wondering about others with just apraxia?

March 15, 2004

My ds is 29m and started ST in January. I just asked about apraxia

and she said he has dyspraxia. I am wondering what to expect from

threapy, from him and from me. It seems from what I read most that

have apraxia have other issue, thankfully for Aiden he doesn't have

any other issues.

FOr those that have BTDT does this seem typical for threapy? His SLP

had us switch to straw cups, and get him to say da,da, or mmm on

command for whatever it is he wanted. She has given him a couple of

whistles and a chew toy to work with and me rubbing his cheeks. Then

most recently working on saying " E " or " O " with a cue card. I guess

I am new to this and expected more out of him and the SLP. I guess

I was hoping he was just a late talker but with no words coming I am

getting more concerned. I want to do what is right for Aiden but

just not sure what is right. What is your threapy experience been

like?

March 15, 2004

Oh, you must set your desire for immediate gratification aside or

you will go nuts! Believe me, I have been there. It was SO HARD to

let go of the hope Ian was just a late talker. I kept looking for

the magic pill to induce normal speech.

Ian started speech therapy when he was 26 months or so. Much of the

first year has been spent gaining the prelanguage skills. Only in

the last two months have the words been flowing. Still, they are

approximations of the real word... but it is such great progress!

Your child might need to develop tongue awareness, facial muscles,

breathing skills, etc BEFORE he even has the ability to form

sounds. It can take weeks, months or years. I cannot predict his

course of progress. It is important to continue the oral

stimulation and exercises.

Unlike Aiden, Ian DOES have other issues with motor planning. His

receptive skills are inconsistent but improving. The fact that

Aiden has normal cognitive and receptive abilities improves his

prognosis. So does carrying his therapy over in to the home.

It can be a long and tiring process. I PROMISE you that even the

little improvements/changes will get you dancing real soon.

Keep reading. Increasing your knowledge of Aiden's disorder and the

proper therapy to treat it will empower you like no other!

Take care,

Pam

p.s. A new group for parents of dyspraxic children just started. It

contains members who are adult dyspraxics themselves. VERY

helpful. You can go through the recent archives for the link or

type in " dyspraxiafamilies " on the search page.

> My ds is 29m and started ST in January. I just asked about apraxia

> and she said he has dyspraxia. I am wondering what to expect from

> threapy, from him and from me. It seems from what I read most

that

> have apraxia have other issue, thankfully for Aiden he doesn't

have

> any other issues.

>

> FOr those that have BTDT does this seem typical for threapy? His

SLP

> had us switch to straw cups, and get him to say da,da, or mmm on

> command for whatever it is he wanted. She has given him a couple

of

> whistles and a chew toy to work with and me rubbing his cheeks.

Then

> most recently working on saying " E " or " O " with a cue card. I

guess

> I am new to this and expected more out of him and the SLP. I

guess

> I was hoping he was just a late talker but with no words coming I

am

> getting more concerned. I want to do what is right for Aiden but

> just not sure what is right. What is your threapy experience been

> like?

>

March 15, 2004

I don't want to rain on your parade, but your son may have more

issues that don't show up until later. We didn't find out about

most of 's problems until she was 4 and 5. That's when the

fine motor problems started showing up. That's also when they

better tell if there are cognitive issues.

Hopefully your son will not have anything else, but be prepared.

March 15, 2004

Hi -

I have a little boy, Jack, who is ~ 27months and he is apraxic/dyspraxic as

well. I think apraxia is for when there was speech and now it is gone. .

..or in our sons' case, it was never there.

My son has been tested now twice by a developmental therapist and a

pediatrician and has no other cognitive/social/developmental delays. .. so

they are calling it " pure " apraxia.

Sounds like your SLP is doing similar things as Jack's SLP does. . .so it

seems right on target.

I do know that speech therapy is an ongoing, and sometimes long process. .

..but it is the best thing for these guys.

I just ordered some great CDs from www.expresstrain.org Jack loves them in

the car. It's my way of sneaking in some extra speech therapy (b/c

sometimes he can be stubborn!! as 2 yr olds are)

I think it just may take awhile . . . from what i've read the progress is

slow, but ST seems to be the answer.

Hang in there!! Aimee

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