re: camarata

[Guest guest]

Well, 75% of the time it IS just a delay. So if you go with the odds, he's

right 3/4 times.

But that means 1/4 families will be sadly misled. -

Re: [ ] Digest Number 2906

re: camarata

Hi all,

just a note on the post re Dr. Camarate -- i followed for a long while a

list

serve of parents who embrace his approach -- he rejects entirely any

biomedical

component and even rejects fish oil as a supplement -- i think the comment

he

sent in said something about it causing hyperactivity in some children,

which

caused me to stop giving my son fish oil (i had just started) and i didn't

start again for a year very much to my deepest regrets -- when i began again

he

improved significantly -- in any case, there is room for a lot of opinions

on

these speech issues, and his is that it is mostly a natural delay etc.. ,

the

evidence to me is mounting daily to the contrary, but i can understand

parents

that adopt this view. the families that go to him really like him and

believe

in his approach and feel he has helped their child. in any case, i just

wanted

to share the little i know

[Guest guest]

Hi, just curious, what treatment does he recommend then for the

families who see him? Seeing this as just a " natural delay " almost

makes it sound like one needn't do anything.

Thanks for the info.

>

> re: camarata

>

> Hi all,

>

> just a note on the post re Dr. Camarate -- i followed for a long

while a list

> serve of parents who embrace his approach -- he rejects entirely

any biomedical

> component and even rejects fish oil as a supplement -- i think the

comment he

> sent in said something about it causing hyperactivity in some

children, which

> caused me to stop giving my son fish oil (i had just started) and

i didn't

> start again for a year very much to my deepest regrets -- when i

began again he

> improved significantly -- in any case, there is room for a lot of

opinions on

> these speech issues, and his is that it is mostly a natural delay

etc.. , the

> evidence to me is mounting daily to the contrary, but i can

understand parents

> that adopt this view. the families that go to him really like him

and believe

> in his approach and feel he has helped their child. in any case,

i just wanted

> to share the little i know

>

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Quick note, because some people mentioned to me ( on the NLT

list) that there is some talk about Dr Camarata not diagnosing

Apraxia.

1. Dr Camarata *did* diagnose Apraxia in a child a few weeks ago.

If there was one, there are others.( I am not down there personally,

but by process of reasoning, if he diagnosis it in one , he must

believe it exists)

2.The term " developmental apraxia " is the term in question, for

some children.....which he feels might more appropriately belong

under phonological disorder because apraxia implies medically some

kind of brain damage.This does *not* discount the fact that there

are pronounciation issues for children. I think all can agree on

this , and this is the important issue.

Again, this does not mean he is saying *apraxia* does not exist !

This is more a discussion or debate within medical terms .

3. A similar discussion was on one of the Apraxia lists a year ago,

and plenty of parents mentioned that their child had other

significant motor issues , so under diagnostic purposes this could

fall under Apraxia as Dr Camarata would describe it.

4. Fish oil is good and necessary for everyone.

All he says is it is not fully proven with full clinical trials ,

placebo affect, etcetera.

Just because something is not proven does not mean it does not exist.

He might feel more strongly as a traditional scientist about

discounting it without proof, but the discussion is more about full

clinical proof with a battery of trials and variables. We do know

other benefits have been proven . Staying within nutrition

guidelines can harm no one and if it benefits - great.

We just had ( in the past) parents doing no speech help with their

child , and feeding supplements.

And, there have been some children with hyperactivity reaction to

it, but not all. He expresses caution in staying with nutrition

guidelines.

5.As to therapy, some clinicians do differ.

His concern is forcing children to do non-sensical pronounciation

over and over again at a toddler or very small child. This does not

mean that a therapy should not be developed to target these

issues

His concern is making sure the child is learning *language* -

especially at that age.

Repeat exercises is better done by older children.

But, there are ways to get exercises and consistancy in

pronouncation through games that will bring on repetition in small

children - this would be for both phonological and apraxia.

6. Sometimes quick writings of what Dr Camaratas says can be

unintentionally misleading , without a lot of background .

There is a great deal in common our lists share, one being children

being incorrectly diagnosed as mentally retarded or autistic when

they are not ,( because they were given intelligence testing using

words - a big mistake commonly done by " professionals) when the

issue is simply pronounciation, or simply late talking.

I can't speak for Dr Camarata fully .

Please feel free to write Dr Camarata at

stephen.m.camarata@...

Hope this helps a little

[Guest guest]

Thank you ! Other than Dr. Camarata you summed it up best!

For those that don't know - runs the Late Talker group and

http://www.latetalking.org She's another amazing parent out there

looking to help share support and information to help the children.

So thank you again!

=====

[Guest guest]

Hi, there are actually a couple of late talking groups and 's

group is Natural Late Talkers and there's another group that is Late

Talkers. Both groups are great.

Maureen

>

> Thank you ! Other than Dr. Camarata you summed it up best!

>

> For those that don't know - runs the Late Talker group and

> http://www.latetalking.org She's another amazing parent out

there

> looking to help share support and information to help the children.

>

> So thank you again!

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

,

It is so nice to be in touch with you again !

Let me know how the campaign for appropriate cognitive testing is

going.( hope I am phrasing this correctly )

I know we talked about it a while back , and as we all know life

happens to us, and I lost touch with how that was developing.

You would be amazed how many parents still report to me that their

children are being given verbal tests for cognitive intelligence

when the child should be given a test completely absent of words for

an accurate reading of intelligence.

Thanks for all your work !

>

> Thank you ! Other than Dr. Camarata you summed it up best!

>

> For those that don't know - runs the Late Talker group and

> http://www.latetalking.org She's another amazing parent out

there

> looking to help share support and information to help the children.

