice practice

practice!!!! It has to be burned into their brain so they no longer

have to think about it! Its the thinking that gets them into trouble!

;-)

Are you using Cod Liver Oil, EFA's and DMG? Also the

Bethanocol is helping ALOT!

Good luck!

Laurie

> Listmates:

>

> I need some advice regarding success with getting children to

speak.

> My son is very apraxic. He has been improving a great deal

with the

> chelation regarding cognition and his apraxia but langauge is

so hard

> for him. He does try but it almost seems painful to get the

words

> out. Do I force him with ABA? Or do I wait? Sometimes the

bottom

> lip comes out (he is so sad), he is frustrated and so am I. He

will

> be 5 at the end of septemper and does not say much

spontaneously. He

> say up, down, mama up, hi ,bye and can say alot more when

forced with

> some type of treat. Has anyone run into this dilemma. I think it

> should get easier the more he talks. ANy advice?

>

> nne

[Guest guest]

I am not personally familiar with ABA, even though many people have had good

results. I don't know if the ones who may have had bad results aren't

talking. However, I am first an educator, and I personally believe that

teaching anyone while they are at the frustration level can not do much

good. I believe it stifles their future success in this endeavor. I would

say, " Let the learning or curriculum fit the child. " They need to see

success in what they are doing and it should be fun. I know a long time

ago, schools were rigid in their ways of teaching. A child would learn it

or else. However, our children today, in my opinion, have a lot of issues

to deal with, especially health issues. However, I don't want to scare you

off ABA.

Here is the positive side of ABA. I believe that I read that everything

is broken into tiny little bits of information that the child can learn so

he/she won't have to get frustrated and that there are immediate rewards

built into the program in such a way that the child's self esteem is

enhanced and thus this built up self esteem will motivate and encourage

further learning. There is a lot of repetition involved which increases

mastery. The parents and helpers involved in the program get trained in

doing this. I hope this helps some in deciding what to do. Rose

[ ] OT: Best program to get child to speak??

> Listmates:

>

> I need some advice regarding success with getting children to speak.

> My son is very apraxic. He has been improving a great deal with the

> chelation regarding cognition and his apraxia but langauge is so hard

> for him. He does try but it almost seems painful to get the words

> out. Do I force him with ABA? Or do I wait? Sometimes the bottom

> lip comes out (he is so sad), he is frustrated and so am I. He will

> be 5 at the end of septemper and does not say much spontaneously. He

> say up, down, mama up, hi ,bye and can say alot more when forced with

> some type of treat. Has anyone run into this dilemma. I think it

> should get easier the more he talks. ANy advice?

>

> nne

>

>

>

> =======================================================

>

[Guest guest]

Heidi,

Thanks for the input. I do believe the signs help. I do this with

Jack often but not as consistent as I would like. I try to make sign

as simple as possible because Jack was globally apraxic. The

chelation is helping big time. Today we just finished a cycle and

Jack said, more, I (for ice), pe (please), ma. Each word was

prompted but not every time. I find food is a big reenforcer for

Jack. I would be very happy if Jack wanted to talk by 6. He'd

rather do everything himself than talk. Thanks again for the info.

nne

> > Listmates:

> >

> > I need some advice regarding success with getting children to

speak.

> > My son is very apraxic. He has been improving a great deal with

> the

> > chelation regarding cognition and his apraxia but langauge is so

> hard

> > for him. He does try but it almost seems painful to get the

words

> > out. Do I force him with ABA? Or do I wait? Sometimes the

bottom

> > lip comes out (he is so sad), he is frustrated and so am I. He

> will

> > be 5 at the end of septemper and does not say much

spontaneously.

> He

> > say up, down, mama up, hi ,bye and can say alot more when forced

> with

> > some type of treat. Has anyone run into this dilemma. I think

it

> > should get easier the more he talks. ANy advice?

> >

> > nne

[Guest guest]

At 01:45 PM 07/28/2001 +0000, you wrote:

>Listmates:

>

> He does try but it almost seems painful to get the words

>out. Do I force him with ABA?

I wouldn't say " force " him with ABA, but I would definitely take an aba

approach to encouraging speech, or at least some sort of nonverbal

communication. For a child who can't easily use words I would accept eye

contact in the beginning or work on some simple signs that could function

as communication. ABA shouldn't be a form of bribery , it should simply be

reinforcing behavior that you want to increase. I would encourage you to

look into the Sundberg-Partington method of teaching language - You can

order their book from Behavior Analysts,Inc in Pleasant Hill , California.

