Re: Do you have older apraxic children?

[Guest guest]

Hi -

I have an 8+ year old with apraxia, and though his word retrieval is

on the lower side of normal, so was mine at that age. Otherwise,

his articulation is perfect and no one would know he spent 3 solid

years in ST.

I would ask a couple of questions: how often is he seen for ST? is

it private or through the school? is it the same therapist you've

always had? do you do speech homework EVERY DAY?

The things that worked for my son were PRIVATE ST (something not

everyone can do, I realize) 2x per week. We did homework EVERY

BLOODY DAY. It was our focus - and it was HARD. But worth it. If

you don't think he's making progress through the ST, I'd recommend

changing - or at least trying someone new for a while.

Sorry so brief but I've got to run. I hope some of this helps.

Marina

>

> If so, I'd love to hear what programs have helped in therapy,

> reading and even with supplements.

>

> So many on the list have little ones and I remember those days

> well.This list has been such a blessing. But with an older child

who

> is now 9, still making progress with his speech, but struggling

with

> learning. We are homeschooling for the 2nd year but still reading

is

> really tough for him. But we are loving homeschooling.

>

> I plan on starting with the Vit. E as soon as it comes in. The Pro

> EFA's and Pro EPA's have worked well for him. Just 2 weeks ago I

> stopped them to see if there would be any results. Within a few

days

> he was really struggling with word retrieval. Put him back on the

> EFAS and he will struggle only occasionally.

>

> We tried carnaware last year and it seemed to make him angry and

> easily frustrated. That was after being on it a month. We took him

> off and he returned to his old self.

>

> I've posted several times about what has been seen with older kids

> over the last year and I haven't gotten any replies. I hope you'll

> share about your older kiddos.

>

> Blessings,

> Diane - Mom to Caleb

>

[Guest guest]

i have a 12 yr old boy with verbal aproxia..would love to chat sometime about

our boys thanks tammy

Conjoin5 <conjoin5@...> wrote: If so, I'd love to hear what

programs have helped in therapy,

reading and even with supplements.

So many on the list have little ones and I remember those days

well.This list has been such a blessing. But with an older child who

is now 9, still making progress with his speech, but struggling with

learning. We are homeschooling for the 2nd year but still reading is

really tough for him. But we are loving homeschooling.

I plan on starting with the Vit. E as soon as it comes in. The Pro

EFA's and Pro EPA's have worked well for him. Just 2 weeks ago I

stopped them to see if there would be any results. Within a few days

he was really struggling with word retrieval. Put him back on the

EFAS and he will struggle only occasionally.

We tried carnaware last year and it seemed to make him angry and

easily frustrated. That was after being on it a month. We took him

off and he returned to his old self.

I've posted several times about what has been seen with older kids

over the last year and I haven't gotten any replies. I hope you'll

share about your older kiddos.

Blessings,

Diane - Mom to Caleb

---------------------------------

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

> Diane - Mom to Caleb

>

My son is not much older than your child, he is 10. Diagnosed with

apraxia at 2.5 years old, I ventured to believe he would follow in

his father's footsteps. My son used his strong visual memory to

compensate in his weak areas.

My motherly instincts drove me to visit DAN protocol, vision

therapy, sound therapy (AIT, Tomatis), and PACE

(www.processingskills.com) We continually supplement with Coromega

and multi vitamins. His CAP test came back with a specific decoding

disorder. Sound therapy corrected his left ear sound sensitivities,

vision therapy corrected his ocular motor dysfunction and PACE and

Master the Code is working his cogntive/decoding areas. It is a

long drawn out process, but there is steady progress being made.

I have not tried the Vitamin E that everyone has recently posted

about, but seems it may be an option.

Take note the educational system is designed to make modifications

and accommodations in the school curriculum in order to compensate

for or work around these problems. It is not the school's

responsibility to FIX/TREAT any of these medical diagnoses, except

as allowed by Special Education regulations and law. These children

are destined to continue struggling and require special

accommodations UNTIL the neuro-developmental dysfunctions are

recognized and treated.

Early intervention is key and has a good prognosis when treated

early. Be your child's advocate and know your rights. A school can

easily say they can provide for your child with an appropriate

education, but I wouldn't count on it. Start with a SLP specializing

in apraxia/CAP, OT specializing in sensory integration

dysfunction/hypotonia, audiologist specializing in sound

therapy/CAP. Have each therapist evaluate your child with both

medical and educational goals. That way your insurance will pay for

the evals. Get all treatment plans in writing and visit your school

CST. If your IEP is less than what is stated in your private evals,

question why and ask for their denials in writing. Then you can hit

them with your private evals and all the discrepancies. If you are

a homeschool your local school district still needs to provide for

No Child Left Behind Act. You can recommend to the CST that if they

are shorthanded with therapists your private SLP and OT would be

happy to contract with the school district.

Learning disabilities are a lifetime and there are no cures so it

will not go away. You as a parent have to find your child's proper

intervention and follow the plan so that they can become independent

young adults.

All the best,

Joanne

www.thedaviscenter.com (the ear-voice-brain connection)

www.covd.org (visual perceptual test, dyslexia test)

www.soundreading.com

www.sinetwork.org

The interactive metronome has helped many global apraxic/dyspraxic

children. www.interactivemetronome.com (must be at least 7)

[Guest guest]

Diane you must mean nobody but me answers? My son Tanner turned 10

this past June and he's doing amazing in reading and math and school

in general. He loves school. Today he must have been on the

computer doing research on the rainforests in the world and was

reading us the facts of how bad the rainforests of the world are

doing and saying " Mommy isn't that sad? "

(He also learns about this at Animal Kingdom at Disney)

Here's again an archive of how I taught Tanner to read at home (he

also learned it at school but I used many of these methods years ago

to get him started) It's a long complex message that really needs

to be cleaned up one day..but for now hope you can pull from it for

some tips:

Re: reading

I agree with Gin on finding reading is helping Tanner with more

complex speech. Not only that -I agree that multisensory is the way

to go -and do not underestimate our children -they may not just make

it -they may excel above " normal " kids if given the chance (and the

belief in them) And for good reason.

My theory is that because our children don't learn to talk like

everyone else -that in contrast to the popular experience that most

speech impaired children will have learning disabilities -if treated

correctly -our kids may actually in many ways be even better

students than most. As a toy inventor -I'm aware of the basics of

what most kids like -or are like.

There are a few reasons I feel this way -don't have time to go into

all of them now. But for one -most of us have found our children

have these die hard memories! Not a normal memory for a " normal "

child -most kids you can get to forget a point by bringing up

something else that interests them -not many of the children in this

group! (of course you can never say " always " -just more often than

not. Just like the trouble blowing the nose thing that I first

brought up -this is yet another observation you will not read about

in books...yet) When Tanner learns his spelling words -he not only

knows how to spell even hard words -he tells me the word on the list

(of ten each week) and then spells it -like his memory is a picture

he can just look at.

Perhaps -due to using a different pathway and developing such

pathway -they have an edge we don't yet understand. I posted awhile

back that I found Tanner does best for the day if I have him read a

few pages each morning before school -like a warm up. He may start

out sounding each word -then once he is one a roll -he's in the

groove. Just like an apraxic child with words -with reading it's

strange too. Most kids will just read 3 letter words after awhile.

Tanner will whiz through difficult words at times like oxygen -and

have to sound out a word like " pull " Not every time -but enough to

make me take notice. As always -apraxia doesn't make sense in

the " norm " -so don't look at our kids and compare. And if you do -

notice just as well how they excel over others.

I again believe it most important to expose our children to

multisensory ways of learning, and keeping their self esteem high.

This means not exposing these kids to verbal based IQ or receptive

language testing!