>

> So thank you again!

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

I wonder how he accounts for that 25% that isn't simple delay. Does

he just chalk it up to cognitive delay?

>

> Well, 75% of the time it IS just a delay. So if you go with the

odds, he's

> right 3/4 times.

>

> But that means 1/4 families will be sadly misled. -

[Guest guest]

At 07:37 PM 6/5/2006, you wrote:

>I wonder how he accounts for that 25% that isn't simple delay. Does

>he just chalk it up to cognitive delay?

I had a chance to talk to Dr. Camarata on the phone when we were undergoing

the autism misdiagnosis nightmare with my child. We were hoping that he

had a recommendation for a doctor of clinic in our state that would take

our concerns more seriously (concerns that he wasn't autistic and address

the speech issues directly instead of saying it's a side effect of

autism.) We had even considered going to his clinic if we couldn't find

anything locally. Dr. Camarata is a very kind, caring man! He doesn't

advocate for not getting help, just for getting the right kind of help. I

got the impression that he has seen far too many children mis-diagnosed and

treated the wrong way. He never once told us not to do the therapies that

were recommended for our son, just to watch to make sure they were helping

(they weren't and I wish I had stopped some sooner.) He never discouraged

us from seeking help for our younger son even though I had an older son

that was severely speech delayed, but resolved with not a single minute of

therapy. He asked simple questions and reassured us that we were on the

right track and gave us confidence that our child did have a better future

than the other team had indicated. Far from assuming he had a cognitive

delay he asked questions that showed that he thought the opposite! He also

asked us to contact him again which I haven't done and probably should

since it's been almost two years now.

Miche

[Guest guest]

We saw Dr. Camarata for cognitive assessments and slp and

educational assessments. He is the one that diagnosed my son with

verbal apraxia .. after ruling in and out other factors. Normal IQ

ruled in. Above average iq for visual and memory. Receptive language

delay of 1 1/2 to 2 years. No Autism, NO PDD, No developmental

delays . My son thinks in terms of pictures .Recommendations ; needs

shadow to make picture system with verbal instructions , other...

and speech therapy recommendation . Diagnosis; verbal apraxia.

Tina & ..

very grateful to Dr. Camarata for his professionalism and guidance.

>

> > I had a chance to talk to Dr. Camarata on the phone when we were

undergoing

> the autism misdiagnosis nightmare with my child. We were hoping

that he

> had a recommendation for a doctor of clinic in our state that

would take

> our concerns more seriously (concerns that he wasn't autistic and

address

> the speech issues directly instead of saying it's a side effect of

> autism.) We had even considered going to his clinic if we

couldn't find

> anything locally. Dr. Camarata is a very kind, caring man! He

doesn't

> advocate for not getting help, just for getting the right kind of

help. I

> got the impression that he has seen far too many children mis-

diagnosed and

> treated the wrong way. He never once told us not to do the

therapies that

> were recommended for our son, just to watch to make sure they were

helping

> (they weren't and I wish I had stopped some sooner.) He never

discouraged

> us from seeking help for our younger son even though I had an

older son

> that was severely speech delayed, but resolved with not a single

minute of

> therapy. He asked simple questions and reassured us that we were

on the

> right track and gave us confidence that our child did have a

better future

> than the other team had indicated. Far from assuming he had a

cognitive

> delay he asked questions that showed that he thought the

opposite! He also

> asked us to contact him again which I haven't done and probably

should

> since it's been almost two years now.

>

> Miche

>

[Guest guest]

" I had a chance to talk to Dr. Camarata on the phone when we were

undergoing

the autism misdiagnosis nightmare with my child. "

A bit OT, but it seems that an autism misdiagnosis (or near-automatic,

incorrect autism suspicion) is almost the norm nowadays with speech

delayed or disordered kids. We went through a horrible period of near

autism misdiagnosis ourselves and it was the most stressful period of

our lives. With 10 months of therapy (and EFA supplementation) under

our belts, has made HUGE strides and no one would ever mistake

her for being autistic. Scary.

Just a side comment, for what it is worth.

Warm regards,

******************

(Rochester, NY)

Mom to , 3.0 years, Verbal Apraxia

& , 10.5 months

________________________________

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of

Grassia

Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 12:26 AM

Subject: Re: [ ] Re: Camarata

At 07:37 PM 6/5/2006, you wrote:

>I wonder how he accounts for that 25% that isn't simple delay. Does

>he just chalk it up to cognitive delay?

I had a chance to talk to Dr. Camarata on the phone when we were

undergoing

the autism misdiagnosis nightmare with my child. We were hoping that he

had a recommendation for a doctor of clinic in our state that would take

our concerns more seriously (concerns that he wasn't autistic and

address

the speech issues directly instead of saying it's a side effect of

autism.) We had even considered going to his clinic if we couldn't find

anything locally. Dr. Camarata is a very kind, caring man! He doesn't

advocate for not getting help, just for getting the right kind of help.

I

got the impression that he has seen far too many children mis-diagnosed

and

treated the wrong way. He never once told us not to do the therapies

that

were recommended for our son, just to watch to make sure they were

helping

(they weren't and I wish I had stopped some sooner.) He never

discouraged

us from seeking help for our younger son even though I had an older son

that was severely speech delayed, but resolved with not a single minute

of

therapy. He asked simple questions and reassured us that we were on the

right track and gave us confidence that our child did have a better

future

than the other team had indicated. Far from assuming he had a cognitive

delay he asked questions that showed that he thought the opposite! He

also

asked us to contact him again which I haven't done and probably should

since it's been almost two years now.

Miche