I would think this should improve with chelation, but in the meantime and

thereafter you will need a means of catching him up in language.

Good Luck, Lynette

>

>=======================================================

>

[Guest guest]

Lynette,

I know for a fact that ABA was the way for us to teach

our child to say words. At 2 yr 4 mo he was just

babbling, but had almost all of the sounds. He didn't

know how to follow commands so it was difficult to

teach him to speak. When we started ABA in Feb at 28

months he had no words at all. In March he undestood

the whole reinforcement process and began imitating

sounds and then soon after, WORDS! He can say LOTS of

words now... it's just the spontaneous, meaningful

speech that we are working on. I know the words are

in there at 34 months! Since we started chelation he

can put 2-3 words together. ( I love you is one

example!) I highly recommend ABA, but do your homework

and find an experienced person to help you! Take

care! ( mom to Nico 34 months)

--- Lynette Rorer <LRR11555@...> wrote:

> At 01:45 PM 07/28/2001 +0000, you wrote:

> >Listmates:

> >

> > He does try but it almost seems painful to get

> the words

> >out. Do I force him with ABA?

>

> I wouldn't say " force " him with ABA, but I would

> definitely take an aba

> approach to encouraging speech, or at least some

> sort of nonverbal

> communication. For a child who can't easily use

> words I would accept eye

> contact in the beginning or work on some simple

> signs that could function

> as communication. ABA shouldn't be a form of bribery

> , it should simply be

> reinforcing behavior that you want to increase. I

> would encourage you to

> look into the Sundberg-Partington method of teaching

> language - You can

> order their book from Behavior Analysts,Inc in

> Pleasant Hill , California.

> I would think this should improve with chelation,

> but in the meantime and

> thereafter you will need a means of catching him up

> in language.

> Good Luck, Lynette

>

>

>

> >

>

>=======================================================

> >

[Guest guest]

I missed the original question on this thread but wanted to suggest looking

at the Son-Rise program or similar type of approach to encouraging meaningful

language. I feel this is by far the most effective program at promoting

interaction and communication and can be used alone or blended into other

approaches. An ABA or NACD-type of approach is good at helping the brain

take in and output sounds and language but often needs a more natural

environment/play approach to help the child develop spontaneous/meaningful

language. The Son-Rise approach is strongly tied to interaction and play,

choosing action words to work on first so you can quickly reward the child

with the thing they say and also shapes sounds they say into words and reacts

big and immediately to them to make the point clear. I've seen some good ABA

and other programs do similar things and other poor ones that get stuck on

table work and forget to tie what they're asking the child to say to a reward

that fits what they're asking for (like they ask the child to say " book " then

cheer and give the child a cookie so the child learns the word book but not

in a clear meaningful way). Also, be sure to look at auditory function and

mouth/body awareness to add in any help needed in these areas. Most of the

kids I've worked with have needed a blended approach that addresses

motivation, understanding, mouth use and auditory work.

Gaylen

[Guest guest]

-Laurie,

My son is 45 lbs. How much cod liver oil.

nne

-- In @y..., chinamom@p... wrote:

> I think it has to be a combo of things... Grace is 4.3 and also

> VERY apraxic, and just in the last 6 mos has " she " wanted to

> talk! But does not want to do the work to get there!

>

> There has been a bit of controversy in our family because I too

> am " making " her talk! we also sign and use PECS.... But the

> really only " proven " way to fix apraxia is practice practice

> practice!!!! It has to be burned into their brain so they no longer

> have to think about it! Its the thinking that gets them into

trouble!

> ;-)

>

> Are you using Cod Liver Oil, EFA's and DMG? Also the

> Bethanocol is helping ALOT!

>

> Good luck!

>

> Laurie

>

>

> > Listmates:

> >

> > I need some advice regarding success with getting children to

> speak.

> > My son is very apraxic. He has been improving a great deal

> with the

> > chelation regarding cognition and his apraxia but langauge is

> so hard

> > for him. He does try but it almost seems painful to get the

> words

> > out. Do I force him with ABA? Or do I wait? Sometimes the

> bottom

> > lip comes out (he is so sad), he is frustrated and so am I. He

> will

> > be 5 at the end of septemper and does not say much

> spontaneously. He

> > say up, down, mama up, hi ,bye and can say alot more when

> forced with

> > some type of treat. Has anyone run into this dilemma. I think

it

> > should get easier the more he talks. ANy advice?

> >

> > nne