Here are some notes on Tanner from an archived message. (again

Tanner is a straight A student in a mainstreamed accelerated

academics first grade class. He is social, has lots of friends -

does not get teased for the way he talks. Other children understand

he has a (now mild for the most part) speech impairment, (more

severe with more complex thoughts) but that he is very bright -and a

fun kid. Tanner is on the chess club, soccer team, and he is a cub

scout. No more therapy outside of speech -and of course

ProEFA/ProEPA and carnosine/carn-aware (the carnosine/carn-aware we

do on and off -the " magic fish oil " -all the time and don't miss a

day...He's doing that well in school -who knows, maybe it is

the " magic fish oil " . funny update -Tanner's teacher asked where she

could buy the fish oil we use for her own family (and self) after

hearing me talk to some other parents about it who also want to know

what we use. Tanner's doing better than some of their children -and

I told them how it helps me with my memory.)

" Here are some of the ways I help Tanner at home with his school

word. I'm sure some of the following examples will apply to any

child -even those who don't have any learning disabilities or speech

problems. It's just that it's the whole picture. Freeze under

pressure -break down the longer the utterance -responds to

multisensory techniques...etc.

( just off the top and not in any order )

Tanner's first grade class was given a " mad minute " math test where

they were given 2 minutes to answer 29 math questions both

subtraction and addition -stuff ranging from 7 + 7 to 11 - 4.

Tanner is a whiz at math -I believe from the Nintendo games and

other computer games such as that they are educational he's learned

much like that in a fun way. But...the first time he was given the

test he mixed up the subtraction and addition signs which he never

does -and got even some easy math questions wrong. When he came

home I just said to him in a really fun animated way (since this was

the first sign of any problem at all) " Tanner -they time you

because we live in Florida now near the Nickelodeon Studios in

Orlando -and just in case we go on Family Double Dare you are going

to have to answer all these questions fast or we'll all

get " SLIMED! " (I said wrinkling up my nose and laughing) BUT -if

you get them all right we'll win really cool prizes! Either way

it's just for fun! " Well the next day the test was given again to

the class and Tanner not only got 100% but was the first one

finished!

Tanner gets 100% on spelling each week, no matter how difficult the

spelling words are. I found the best way to teach him the words is

to use multisensory fun ways. This is just two of them -I'll write

the letters on his back as he says them for each word...but if he

says the wrong letter I don't write it....play game show where we

take turns being the contestant and game show host -jumping up and

down etc. Either Glenn, Dakota or I are the ones who get the

answers spelled wrong (we change our voices and pretend we are

someone else. We'll sound out the word wrong and spell it wrong. I

try to think of how a speech impaired child will say the word and

spell it that way) and Tanner is always the one that is the

contestant to spell it right. If Tanner is the game show host -one

of us will get it right -but the first one will get it wrong.

Tanner always laughs and has to correct us. For the one that won -

he'll have to say what prize they won. We also do " teacher " where

I'm the student and he teaches me the words -warns me about the

silent letters -etc.

I found that even though Tanner will spell each word right if given

one at a time -if he has to put the words in a sentence -he broke

down and spelled words he knows wrong. Once I told him to think of

each word separate - " think game show " -he spells them right.

When Tanner is reading long more complex words such as for example

last night -circulatory (he's learning about blood cells now) he

needs a cue to break it down. For example on his own last night

when I said " Just break it down Tanner and think of it as four

words " Tanner picked up a Jimmy Neutron Mc's toy and for each

syllable he said -as he said it -he turned the toy's head.

Sometimes his apraxia gets in the way of reading certain words at

first. He'll read the word and say the last sound wrong -or the

middle sound wrong. I'll correct him and point to the missed

letter. He'll repeat the word and hesitate at the letter in

question -visibly trying hard to say it right -but again say it

wrong. We'll go over this a few times until I clap my hands -or

give him some other cue to break it down. Once he says it right -

I'll have him repeat it over and over at least three times. I'll

then say the word about ten times over and over until he says " All

right already! " and then we'll move on. If when we get to the word

again he hesitates -I just have to clap or give a cue and he

says " Oh yeah " and says it right very quickly. Then he just gets it

on his own.

Anyone else? "

Lynn -as far as how do you teach a nonverbal child to read...I would

do all the same as above. You may want to read up on Helen Keller.

My son was schooled in preschool in an oral based school for the

hearing impaired/deaf. You don't have to talk to be able to read.

" I knew then that 'w-a-t-e-r' meant the wonderful cool something

that was

flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it

light, hope,

joy, set it free! "

Helen Keller 1880-1968

American writer and lecturer

http://www.theglassceiling.com/biographies/bio20.htm

=====

[Guest guest]

Hi -

I have an 8+ year old with apraxia, and though his word retrieval is

on the lower side of normal, so was mine at that age. Otherwise,

his articulation is perfect and no one would know he spent 3 solid

years in ST.

I would ask a couple of questions: how often is he seen for ST? is

it private or through the school? is it the same therapist you've

always had? do you do speech homework EVERY DAY?

The things that worked for my son were PRIVATE ST (something not

everyone can do, I realize) 2x per week. We did homework EVERY

BLOODY DAY. It was our focus - and it was HARD. But worth it. If

you don't think he's making progress through the ST, I'd recommend

changing - or at least trying someone new for a while.

Sorry so brief but I've got to run. I hope some of this helps.

Marina

>

> If so, I'd love to hear what programs have helped in therapy,

> reading and even with supplements.

>

> So many on the list have little ones and I remember those days

> well.This list has been such a blessing. But with an older child

who

> is now 9, still making progress with his speech, but struggling

with

> learning. We are homeschooling for the 2nd year but still reading

is

> really tough for him. But we are loving homeschooling.

>

> I plan on starting with the Vit. E as soon as it comes in. The Pro

> EFA's and Pro EPA's have worked well for him. Just 2 weeks ago I

> stopped them to see if there would be any results. Within a few

days

> he was really struggling with word retrieval. Put him back on the

> EFAS and he will struggle only occasionally.

>

> We tried carnaware last year and it seemed to make him angry and

> easily frustrated. That was after being on it a month. We took him

> off and he returned to his old self.

>

> I've posted several times about what has been seen with older kids

> over the last year and I haven't gotten any replies. I hope you'll

> share about your older kiddos.

>

> Blessings,

> Diane - Mom to Caleb

>

[Guest guest]

i have a 12 yr old boy with verbal aproxia..would love to chat sometime about

our boys thanks tammy

Conjoin5 <conjoin5@...> wrote: If so, I'd love to hear what

programs have helped in therapy,

reading and even with supplements.

So many on the list have little ones and I remember those days

well.This list has been such a blessing. But with an older child who

is now 9, still making progress with his speech, but struggling with

learning. We are homeschooling for the 2nd year but still reading is

really tough for him. But we are loving homeschooling.

I plan on starting with the Vit. E as soon as it comes in. The Pro

EFA's and Pro EPA's have worked well for him. Just 2 weeks ago I

stopped them to see if there would be any results. Within a few days

he was really struggling with word retrieval. Put him back on the

EFAS and he will struggle only occasionally.

We tried carnaware last year and it seemed to make him angry and

easily frustrated. That was after being on it a month. We took him

off and he returned to his old self.

I've posted several times about what has been seen with older kids

over the last year and I haven't gotten any replies. I hope you'll

share about your older kiddos.

Blessings,

Diane - Mom to Caleb

---------------------------------

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

> Diane - Mom to Caleb

>

My son is not much older than your child, he is 10. Diagnosed with

apraxia at 2.5 years old, I ventured to believe he would follow in

his father's footsteps. My son used his strong visual memory to

compensate in his weak areas.

