Re: treatment advice/more is not always better

[Guest guest]

This might be a controversial opinion but here goes. I DO think a child can

be scheduled for too much therapy. During Early Intervention (0-3) my son

was getting ST 4 times a week along with his once a week OT and some other

stuff and I think he really felt over-scheduled. We pushed for this much

therapy because of my son’s slow progress. The SLP was learning how to

treat apraxia (and trying very hard) but my son just became frustrated with

so much therapy and the ineffectiveness of the therapy. My son actually

started regressing!

At age 3 we were getting worried and decided to get serious. We switched

SLPs and did ST twice a week (one-hour sessions) that I watched through

two-way glass. The SLP gave me homework which I was to do with my son for

about 10 per day when we did not have speech therapy. Seeing every session

and having open communication with the SLP (we emailed back and forth a

ton!) made my practice sessions at home very effective. Sometimes I would

get more practice in my 10 minute home practice session than they would in

the ST session b/c my son was used to me and I had big rewards at the end of

each practice session at home. (Knowing what motivated him was key!) Let

me be clear in saying that this two sessions a week was private speech with

someone who I would consider an expert in apraxia so the sessions were very

intense and focused. I would never advise someone to accept 2 sessions per

week if it was school (group) therapy. So I believe that sometimes less is

more as long as you have a strong home program and a very effective SLP.

I know that some therapy clinics don’t’ have two-way glass but most

university clinics would. (That is a guess.) For a university clinic in

your area go to:

http://www.speech-express.com/speech-therapy/university-clinics.html

When you ask how long it took. I want to preface my answer by saying that we

changed a lot in my son’s program several months prior to his speech

explosion. We started him in special needs preschool, switched speech

therapists, cut private speech down to 2 sessions a week, switched to an OT

that focused on sensory integration, and started ProEFA. So it is hard to

say what caused his explosion. My son was still non-verbal at 3 years 5

months. By age 4 years 9 months he was intelligible to a stranger and was

pretty much age appropriate. Our SLP made all the difference. I am against

cloning but I would have to make an exception in the case of our SLP! I

wish there was one of her in every city.

When he was 4 ¾, his vocabulary tested at the level of a 9 year old. Today

my son (age 5 ½) still has issues with pragmatic language but nothing major.

In sum, I would focus not so much on the frequency of therapy as much as the

KIND of therapy and the therapist. Don’t get me wrong, these kids do need

frequency but worry about the frequency after you find a professional that

gets results with kids with apraxia first.

One thing I do want to mention is that I have heard that Kaufmann will

have kids for a few weeks and work intensively and frequently (every day?)

and after the 4 or 6 weeks the child has made amazing progress. We did not

go to the Kaufmann Center (in Michigan) but this is what I remember from

others who have posted about it. Here is the website for the Kaufmann

center: http://www.kidspeech.com/ksp.html

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

Carolyn wrote:

Can anyone tell me if their child became frustrated from TOO much

speech therapy?? I am asking because we are currently at 2 short

sessions a week, when I ask for more they tell me (both the SLP and

case worker from EI) he will get frustrated if we push more. I am

thinking they are trying to get out of giving us another session or

two despite him making slow progress. We are definitely willing to

pay out of pocket, although I am not sure how to go about hiring

someone. We are just frustrated and it has been one issue after

another with EI. Our SLP is very inexperienced with apraxic kids, and

from what I read from many of you, the school systems's SLPs may not

be any better. The only time something new happens is when we push

for it or research something ourselves.

How many sessions/week have gotten any of your children some really

fantastic results and how long did it take?

Thanks for any advice, I really appreciate it and am happy to be in

this group because it's nice to know you are not alone.

Carolyn (Mom to (almost 3) & Abby 14 mos)

[Guest guest]

hi tricia,

I totally agree with your opinion.basically your saying you do what is best for

your child. if your child is progressing and especially happy then what your

pick is good. Right?

chris

Morin Family <morinfamily4@...> wrote:

This might be a controversial opinion but here goes. I DO think a child can

be scheduled for too much therapy. During Early Intervention (0-3) my son

was getting ST 4 times a week along with his once a week OT and some other

stuff and I think he really felt over-scheduled. We pushed for this much

therapy because of my son’s slow progress. The SLP was learning how to

treat apraxia (and trying very hard) but my son just became frustrated with

so much therapy and the ineffectiveness of the therapy. My son actually

started regressing!

At age 3 we were getting worried and decided to get serious. We switched

SLPs and did ST twice a week (one-hour sessions) that I watched through

two-way glass. The SLP gave me homework which I was to do with my son for

about 10 per day when we did not have speech therapy. Seeing every session

and having open communication with the SLP (we emailed back and forth a

ton!) made my practice sessions at home very effective. Sometimes I would

get more practice in my 10 minute home practice session than they would in

the ST session b/c my son was used to me and I had big rewards at the end of

each practice session at home. (Knowing what motivated him was key!) Let

me be clear in saying that this two sessions a week was private speech with

someone who I would consider an expert in apraxia so the sessions were very

intense and focused. I would never advise someone to accept 2 sessions per

week if it was school (group) therapy. So I believe that sometimes less is

more as long as you have a strong home program and a very effective SLP.

