Re: How exactly DO we treat apraxia?

[Guest guest]

I'm sure that can help with this, but I'll give you my

experience.

I really don't know what the bad therapist did because I was not

included in the therapy. I was included in with the good

therapists, and they sent me with lots of homework.

First, needed her mouth strengthened. So they worked on oral

motor activities and rounding her mouth to make the " who " sound. I

was sent homework like having drink thick drinks out of a

straw. They also made the straws narrower and longer to make it

harder to drink. They also encouraged me to blow bubbles with her,

and lots of other activities that have been working here.

The first good therapist did sign language while she was teaching

how to talk. It's been 4 years, so I've forgotten a lot. I

do remember going over " I want more " for months. The therapist

would sign and try to get to say the sentence.

The therapist would tap/clap out the words. I remember " banana " .

For over a year (and even now), I tapped out banana on my legs.

Left left tap for " ba " , 2 right leg taps for " nana " .

That's what I remember from our first good therapist.

For the next therapist, she used visual phonics. Every sound had a

hand cue that would accompany it. For the g sound, the hand cue was

touching the throat and opening the pointer and the thumb. The

touching the throat was a cue that the sound comes from the back of

the throat.

I still use the visual phonics with today. She has a hard

time with multi-syllable words, and it helps her to see the sound.

She says it much clearer if she uses her hand signs.

has always been taught to slow down her speech. Her therapist

calls it turtle talk.

Her therapist has always used other ways to get her involved. While

working on the " g " sound, they made " green gak " with " glue " .

When she was little 3 & 4, it was a lot more play therapy. Now that

she is 7, there is a lot more work involved in therapy. It's still

fun, but there is a lot more repetition.

All of the therapist have used mirrors so that can see what

her mouth and tongue are doing.

I also know that apraxics do not follow the articulation charts like

a normal kid. So they get sounds out of order. This means that a

therapist should not follow the artic charts. They should switch

around the sounds.

Since these kids do not have very good functional speech, I was told

to work on functional speech like the " I want more " early.

I our apraxic children just get things from different areas. So

clapping, working with playdoh (green gak), and other multi-sensory

activities help our kids to make connections with the sounds.

At the speechvile site they talk about the therapy here:

http://www.speech-express.com/diagnosis-destinations/apraxia/one-on-

one-therapy.html

Here are some articles from the apraixa-kids site:

http://www.apraxia-kids.org/slps/strode.html

I thought this had the most informaion under the FAQ's " What is the

usual method of treatment for apraxia? "

http://www.apraxia-kids.org/faqs/faq.html

Good luck!

Suzi

[Guest guest]

Pam--

There are some recommendations in " The Late Talker " , but if I recall

correctly, the main approach is to use a multi-sensory approach--

involve the whole body, not just the mouth. (Anyone step in here at

anytime to correct me if I'm wrong or not stating the following

correctly.) I believe that what works best is something known as a

cue-prompt technique, and there are several out there. One of the

most successful techniques is the PROMPT method. I've also heard

people mention success using the Kaufman methods, and several others.

The main trick is that you don't treat apraxia like it's merely an

articulation problem, but the SLP has to keep in mind that it's a

motor planning issue, and should approach it from that standpoint.

(As I explain apraxia to other people-- think stroke victim, not

someone with a lisp.)

I'm sure others-- especially -- will fill you in on more.

Hope this helps for starters! (And as it is, I'll have to find

someone who uses these types of techniques soon myself to cover my

son for the summer before preschool starts!)

le (SAHM to Drew, 2.8 yrs. apraxia and DSI, and getting closer

to figuring out a solution for preschool-- I hope!)

> Perhaps a tough question here:

>

> I keep reading that traditional speech therapy is insufficient for

> apraxic children. Can anyone point me to some literature that

tells

> me how exactly we do treat apraxic children? Something that I can

> understand as a parent and not necessarily as an SLP.

>

> Where do the differences lie? How can I tell if what my SLP is

> doing is appropriate (more than saying, " if it works, it is

> right " )?

>

> Thanks!

>

> Pam