My motherly instincts drove me to visit DAN protocol, vision

therapy, sound therapy (AIT, Tomatis), and PACE

(www.processingskills.com) We continually supplement with Coromega

and multi vitamins. His CAP test came back with a specific decoding

disorder. Sound therapy corrected his left ear sound sensitivities,

vision therapy corrected his ocular motor dysfunction and PACE and

Master the Code is working his cogntive/decoding areas. It is a

long drawn out process, but there is steady progress being made.

I have not tried the Vitamin E that everyone has recently posted

about, but seems it may be an option.

Take note the educational system is designed to make modifications

and accommodations in the school curriculum in order to compensate

for or work around these problems. It is not the school's

responsibility to FIX/TREAT any of these medical diagnoses, except

as allowed by Special Education regulations and law. These children

are destined to continue struggling and require special

accommodations UNTIL the neuro-developmental dysfunctions are

recognized and treated.

Early intervention is key and has a good prognosis when treated

early. Be your child's advocate and know your rights. A school can

easily say they can provide for your child with an appropriate

education, but I wouldn't count on it. Start with a SLP specializing

in apraxia/CAP, OT specializing in sensory integration

dysfunction/hypotonia, audiologist specializing in sound

therapy/CAP. Have each therapist evaluate your child with both

medical and educational goals. That way your insurance will pay for

the evals. Get all treatment plans in writing and visit your school

CST. If your IEP is less than what is stated in your private evals,

question why and ask for their denials in writing. Then you can hit

them with your private evals and all the discrepancies. If you are

a homeschool your local school district still needs to provide for

No Child Left Behind Act. You can recommend to the CST that if they

are shorthanded with therapists your private SLP and OT would be

happy to contract with the school district.

Learning disabilities are a lifetime and there are no cures so it

will not go away. You as a parent have to find your child's proper

intervention and follow the plan so that they can become independent

young adults.

All the best,

Joanne

www.thedaviscenter.com (the ear-voice-brain connection)

www.covd.org (visual perceptual test, dyslexia test)

www.soundreading.com

www.sinetwork.org

The interactive metronome has helped many global apraxic/dyspraxic

children. www.interactivemetronome.com (must be at least 7)

[Guest guest]

My DD turned 8 just a few weeks ago. We have other global issues in

addition to the apraxia. We have cognitive impairments, global apraxia

(speech and motor), hypotonia, short stature and low weight, sensory

issues.

This is our first year homeschooling her, but my 11th year homeschooling.

Kristy

[Guest guest]

Diane you must mean nobody but me answers? My son Tanner turned 10

this past June and he's doing amazing in reading and math and school

in general. He loves school. Today he must have been on the

computer doing research on the rainforests in the world and was

reading us the facts of how bad the rainforests of the world are

doing and saying " Mommy isn't that sad? "

(He also learns about this at Animal Kingdom at Disney)

Here's again an archive of how I taught Tanner to read at home (he

also learned it at school but I used many of these methods years ago

to get him started) It's a long complex message that really needs

to be cleaned up one day..but for now hope you can pull from it for

some tips:

Re: reading

I agree with Gin on finding reading is helping Tanner with more

complex speech. Not only that -I agree that multisensory is the way

to go -and do not underestimate our children -they may not just make

it -they may excel above " normal " kids if given the chance (and the

belief in them) And for good reason.

My theory is that because our children don't learn to talk like

everyone else -that in contrast to the popular experience that most

speech impaired children will have learning disabilities -if treated

correctly -our kids may actually in many ways be even better

students than most. As a toy inventor -I'm aware of the basics of

what most kids like -or are like.

There are a few reasons I feel this way -don't have time to go into

all of them now. But for one -most of us have found our children

have these die hard memories! Not a normal memory for a " normal "

child -most kids you can get to forget a point by bringing up

something else that interests them -not many of the children in this

group! (of course you can never say " always " -just more often than

not. Just like the trouble blowing the nose thing that I first

brought up -this is yet another observation you will not read about

in books...yet) When Tanner learns his spelling words -he not only

knows how to spell even hard words -he tells me the word on the list

(of ten each week) and then spells it -like his memory is a picture

he can just look at.

Perhaps -due to using a different pathway and developing such

pathway -they have an edge we don't yet understand. I posted awhile

back that I found Tanner does best for the day if I have him read a

few pages each morning before school -like a warm up. He may start

out sounding each word -then once he is one a roll -he's in the

groove. Just like an apraxic child with words -with reading it's

strange too. Most kids will just read 3 letter words after awhile.

Tanner will whiz through difficult words at times like oxygen -and

have to sound out a word like " pull " Not every time -but enough to

make me take notice. As always -apraxia doesn't make sense in

the " norm " -so don't look at our kids and compare. And if you do -

notice just as well how they excel over others.

I again believe it most important to expose our children to

multisensory ways of learning, and keeping their self esteem high.

This means not exposing these kids to verbal based IQ or receptive

language testing!

Here are some notes on Tanner from an archived message. (again

Tanner is a straight A student in a mainstreamed accelerated

academics first grade class. He is social, has lots of friends -

does not get teased for the way he talks. Other children understand

he has a (now mild for the most part) speech impairment, (more

severe with more complex thoughts) but that he is very bright -and a

fun kid. Tanner is on the chess club, soccer team, and he is a cub

scout. No more therapy outside of speech -and of course

ProEFA/ProEPA and carnosine/carn-aware (the carnosine/carn-aware we

do on and off -the " magic fish oil " -all the time and don't miss a

day...He's doing that well in school -who knows, maybe it is

the " magic fish oil " . funny update -Tanner's teacher asked where she

could buy the fish oil we use for her own family (and self) after

hearing me talk to some other parents about it who also want to know

what we use. Tanner's doing better than some of their children -and

I told them how it helps me with my memory.)

" Here are some of the ways I help Tanner at home with his school

word. I'm sure some of the following examples will apply to any

child -even those who don't have any learning disabilities or speech

problems. It's just that it's the whole picture. Freeze under

pressure -break down the longer the utterance -responds to

multisensory techniques...etc.

( just off the top and not in any order )

Tanner's first grade class was given a " mad minute " math test where

they were given 2 minutes to answer 29 math questions both

subtraction and addition -stuff ranging from 7 + 7 to 11 - 4.

Tanner is a whiz at math -I believe from the Nintendo games and

other computer games such as that they are educational he's learned

much like that in a fun way. But...the first time he was given the

test he mixed up the subtraction and addition signs which he never

does -and got even some easy math questions wrong. When he came

home I just said to him in a really fun animated way (since this was

the first sign of any problem at all) " Tanner -they time you

because we live in Florida now near the Nickelodeon Studios in

Orlando -and just in case we go on Family Double Dare you are going

to have to answer all these questions fast or we'll all

get " SLIMED! " (I said wrinkling up my nose and laughing) BUT -if

you get them all right we'll win really cool prizes! Either way

it's just for fun! " Well the next day the test was given again to

the class and Tanner not only got 100% but was the first one

finished!

Tanner gets 100% on spelling each week, no matter how difficult the

spelling words are. I found the best way to teach him the words is

to use multisensory fun ways. This is just two of them -I'll write

the letters on his back as he says them for each word...but if he

says the wrong letter I don't write it....play game show where we

take turns being the contestant and game show host -jumping up and

down etc. Either Glenn, Dakota or I are the ones who get the

answers spelled wrong (we change our voices and pretend we are

someone else. We'll sound out the word wrong and spell it wrong. I

try to think of how a speech impaired child will say the word and

spell it that way) and Tanner is always the one that is the

contestant to spell it right. If Tanner is the game show host -one

of us will get it right -but the first one will get it wrong.

Tanner always laughs and has to correct us. For the one that won -

he'll have to say what prize they won. We also do " teacher " where

I'm the student and he teaches me the words -warns me about the

silent letters -etc.