I know that some therapy clinics don’t’ have two-way glass but most

university clinics would. (That is a guess.) For a university clinic in

your area go to:

http://www.speech-express.com/speech-therapy/university-clinics.html

When you ask how long it took. I want to preface my answer by saying that we

changed a lot in my son’s program several months prior to his speech

explosion. We started him in special needs preschool, switched speech

therapists, cut private speech down to 2 sessions a week, switched to an OT

that focused on sensory integration, and started ProEFA. So it is hard to

say what caused his explosion. My son was still non-verbal at 3 years 5

months. By age 4 years 9 months he was intelligible to a stranger and was

pretty much age appropriate. Our SLP made all the difference. I am against

cloning but I would have to make an exception in the case of our SLP! I

wish there was one of her in every city.

When he was 4 ¾, his vocabulary tested at the level of a 9 year old. Today

my son (age 5 ½) still has issues with pragmatic language but nothing major.

In sum, I would focus not so much on the frequency of therapy as much as the

KIND of therapy and the therapist. Don’t get me wrong, these kids do need

frequency but worry about the frequency after you find a professional that

gets results with kids with apraxia first.

One thing I do want to mention is that I have heard that Kaufmann will

have kids for a few weeks and work intensively and frequently (every day?)

and after the 4 or 6 weeks the child has made amazing progress. We did not

go to the Kaufmann Center (in Michigan) but this is what I remember from

others who have posted about it. Here is the website for the Kaufmann

center: http://www.kidspeech.com/ksp.html

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

[Guest guest]

,

I guess what I am trying to say is that if you don't feel 100% about the

therapist, then ask yourself why. Even when my son started with the

wonderful SLP, his speech did not improve for a few months, however the

SLP's approaches mirrored everything I read on the web from parents on this

list. If I was unsure about anything she was doing, I asked her why. She

was never defensive and we truly both grew from the experience. In my gut,

I knew she was awesome. She just had a tough case. Back to what I was

saying, even when my son wasn't making progress with speech sounds (for the

first 3 months with the wonderful SLP), the SLP and myself were working

together to give him a mode of communication. We were using sign language in

session and were starting to use PECS just when my son emitted his first

sounds. (He was literally non-verbal...no sound at all except for crying and

laughing.)

In my opinion, quality of therapy is far more important than quantity. Put

it this way, if a person is over-weight and is exercising 4 hours a day by

lifting the right index finger and lowering it back down, he/she probably

won't lose weight. But finger lifting is technically exercise and the person

is doing it frequently and for long periods but still no weight loss, right?

Can you imagine how frustrating that would be to exercise for such long

periods with no results. You would start to feel as if there was no hope.

Then you switch to shorter exercise sessions (30 min, 5 days a week) and

something more effective like walking around the block. No one would argue

that this latter program is a more effective program and even though it is

less frequent and for shorter periods, it will most likely yield better

results.

When my son was in speech therapy with his previous therapist (who tried

hard but wasn't experienced enough in apraxia), my son probably felt like he

hopeless and then when I increased the number of sessions he probably felt

even more demoralized when he REGRESSED. Poor kid.

I will never forget how thrilled he was when we started with the awesome SLP

and we got serious about sign language. My son could finally say funny

things and we could have a conversation. He was so thrilled with himself and

it took pressure off him to verbalize. I think the reduced pressure helped

him loosen up and then the sounds came.

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

RE: [ ] treatment advice/more is not always

better

hi tricia,

I totally agree with your opinion.basically your saying you do what is best

for your child. if your child is progressing and especially happy then what

your pick is good. Right?

chris

[Guest guest]

IMO, quality is much better than quantity. When Hope started preschool last

fall we had a lot of hope that she would start making some real progress.

Up until then her progress was pretty limited. She was getting 1 30 minute

session of speech therapy a week and was in preschool for 3 1/2 hours 2 days

a week. She seemed pretty happy, but still wasn't making any real progress.

We switched her class to one that she was in for 5 1/2 hours a day, 2 days a

week and she was getting 2 30 minute speech therapy sessions a week. The

one session I popped in on and found that she wasn't getting one on one

speech like she was supposed to. The SLP is a nice enough person and she's

great with the kids. She's just pretty clueless about apraxia. By the time

I found this out the school year was almost up so we just elected to drop

that session and we'll re work her IEP this fall to put both of her speech

sessions with the speech therapist at the school, who is WONDERFUL with

apraxic kids.

