Re: Ped. Neuologists What to EXPECT

[Guest guest]

Hi - My 3 year old son has verbal apraxia and weak fine motor skills. We

took him to a peds. neuro. I thought the exam could have been more extensive

based on what I've heard from others. Basically they spent about 1 hour with us

and my son -- asking questions, watching his reaction to things, trying to

elicit speech from him.

They had my son color, pick up small objects, build with blocks. Also

checked height, weight, blood pressure and took blood tests.

I already knew he had apraxia when we went (my SLP first told me). As far as

the testing -- it was much more involved, in our case, when it was done by

the board of ed.

We took him to the neuro. so we would have it on record that he was not

ppd/autistic spectrum disorder.

Hope this helps. I'd like to take him a neuro developmental pediatrician

just to see exactly how far behind he really is in speech and motor skills.

Good Luck.

Patti

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the info....just curious though, what was the blood test

for...what were they looking for when they tested him...anything specific?

Sennokot1@... wrote:Hi - My 3 year old son has verbal apraxia and weak fine

motor skills. We

took him to a peds. neuro. I thought the exam could have been more extensive

based on what I've heard from others. Basically they spent about 1 hour with us

and my son -- asking questions, watching his reaction to things, trying to

elicit speech from him.

They had my son color, pick up small objects, build with blocks. Also

checked height, weight, blood pressure and took blood tests.

I already knew he had apraxia when we went (my SLP first told me). As far as

the testing -- it was much more involved, in our case, when it was done by

the board of ed.

We took him to the neuro. so we would have it on record that he was not

ppd/autistic spectrum disorder.

Hope this helps. I'd like to take him a neuro developmental pediatrician

just to see exactly how far behind he really is in speech and motor skills.

Good Luck.

Patti

[Guest guest]

Patti,

Can't your SLP and an OT test your child to see how far below the

mean he falls in speech and motor skills? When we saw the neuro

developmental ped, it was to rule out the Autism spectrum (like you

did with the other doc).

Pam

> Hope this helps. I'd like to take him a neuro developmental

pediatrician

> just to see exactly how far behind he really is in speech and

motor skills.

>

> Good Luck.

>

> Patti

[Guest guest]

> My husband and I are going to be taking our son to a Ped.

Neurologist

> soon and I was just wondering what to expect as far as what he

will

> do with my son, tests, etc... my son was diagnosed with severe

> apraxia already by 3 slp. Just would like to know what most of the

> parents out there experienced. Thanks for the help!

When my son was just shy of turning 2 and I was so concerned about

his speech his pediatrician recomended we see a ped. neurologist.

They did some basic blood work, asked us many questions about his

developement past and present, watched him play and interacted with

him and did a high resolution chromosome test (that of course

freaked me out!!) I know now that they just wanted to " rule out "

any syndroms etc. They did this test routinely. All tests came

back fine and the neurologist gave him a diagnosis of mild to

moderate verbal apraxia. He suggested we begin ST as soon as

possible. We returned to him months after when my son's

pediatritian brought to my attention an article on PDD-NOS

(Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) Yet

again, I freaked out knowing in my heart that my son did not fit in

this catagory. He gave me this article when I asked him how many

children is he seeing coming into his office with apraxia. I feel

(and my son's ST feels also) that he doesn't know enough about

apraxia to give me a straight answer so that's why he gave me the

article on PDD-NOS. In other words, I don't know why your child

can't talk age appropriately so let's label him with something.

When we returned to the neurologist and he reassured me there was NO

reason to give my son the PDD-NOS label. He again stressed the

apraxia diagnosis and said to continue with therapy. I was so

relieved and in my heart I knew it all along. I'm sorry this is so

long but I wanted to share my son's story. Don't get me wrong, my

son has a wonderful pediatrican. I look back know and he was being

on the very cautious side. His neurologist (like many of them are)

was very straight forward and to the point so I am confident with

him and his diagnosis. I've also learned that they will be the one's

who can give you the diagnosis of apraxia and your ST can back it

up. My son is now 3.4 and has been with the same therapist using

the Kaufman Kits and other techniques. He started off with less

than 5 words/approximations and is now speaking in 4 to 5 word

sentences. He still has a long way to go but he has made TREMENDOUS

progress and I am so proud of him. Good luck with your visit and

keep us all posted.

Robin, Mommy to Cameron 3.4 apraxic and Cara 19 months

[Guest guest]

Colleen -

Which ped neuro are you going to? We've been to a few (some at Children's

in Chicago, two at Univ. of Chicago (one of whom is also on staff at Shriner's -

write me privately and I'll tell you more about the wonders of Shriner's!), and

one in Peoria. Write me privately and we'll talk!

Sherry

seanmom102399 <seanmom102399@...> wrote:

My husband and I are going to be taking our son to a Ped. Neurologist

soon and I was just wondering what to expect as far as what he will

do with my son, tests, etc... my son was diagnosed with severe

apraxia already by 3 slp. Just would like to know what most of the

parents out there experienced. Thanks for the help!