I found that even though Tanner will spell each word right if given

one at a time -if he has to put the words in a sentence -he broke

down and spelled words he knows wrong. Once I told him to think of

each word separate - " think game show " -he spells them right.

When Tanner is reading long more complex words such as for example

last night -circulatory (he's learning about blood cells now) he

needs a cue to break it down. For example on his own last night

when I said " Just break it down Tanner and think of it as four

words " Tanner picked up a Jimmy Neutron Mc's toy and for each

syllable he said -as he said it -he turned the toy's head.

Sometimes his apraxia gets in the way of reading certain words at

first. He'll read the word and say the last sound wrong -or the

middle sound wrong. I'll correct him and point to the missed

letter. He'll repeat the word and hesitate at the letter in

question -visibly trying hard to say it right -but again say it

wrong. We'll go over this a few times until I clap my hands -or

give him some other cue to break it down. Once he says it right -

I'll have him repeat it over and over at least three times. I'll

then say the word about ten times over and over until he says " All

right already! " and then we'll move on. If when we get to the word

again he hesitates -I just have to clap or give a cue and he

says " Oh yeah " and says it right very quickly. Then he just gets it

on his own.

Anyone else? "

Lynn -as far as how do you teach a nonverbal child to read...I would

do all the same as above. You may want to read up on Helen Keller.

My son was schooled in preschool in an oral based school for the

hearing impaired/deaf. You don't have to talk to be able to read.

" I knew then that 'w-a-t-e-r' meant the wonderful cool something

that was

flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it

light, hope,

joy, set it free! "

Helen Keller 1880-1968

American writer and lecturer

http://www.theglassceiling.com/biographies/bio20.htm

=====

[Guest guest]

My DD turned 8 just a few weeks ago. We have other global issues in

addition to the apraxia. We have cognitive impairments, global apraxia

(speech and motor), hypotonia, short stature and low weight, sensory

issues.

This is our first year homeschooling her, but my 11th year homeschooling.

Kristy

[Guest guest]

it sounds like you are describing our son john would love to chat .. i dont have

many people who relate or understand thanks

jemek64 <jemek64@...> wrote: My DD turned 8 just a few weeks ago.

We have other global issues in

addition to the apraxia. We have cognitive impairments, global apraxia

(speech and motor), hypotonia, short stature and low weight, sensory

issues.

This is our first year homeschooling her, but my 11th year homeschooling.

Kristy

---------------------------------

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

it sounds like you are describing our son john would love to chat .. i dont have

many people who relate or understand thanks

jemek64 <jemek64@...> wrote: My DD turned 8 just a few weeks ago.

We have other global issues in

addition to the apraxia. We have cognitive impairments, global apraxia

(speech and motor), hypotonia, short stature and low weight, sensory

issues.

This is our first year homeschooling her, but my 11th year homeschooling.

Kristy

---------------------------------

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

>

> >

Diane - Mom to Caleb

> >

> My son is not much older than your child, he is 10. Diagnosed

with

> apraxia at 2.5 years old, I ventured to believe he would follow in

> his father's footsteps. My son used his strong visual memory to

> compensate in his weak areas.

>

> My motherly instincts drove me to visit DAN protocol, vision

> therapy, sound therapy (AIT, Tomatis), and PACE

> (www.processingskills.com) We continually supplement with

Coromega

> and multi vitamins. His CAP test came back with a specific

decoding

> disorder. Sound therapy corrected his left ear sound

sensitivities,

> vision therapy corrected his ocular motor dysfunction and PACE and

> Master the Code is working his cogntive/decoding areas. It is a

> long drawn out process, but there is steady progress being made.

>

> I have not tried the Vitamin E that everyone has recently posted

> about, but seems it may be an option.

>

> Take note the educational system is designed to make modifications

> and accommodations in the school curriculum in order to compensate

> for or work around these problems. It is not the school's

> responsibility to FIX/TREAT any of these medical diagnoses, except

> as allowed by Special Education regulations and law. These

children

> are destined to continue struggling and require special

> accommodations UNTIL the neuro-developmental dysfunctions are

> recognized and treated.

>

> Early intervention is key and has a good prognosis when treated

> early. Be your child's advocate and know your rights. A school

can

> easily say they can provide for your child with an appropriate

> education, but I wouldn't count on it. Start with a SLP

specializing

> in apraxia/CAP, OT specializing in sensory integration

> dysfunction/hypotonia, audiologist specializing in sound

> therapy/CAP. Have each therapist evaluate your child with both

> medical and educational goals. That way your insurance will pay

for

> the evals. Get all treatment plans in writing and visit your

school

> CST. If your IEP is less than what is stated in your private

evals,

> question why and ask for their denials in writing. Then you can

hit

> them with your private evals and all the discrepancies. If you

are

> a homeschool your local school district still needs to provide for

> No Child Left Behind Act. You can recommend to the CST that if

they

> are shorthanded with therapists your private SLP and OT would be

> happy to contract with the school district.

>

> Learning disabilities are a lifetime and there are no cures so it

> will not go away. You as a parent have to find your child's

proper

> intervention and follow the plan so that they can become

independent

> young adults.

>

> All the best,

> Joanne

>

> www.thedaviscenter.com (the ear-voice-brain connection)

> www.covd.org (visual perceptual test, dyslexia test)

> www.soundreading.com

> www.sinetwork.org

> The interactive metronome has helped many global apraxic/dyspraxic

> children. www.interactivemetronome.com (must be at least 7)

Dear Joanne-

I just joined this site and am encouraged. My 7 year old son is

apraxic and has ADHD. He's had speech therapy since 2, but we need

to up ante now because the reading piece is lagging and i am trying

to understand the relationship between the ADHD and apraxia. We

just completed a reading assessment- it seems his ADHD is slowing

his immediate memory needed to read.He's a smart lad- receptive

language is in the 90%. Anything to add to your informative email

above?

Many thanks,

Liz

>

[Guest guest]

There's a wealth of information on the Internet designed to help

parents whose children have ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia and

other learning difficulties. Here are some links that are well worth a

visit

http://www.drstordy.com/resources.html

Are you doing other therapy besides speech? I would look into

supplementing with Omega oils. See if there is any change and add

Vitamin E three months later. Some ADHD patients benefit to stay

focused and attentive from the Omega oil (i use coromega an Omega 3

only). My husband blames me for taking the aggression out of my son,

but I blame the omegas.

Usually apraxia does not stand alone. There are hidden flags that

come undone as you progress, such as reading difficulties or written

expression. There may be an auditory processing disorder. My son

tested at 9.5 with a decoding processing disorder. You can take a CAP

test at 8 years old given by an audiologist who specializes in central

auditory processing.

Like I said before, there are no magical cures for these disabilities,

they are a lifetime. If early intervention can allow our children to

learn, then their self esteem won't be questioned.

Joanne

[Guest guest]

>

> >

Diane - Mom to Caleb

> >

> My son is not much older than your child, he is 10. Diagnosed

with

> apraxia at 2.5 years old, I ventured to believe he would follow in

> his father's footsteps. My son used his strong visual memory to

> compensate in his weak areas.

>

> My motherly instincts drove me to visit DAN protocol, vision

> therapy, sound therapy (AIT, Tomatis), and PACE

> (www.processingskills.com) We continually supplement with

Coromega

> and multi vitamins. His CAP test came back with a specific

decoding

> disorder. Sound therapy corrected his left ear sound

sensitivities,

> vision therapy corrected his ocular motor dysfunction and PACE and

> Master the Code is working his cogntive/decoding areas. It is a

> long drawn out process, but there is steady progress being made.

>

> I have not tried the Vitamin E that everyone has recently posted

> about, but seems it may be an option.