But the way the class is set up and the teacher is an SLP as well, it's a

big speech therapy session with other activities. It's in a group setting,

but it's not bad. Hope has been in this class since March and by May she's

attempting to say a lot more. Not all of it understandable, but she's

making more of an attempt. She's also learned how to nod her head for yes

and shake her head for no, and do it at the right times. She's trying to

sing along with songs on the tv programs as well. Her teachers were very

good about making a big deal out of it when she made an attempt to say

something, and an even bigger deal when her attempt come out understandable.

We carried that over to home and fuss over everything she says.

This fall she'll be getting a lot more therapy. The IU makes sure the kids

with autism and Down's get lined up into a lot of therapy session first and

then the rest of the kids fill in the case loads. And with her in school

for 4 days a week next year, the speech therapist at school wont have a

problem getting her scheduled. We're also seeing a psychologist and his

staff of therapists next week, so she'll be set up with different therapies

through him as well. He has a great reupation with autistic kids, and he

doesnt' have a thing to do with the IU or anyone. Will she be overloaded

come fall? Possibly. But she'll have all summer to adjust to the therapy

schedule with the private therapists. Once school starts we'll see how

things go and how she is. I dont want to overload her with therapy to the

point where she isnt happy and gets uncooperative. But if she deals with

it well, is happy and cooperative, and making progress we'll keep a full

schedule.

Toni W. - BP mom to

Hope, 4, Seizure disorder, Verbal apraxia, Migraines, Austim

and

Faith, 2, Mild CP, Hypotonia, Asthma, Sensory Integration Dysfunction

[Guest guest]

Tricia

I am sure you are right. For some kids, too much therapy is a real

concern. I think it is important to get as much tx as you can and

then scale back if necessary.

Pam

> This might be a controversial opinion but here goes. I DO think a

child can

> be scheduled for too much therapy. During Early Intervention (0-

3) my son

> was getting ST 4 times a week along with his once a week OT and

some other

> stuff and I think he really felt over-scheduled. We pushed for

this much

> therapy because of my son's slow progress. The SLP was learning

how to

> treat apraxia (and trying very hard) but my son just became

frustrated with

> so much therapy and the ineffectiveness of the therapy. My son

actually

> started regressing!

>

> At age 3 we were getting worried and decided to get serious. We

switched

> SLPs and did ST twice a week (one-hour sessions) that I watched

through

> two-way glass. The SLP gave me homework which I was to do with my

son for

> about 10 per day when we did not have speech therapy. Seeing

every session

> and having open communication with the SLP (we emailed back and

forth a

> ton!) made my practice sessions at home very effective. Sometimes

I would

> get more practice in my 10 minute home practice session than they

would in

> the ST session b/c my son was used to me and I had big rewards at

the end of

> each practice session at home. (Knowing what motivated him was

key!) Let

> me be clear in saying that this two sessions a week was private

speech with

> someone who I would consider an expert in apraxia so the sessions

were very

> intense and focused. I would never advise someone to accept 2

sessions per

> week if it was school (group) therapy. So I believe that

sometimes less is

> more as long as you have a strong home program and a very

effective SLP.

>

> I know that some therapy clinics don't' have two-way glass but most

> university clinics would. (That is a guess.) For a university

clinic in

> your area go to:

>

> http://www.speech-express.com/speech-therapy/university-

clinics.html

>

> When you ask how long it took. I want to preface my answer by

saying that we

> changed a lot in my son's program several months prior to his

speech

> explosion. We started him in special needs preschool, switched

speech

> therapists, cut private speech down to 2 sessions a week, switched

to an OT

> that focused on sensory integration, and started ProEFA. So it is

hard to

> say what caused his explosion. My son was still non-verbal at 3

years 5

> months. By age 4 years 9 months he was intelligible to a stranger

and was

> pretty much age appropriate. Our SLP made all the difference. I am

against

> cloning but I would have to make an exception in the case of our

SLP! I

> wish there was one of her in every city.

>

> When he was 4 ¾, his vocabulary tested at the level of a 9 year

old. Today

> my son (age 5 ½) still has issues with pragmatic language but

nothing major.

>

> In sum, I would focus not so much on the frequency of therapy as

much as the

> KIND of therapy and the therapist. Don't get me wrong, these kids

do need

> frequency but worry about the frequency after you find a

professional that

> gets results with kids with apraxia first.

>

> One thing I do want to mention is that I have heard that

Kaufmann will

> have kids for a few weeks and work intensively and frequently

(every day?)

> and after the 4 or 6 weeks the child has made amazing progress.

We did not

> go to the Kaufmann Center (in Michigan) but this is what I

remember from

> others who have posted about it. Here is the website for the

Kaufmann

> center: http://www.kidspeech.com/ksp.html

>

> Tricia Morin

> North Carolina