>

> Take note the educational system is designed to make modifications

> and accommodations in the school curriculum in order to compensate

> for or work around these problems. It is not the school's

> responsibility to FIX/TREAT any of these medical diagnoses, except

> as allowed by Special Education regulations and law. These

children

> are destined to continue struggling and require special

> accommodations UNTIL the neuro-developmental dysfunctions are

> recognized and treated.

>

> Early intervention is key and has a good prognosis when treated

> early. Be your child's advocate and know your rights. A school

can

> easily say they can provide for your child with an appropriate

> education, but I wouldn't count on it. Start with a SLP

specializing

> in apraxia/CAP, OT specializing in sensory integration

> dysfunction/hypotonia, audiologist specializing in sound

> therapy/CAP. Have each therapist evaluate your child with both

> medical and educational goals. That way your insurance will pay

for

> the evals. Get all treatment plans in writing and visit your

school

> CST. If your IEP is less than what is stated in your private

evals,

> question why and ask for their denials in writing. Then you can

hit

> them with your private evals and all the discrepancies. If you

are

> a homeschool your local school district still needs to provide for

> No Child Left Behind Act. You can recommend to the CST that if

they

> are shorthanded with therapists your private SLP and OT would be

> happy to contract with the school district.

>

> Learning disabilities are a lifetime and there are no cures so it

> will not go away. You as a parent have to find your child's

proper

> intervention and follow the plan so that they can become

independent

> young adults.

>

> All the best,

> Joanne

>

> www.thedaviscenter.com (the ear-voice-brain connection)

> www.covd.org (visual perceptual test, dyslexia test)

> www.soundreading.com

> www.sinetwork.org

> The interactive metronome has helped many global apraxic/dyspraxic

> children. www.interactivemetronome.com (must be at least 7)

Dear Joanne-

I just joined this site and am encouraged. My 7 year old son is

apraxic and has ADHD. He's had speech therapy since 2, but we need

to up ante now because the reading piece is lagging and i am trying

to understand the relationship between the ADHD and apraxia. We

just completed a reading assessment- it seems his ADHD is slowing

his immediate memory needed to read.He's a smart lad- receptive

language is in the 90%. Anything to add to your informative email

above?

Many thanks,

Liz

>

[Guest guest]

There's a wealth of information on the Internet designed to help

parents whose children have ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia and

other learning difficulties. Here are some links that are well worth a

visit

http://www.drstordy.com/resources.html

Are you doing other therapy besides speech? I would look into

supplementing with Omega oils. See if there is any change and add

Vitamin E three months later. Some ADHD patients benefit to stay

focused and attentive from the Omega oil (i use coromega an Omega 3

only). My husband blames me for taking the aggression out of my son,

but I blame the omegas.

Usually apraxia does not stand alone. There are hidden flags that

come undone as you progress, such as reading difficulties or written

expression. There may be an auditory processing disorder. My son

tested at 9.5 with a decoding processing disorder. You can take a CAP

test at 8 years old given by an audiologist who specializes in central

auditory processing.

Like I said before, there are no magical cures for these disabilities,

they are a lifetime. If early intervention can allow our children to

learn, then their self esteem won't be questioned.

Joanne

[Guest guest]

>

Dear Joanne,

Thanks for your info. In terms of my attention and involvement in

the apraxia world- i have 3 kids- and spent the last year attending

to the oldest when he was diagnosised with ADD. My youngest is now

off to kindergarten allowing me time to refocus on my 2nd grader

with ADHD and apraxia. I was a strong advocate for him- he has been

getting SLP services since he was 2 lately OT services. In between

that time we had another kid and moved overseas

and back. Never a dull routine moment!

So yes there is info on the net- but one needs to figure out how

valid the info is. WE had done the fish oils last winter and after

my session on this page i dashed down and got some more! My son is

also on meds for his ADHD.

Between the ADHD and the apraxia i do know there are co-morbid

issues and i have just finished a reading assessment for him to

determine what are the stumbling blocks---- aspects of the ADHD or

apraxia? He definately has a slow prcessing speed- what was your

experience with the decoding processing speed? What are the

remedies/therapies? I'm already aware that he will have language

issues through out his schooling.

I'm with you on maintaining/protecting their self esteem- it is a

fine balance between doing what is needed to survive in school

society in which the kids live and supplementing their interests and

self esteem through outside activities!

Thanks so much for your thoughts and direction.

Liz

>

There's a wealth of information on the Internet designed to help

> parents whose children have ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia and

> other learning difficulties. Here are some links that are well

worth a

> visit

>

> http://www.drstordy.com/resources.html

>

> Are you doing other therapy besides speech? I would look into

> supplementing with Omega oils. See if there is any change and add

> Vitamin E three months later. Some ADHD patients benefit to stay

> focused and attentive from the Omega oil (i use coromega an Omega

3

> only). My husband blames me for taking the aggression out of my

son,

> but I blame the omegas.

>

> Usually apraxia does not stand alone. There are hidden flags that

> come undone as you progress, such as reading difficulties or

written

> expression. There may be an auditory processing disorder. My son

> tested at 9.5 with a decoding processing disorder. You can take a

CAP

> test at 8 years old given by an audiologist who specializes in

central

> auditory processing.

>

> Like I said before, there are no magical cures for these

disabilities,

> they are a lifetime. If early intervention can allow our children

to

> learn, then their self esteem won't be questioned.

>

>

> Joanne

>

[Guest guest]

> >

> > If so, I'd love to hear what programs have helped in therapy,

> > reading and even with supplements.

> >

> > So many on the list have little ones and I remember those days

> > well.This list has been such a blessing. But with an older child

> who

> > is now 9, still making progress with his speech, but struggling

> with

> > learning. We are homeschooling for the 2nd year but still

reading

> is

> > really tough for him. But we are loving homeschooling.

> >

> > I plan on starting with the Vit. E as soon as it comes in. The

Pro

> > EFA's and Pro EPA's have worked well for him. Just 2 weeks ago I

> > stopped them to see if there would be any results. Within a few

> days

> > he was really struggling with word retrieval. Put him back on

the

> > EFAS and he will struggle only occasionally.

> >

> > We tried carnaware last year and it seemed to make him angry and

> > easily frustrated. That was after being on it a month. We took

him

> > off and he returned to his old self.

> >

> > I've posted several times about what has been seen with older

kids

> > over the last year and I haven't gotten any replies. I hope

you'll

> > share about your older kiddos.

> >

> > Blessings,

> > Diane - Mom to Caleb

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks to all that replied to my post. Its great to hear what everyone

is doing and has done. Also, the suggestions were appreciated too.

I've been trained in several programs for reading, sensory integration

and lost of observing the SLP and OT. I feel like it takes a team

effort to help our little guys that are not our big guys.

We started the Vit. E this week. I'm taking notes daily. It will be

interesting as the Vit E results come in.

The EPA's has been a big boost for Caleb since he was 5 (now 9) I hope

the Vit E gives him a boost to get past this wall we've hit.

Again, Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it.

Blessings,

Diane

Mom to Caleb 9

[Guest guest]

>

Dear Joanne,

Thanks for your info. In terms of my attention and involvement in

the apraxia world- i have 3 kids- and spent the last year attending

to the oldest when he was diagnosised with ADD. My youngest is now

off to kindergarten allowing me time to refocus on my 2nd grader

with ADHD and apraxia. I was a strong advocate for him- he has been

getting SLP services since he was 2 lately OT services. In between

that time we had another kid and moved overseas

and back. Never a dull routine moment!

So yes there is info on the net- but one needs to figure out how

valid the info is. WE had done the fish oils last winter and after

my session on this page i dashed down and got some more! My son is

also on meds for his ADHD.

Between the ADHD and the apraxia i do know there are co-morbid

issues and i have just finished a reading assessment for him to

determine what are the stumbling blocks---- aspects of the ADHD or

apraxia? He definately has a slow prcessing speed- what was your

experience with the decoding processing speed? What are the

remedies/therapies? I'm already aware that he will have language

issues through out his schooling.

I'm with you on maintaining/protecting their self esteem- it is a

fine balance between doing what is needed to survive in school

society in which the kids live and supplementing their interests and

self esteem through outside activities!

Thanks so much for your thoughts and direction.

Liz

>

There's a wealth of information on the Internet designed to help

> parents whose children have ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia and

> other learning difficulties. Here are some links that are well

worth a

> visit

>

> http://www.drstordy.com/resources.html

>

> Are you doing other therapy besides speech? I would look into

> supplementing with Omega oils. See if there is any change and add

> Vitamin E three months later. Some ADHD patients benefit to stay

> focused and attentive from the Omega oil (i use coromega an Omega

3

> only). My husband blames me for taking the aggression out of my

son,

> but I blame the omegas.

>

> Usually apraxia does not stand alone. There are hidden flags that

> come undone as you progress, such as reading difficulties or

written

> expression. There may be an auditory processing disorder. My son

> tested at 9.5 with a decoding processing disorder. You can take a

CAP

> test at 8 years old given by an audiologist who specializes in

central

> auditory processing.

>

> Like I said before, there are no magical cures for these

disabilities,

> they are a lifetime. If early intervention can allow our children

to

> learn, then their self esteem won't be questioned.

>

>

> Joanne

>

[Guest guest]

> >

> > If so, I'd love to hear what programs have helped in therapy,

> > reading and even with supplements.

> >

> > So many on the list have little ones and I remember those days

> > well.This list has been such a blessing. But with an older child

> who

> > is now 9, still making progress with his speech, but struggling

> with

> > learning. We are homeschooling for the 2nd year but still

reading

> is

> > really tough for him. But we are loving homeschooling.

> >

> > I plan on starting with the Vit. E as soon as it comes in. The

Pro

> > EFA's and Pro EPA's have worked well for him. Just 2 weeks ago I

> > stopped them to see if there would be any results. Within a few

> days

> > he was really struggling with word retrieval. Put him back on

the

> > EFAS and he will struggle only occasionally.

> >

> > We tried carnaware last year and it seemed to make him angry and

> > easily frustrated. That was after being on it a month. We took

him

> > off and he returned to his old self.

> >

> > I've posted several times about what has been seen with older

kids

> > over the last year and I haven't gotten any replies. I hope

you'll

> > share about your older kiddos.

> >

> > Blessings,

> > Diane - Mom to Caleb

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks to all that replied to my post. Its great to hear what everyone

is doing and has done. Also, the suggestions were appreciated too.

I've been trained in several programs for reading, sensory integration

and lost of observing the SLP and OT. I feel like it takes a team

effort to help our little guys that are not our big guys.

We started the Vit. E this week. I'm taking notes daily. It will be

interesting as the Vit E results come in.

The EPA's has been a big boost for Caleb since he was 5 (now 9) I hope

the Vit E gives him a boost to get past this wall we've hit.

Again, Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it.

Blessings,

Diane

Mom to Caleb 9

[Guest guest]

Dear Liz,

Have you gotten a diagnosis or a complete workup on your son's cognitive,

emotional, and academic abilities? This is usually done through a

neuropsychologist. Have you looked at PACE www.processingskills.com or read

the book by Dorinne " Sound Bodies for Sound Minds "

www.thedaviscenter.com There also was information on this messageboard

regarding a pyramid for child development.

Here is a theory (can't recall where I got this from - sorry to who ever

should be cited here) of the learning pyramid of a child's development:

Child development is a pyramid. The broad bottom layer is genetic heritage,

which we cannot change. The next layer up is sensory development -- the

major areas being motor development, visual efficiency skills

(accommodation, convergence, etc.) and hearing, and the integration of these

areas (visual-motor integration, visual-auditory, etc.). The layer on top

of this is cognitive skills acquisition -- skills such as attention (ability

to sustain focus, ability to sustain focus in the presence of distractions,

ability to multi-task), visual processing, visual short-term memory,

auditory processing, auditory short-term memory, sequencing skills,

reasoning and logic, etc. The very peak of the pyramid is academic

learning. Everything underneath affects the peak.

Children with learning disabilities typically have a brick missing here and

there throughout the pyramid. The farther down the holes are, the more

profound their impact on the upper layers.

From a remediation standpoint, it is best to repair the layers starting at

the bottom so that you are always building on as firm a foundation as you

can establish. This means that, ideally, you first find out if there are

sensory level problems in the areas of motor skills development, vision and

auditory processing. If so, you work on reducing these deficits first.

Therapies that address sensory level problems include sound therapies (TLP,

Tomatis, Samonas, AIT, FastForWord), vision therapy, speech/language therapy

and occupational therapy (including Balametrics, Bal-A-Vis-X, NeuroNet,

Interactive Metronome, biofeedback, etc.).

Any time there are sensory level deficits, there will be corresponding lags

in cognitive skills development. Once sensory level deficits are reduced as

much as possible or ruled out, the next logical step is to check cognitive

skills. Programs that address cognitive skills development include

Audiblox, BrainSkills, PACE, and Instrumental Enrichment (Feuerstein's

approach).

Once cognitive skills have been developed as optimally as possible, the very

last step is academic remediation. If all of the layers below the peak have

been repaired, academic remediation will proceed much faster than if the

holes had been left. Furthermore, with a solid foundation underneath it,

the size of the peak will be larger.

Therapies require a lot of effort on the part of the child, so it is

definitely not desirable to try to add them to an already stressful full-day

of school. Some families pull their children out of school for the therapy,

some families do them during summer vacation, and some families homeschool

in order to fit them in.

My son has been to many therapists and treatments including

Occupational therapist

Speech therapist

Developmental Optometrist - vision therapy, PACE and Master the Code.

Audiologist specializing in sound therapy, Fast Forword, Interactive

Metronome, mood Bell

Each professional has successfully brought him to his age appropriate skills

in time, so we move up the pyramid closing up the holes. There have been no

guarantees, and lots of time and patience with all involved (and money,

too).

Every child learns differently and has other issues. I can only tell you

what I did for my child. You know your child best and seem to have done a

good job thus far. I know what its like to have other children (I have 4)

and the oldest just went off to college. My son is the youngest and only

boy. I was told not to rush the treatments, but to try to complete the

treatment plan by 12 years old. Initially, the age of 2, I had my son's

blood tested and sent into Smokies Lab where they found a high copper level

and low zinc level together with a leaky gut. A DAN nutritionist balanced

out his issues and it seemed like he came out of the fog. My husband blames

me for taking the aggression out of my son, where I blame the omegas.

All the best,

Joanne

P.S. Please check with your doctor before giving supplements with the ADHD

meds.

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of lizpowell165

Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 1:02 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: Do you have older apraxic children?

>

Dear Joanne,

Thanks for your info. In terms of my attention and involvement in

the apraxia world- i have 3 kids- and spent the last year attending

to the oldest when he was diagnosised with ADD. My youngest is now

off to kindergarten allowing me time to refocus on my 2nd grader

with ADHD and apraxia. I was a strong advocate for him- he has been

getting SLP services since he was 2 lately OT services. In between

that time we had another kid and moved overseas

and back. Never a dull routine moment!

So yes there is info on the net- but one needs to figure out how

valid the info is. WE had done the fish oils last winter and after

my session on this page i dashed down and got some more! My son is

also on meds for his ADHD.

Between the ADHD and the apraxia i do know there are co-morbid

issues and i have just finished a reading assessment for him to

determine what are the stumbling blocks---- aspects of the ADHD or

apraxia? He definately has a slow prcessing speed- what was your

experience with the decoding processing speed? What are the

remedies/therapies? I'm already aware that he will have language

issues through out his schooling.

I'm with you on maintaining/protecting their self esteem- it is a

fine balance between doing what is needed to survive in school

society in which the kids live and supplementing their interests and

self esteem through outside activities!

Thanks so much for your thoughts and direction.

Liz

>

There's a wealth of information on the Internet designed to help

> parents whose children have ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia and

> other learning difficulties. Here are some links that are well

worth a

> visit

>

> http://www.drstordy <http://www.drstordy.com/resources.html>

..com/resources.html

>

> Are you doing other therapy besides speech? I would look into

> supplementing with Omega oils. See if there is any change and add

> Vitamin E three months later. Some ADHD patients benefit to stay

> focused and attentive from the Omega oil (i use coromega an Omega

3

> only). My husband blames me for taking the aggression out of my

son,

> but I blame the omegas.

>

> Usually apraxia does not stand alone. There are hidden flags that

> come undone as you progress, such as reading difficulties or

written

> expression. There may be an auditory processing disorder. My son

> tested at 9.5 with a decoding processing disorder. You can take a

CAP

> test at 8 years old given by an audiologist who specializes in

central

> auditory processing.

>

> Like I said before, there are no magical cures for these

disabilities,

> they are a lifetime. If early intervention can allow our children

to

> learn, then their self esteem won't be questioned.

>

>

> Joanne

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Liz,

Have you gotten a diagnosis or a complete workup on your son's cognitive,

emotional, and academic abilities? This is usually done through a

neuropsychologist. Have you looked at PACE www.processingskills.com or read

the book by Dorinne " Sound Bodies for Sound Minds "

www.thedaviscenter.com There also was information on this messageboard

regarding a pyramid for child development.

Here is a theory (can't recall where I got this from - sorry to who ever

should be cited here) of the learning pyramid of a child's development:

Child development is a pyramid. The broad bottom layer is genetic heritage,

which we cannot change. The next layer up is sensory development -- the

major areas being motor development, visual efficiency skills

(accommodation, convergence, etc.) and hearing, and the integration of these

areas (visual-motor integration, visual-auditory, etc.). The layer on top

of this is cognitive skills acquisition -- skills such as attention (ability

to sustain focus, ability to sustain focus in the presence of distractions,

ability to multi-task), visual processing, visual short-term memory,

auditory processing, auditory short-term memory, sequencing skills,

reasoning and logic, etc. The very peak of the pyramid is academic

learning. Everything underneath affects the peak.

Children with learning disabilities typically have a brick missing here and

there throughout the pyramid. The farther down the holes are, the more

profound their impact on the upper layers.

From a remediation standpoint, it is best to repair the layers starting at

the bottom so that you are always building on as firm a foundation as you

can establish. This means that, ideally, you first find out if there are

sensory level problems in the areas of motor skills development, vision and

auditory processing. If so, you work on reducing these deficits first.

Therapies that address sensory level problems include sound therapies (TLP,

Tomatis, Samonas, AIT, FastForWord), vision therapy, speech/language therapy

and occupational therapy (including Balametrics, Bal-A-Vis-X, NeuroNet,

Interactive Metronome, biofeedback, etc.).

Any time there are sensory level deficits, there will be corresponding lags

in cognitive skills development. Once sensory level deficits are reduced as

much as possible or ruled out, the next logical step is to check cognitive

skills. Programs that address cognitive skills development include

Audiblox, BrainSkills, PACE, and Instrumental Enrichment (Feuerstein's

approach).

Once cognitive skills have been developed as optimally as possible, the very

last step is academic remediation. If all of the layers below the peak have

been repaired, academic remediation will proceed much faster than if the

holes had been left. Furthermore, with a solid foundation underneath it,

the size of the peak will be larger.

Therapies require a lot of effort on the part of the child, so it is

definitely not desirable to try to add them to an already stressful full-day

of school. Some families pull their children out of school for the therapy,

some families do them during summer vacation, and some families homeschool

in order to fit them in.

My son has been to many therapists and treatments including

Occupational therapist

Speech therapist

Developmental Optometrist - vision therapy, PACE and Master the Code.

Audiologist specializing in sound therapy, Fast Forword, Interactive

Metronome, mood Bell

Each professional has successfully brought him to his age appropriate skills

in time, so we move up the pyramid closing up the holes. There have been no

guarantees, and lots of time and patience with all involved (and money,

too).

Every child learns differently and has other issues. I can only tell you

what I did for my child. You know your child best and seem to have done a

good job thus far. I know what its like to have other children (I have 4)

and the oldest just went off to college. My son is the youngest and only

boy. I was told not to rush the treatments, but to try to complete the

treatment plan by 12 years old. Initially, the age of 2, I had my son's

blood tested and sent into Smokies Lab where they found a high copper level

and low zinc level together with a leaky gut. A DAN nutritionist balanced

out his issues and it seemed like he came out of the fog. My husband blames

me for taking the aggression out of my son, where I blame the omegas.

All the best,

Joanne

P.S. Please check with your doctor before giving supplements with the ADHD

meds.

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of lizpowell165

Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 1:02 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: Do you have older apraxic children?

>

Dear Joanne,

Thanks for your info. In terms of my attention and involvement in

the apraxia world- i have 3 kids- and spent the last year attending

to the oldest when he was diagnosised with ADD. My youngest is now

off to kindergarten allowing me time to refocus on my 2nd grader

with ADHD and apraxia. I was a strong advocate for him- he has been

getting SLP services since he was 2 lately OT services. In between

that time we had another kid and moved overseas

and back. Never a dull routine moment!

So yes there is info on the net- but one needs to figure out how

valid the info is. WE had done the fish oils last winter and after

my session on this page i dashed down and got some more! My son is

also on meds for his ADHD.

Between the ADHD and the apraxia i do know there are co-morbid

issues and i have just finished a reading assessment for him to

determine what are the stumbling blocks---- aspects of the ADHD or

apraxia? He definately has a slow prcessing speed- what was your

experience with the decoding processing speed? What are the

remedies/therapies? I'm already aware that he will have language

issues through out his schooling.

I'm with you on maintaining/protecting their self esteem- it is a

fine balance between doing what is needed to survive in school

society in which the kids live and supplementing their interests and

self esteem through outside activities!

Thanks so much for your thoughts and direction.

Liz

>

There's a wealth of information on the Internet designed to help

> parents whose children have ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia and

> other learning difficulties. Here are some links that are well

worth a

> visit

>

> http://www.drstordy <http://www.drstordy.com/resources.html>

..com/resources.html

>

> Are you doing other therapy besides speech? I would look into

> supplementing with Omega oils. See if there is any change and add

> Vitamin E three months later. Some ADHD patients benefit to stay

> focused and attentive from the Omega oil (i use coromega an Omega

3

> only). My husband blames me for taking the aggression out of my

son,

> but I blame the omegas.

>

> Usually apraxia does not stand alone. There are hidden flags that

> come undone as you progress, such as reading difficulties or

written

> expression. There may be an auditory processing disorder. My son

> tested at 9.5 with a decoding processing disorder. You can take a

CAP

> test at 8 years old given by an audiologist who specializes in

central

> auditory processing.

>

> Like I said before, there are no magical cures for these

disabilities,

> they are a lifetime. If early intervention can allow our children

to

> learn, then their self esteem won't be questioned.

>

>

> Joanne

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Joanne-

I'm not sure if my reply yesterday got sent-still getting used to the blog

sites...

Funny you should ask about a neuropyschologist- i'm just about to get our

appointment dates for one. Hopefully we should get a clearer and more

comprehensive view of what we are looking at in terms of his issues.

I'm glad i have the time to address 's " other " emerging LD issues

(assuming they are emerging- they probably were always there and i didn't notice

or it wasn't pressing.) Having a kid(s) with " issues " really is an on-going

lesson in learning, observing and advocating. I took much of last year to

address 's brother and get his diagnosis of inattentive ADHD, and now that i

am back to - there is a new layer of info to learn and sort through! I do

find the subject matter interesting though!

has had OT and SLP at school last year and I did not pile on any other

therapies b/c 1st grade is so intense. also goes to the Resource room for

reading at school. Depending on the results of the neuropsch. i am sure we will

add something outside of school this year as it seems that 2nd grade is a

catch-up year. I am conscious too of balancing fun self-esteem building

activites for him with " work " . is getting more conscious of his failings-

yesterday he was annoyed that he got so many wrong on his spelling test when he

knew he knew them...

DO you have any advice in advocating for your child in the school? My style

is to be part of the solution not the problem and to honor the dedication of the

special ed folks. (they are good people). We have a new principal who has a phd

in special ed and a his child who wears hearing aids and attends our school. I

thought i might be able to touch on his self-interest (veiled as it may be ) and

his background to improve the resource room and try to get some accomodations

for . The resource room at school is NOT at par with the other special ed

services at the school. I need to advocate (once i know what to advocate for )

some more training of the folks in the resource room, or to change their

approach to in their teaching method. (THey've never seen anyone like him

before). They are just poking at wholes without much of an approach based on

experience with someone like . Ideally i would like to see better educated

and enthused people in there- but that

is probably not going to happen. I live in a small community -an island of

27,000 folks and in a small town setting-- so I REally need to be kind to

people.

IN terms of therapies- did you try the Tomatis method- i was exposed to it and

decided not to complicate the matter for .

Back to you- do your other kids have issues? If they are girls- the chance is

reduced...

Thanks again- have a great day,

Liz

Joanne Mulholland <mulholland34@...> wrote:

Dear Liz,

Have you gotten a diagnosis or a complete workup on your son's cognitive,

emotional, and academic abilities? This is usually done through a

neuropsychologist. Have you looked at PACE www.processingskills.com or read

the book by Dorinne " Sound Bodies for Sound Minds "

www.thedaviscenter.com There also was information on this messageboard

regarding a pyramid for child development.

Here is a theory (can't recall where I got this from - sorry to who ever

should be cited here) of the learning pyramid of a child's development:

Child development is a pyramid. The broad bottom layer is genetic heritage,

which we cannot change. The next layer up is sensory development -- the

major areas being motor development, visual efficiency skills

(accommodation, convergence, etc.) and hearing, and the integration of these

areas (visual-motor integration, visual-auditory, etc.). The layer on top

of this is cognitive skills acquisition -- skills such as attention (ability

to sustain focus, ability to sustain focus in the presence of distractions,

ability to multi-task), visual processing, visual short-term memory,

auditory processing, auditory short-term memory, sequencing skills,

reasoning and logic, etc. The very peak of the pyramid is academic

learning. Everything underneath affects the peak.

Children with learning disabilities typically have a brick missing here and

there throughout the pyramid. The farther down the holes are, the more

profound their impact on the upper layers.

From a remediation standpoint, it is best to repair the layers starting at

the bottom so that you are always building on as firm a foundation as you

can establish. This means that, ideally, you first find out if there are

sensory level problems in the areas of motor skills development, vision and

auditory processing. If so, you work on reducing these deficits first.

Therapies that address sensory level problems include sound therapies (TLP,

Tomatis, Samonas, AIT, FastForWord), vision therapy, speech/language therapy

and occupational therapy (including Balametrics, Bal-A-Vis-X, NeuroNet,

Interactive Metronome, biofeedback, etc.).

Any time there are sensory level deficits, there will be corresponding lags

in cognitive skills development. Once sensory level deficits are reduced as

much as possible or ruled out, the next logical step is to check cognitive

skills. Programs that address cognitive skills development include

Audiblox, BrainSkills, PACE, and Instrumental Enrichment (Feuerstein's

approach).

Once cognitive skills have been developed as optimally as possible, the very

last step is academic remediation. If all of the layers below the peak have

been repaired, academic remediation will proceed much faster than if the

holes had been left. Furthermore, with a solid foundation underneath it,

the size of the peak will be larger.

Therapies require a lot of effort on the part of the child, so it is

definitely not desirable to try to add them to an already stressful full-day

of school. Some families pull their children out of school for the therapy,

some families do them during summer vacation, and some families homeschool

in order to fit them in.

My son has been to many therapists and treatments including

Occupational therapist

Speech therapist

Developmental Optometrist - vision therapy, PACE and Master the Code.

Audiologist specializing in sound therapy, Fast Forword, Interactive

Metronome, mood Bell

Each professional has successfully brought him to his age appropriate skills

in time, so we move up the pyramid closing up the holes. There have been no

guarantees, and lots of time and patience with all involved (and money,

too).

Every child learns differently and has other issues. I can only tell you

what I did for my child. You know your child best and seem to have done a

good job thus far. I know what its like to have other children (I have 4)

and the oldest just went off to college. My son is the youngest and only

boy. I was told not to rush the treatments, but to try to complete the

treatment plan by 12 years old. Initially, the age of 2, I had my son's

blood tested and sent into Smokies Lab where they found a high copper level

and low zinc level together with a leaky gut. A DAN nutritionist balanced

out his issues and it seemed like he came out of the fog. My husband blames

me for taking the aggression out of my son, where I blame the omegas.

All the best,

Joanne

P.S. Please check with your doctor before giving supplements with the ADHD

meds.

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of lizpowell165

Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 1:02 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: Do you have older apraxic children?

>

Dear Joanne,

Thanks for your info. In terms of my attention and involvement in

the apraxia world- i have 3 kids- and spent the last year attending

to the oldest when he was diagnosised with ADD. My youngest is now

off to kindergarten allowing me time to refocus on my 2nd grader

with ADHD and apraxia. I was a strong advocate for him- he has been

getting SLP services since he was 2 lately OT services. In between

that time we had another kid and moved overseas

and back. Never a dull routine moment!

So yes there is info on the net- but one needs to figure out how

valid the info is. WE had done the fish oils last winter and after

my session on this page i dashed down and got some more! My son is

also on meds for his ADHD.

Between the ADHD and the apraxia i do know there are co-morbid

issues and i have just finished a reading assessment for him to

determine what are the stumbling blocks---- aspects of the ADHD or

apraxia? He definately has a slow prcessing speed- what was your

experience with the decoding processing speed? What are the

remedies/therapies? I'm already aware that he will have language

issues through out his schooling.

I'm with you on maintaining/protecting their self esteem- it is a

fine balance between doing what is needed to survive in school

society in which the kids live and supplementing their interests and

self esteem through outside activities!

Thanks so much for your thoughts and direction.

Liz

>

There's a wealth of information on the Internet designed to help

> parents whose children have ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia and

> other learning difficulties. Here are some links that are well

worth a

> visit

>

> http://www.drstordy <http://www.drstordy.com/resources.html>

..com/resources.html

>

> Are you doing other therapy besides speech? I would look into

> supplementing with Omega oils. See if there is any change and add

> Vitamin E three months later. Some ADHD patients benefit to stay

> focused and attentive from the Omega oil (i use coromega an Omega

3

> only). My husband blames me for taking the aggression out of my

son,

> but I blame the omegas.

>

> Usually apraxia does not stand alone. There are hidden flags that

> come undone as you progress, such as reading difficulties or

written

> expression. There may be an auditory processing disorder. My son

> tested at 9.5 with a decoding processing disorder. You can take a

CAP

> test at 8 years old given by an audiologist who specializes in

central

> auditory processing.

>

> Like I said before, there are no magical cures for these

disabilities,

> they are a lifetime. If early intervention can allow our children

to

> learn, then their self esteem won't be questioned.

>

>

> Joanne

>