Re: a different approach to veral apraxia

[Guest guest]

Here are two websites which give a lot of information regarding the

holistic treatment of the central nervous system on various physical and

mental difficulties. The topics do include the " patterning " that Cari

mentioned, which is important on overall development on many levels.

www.iahp.org

The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential

Glenn Doman

(note - don't be " put off " by the use of the generic term " brain injured " )

http://www.inpp.org.uk/

The Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology

established in 1975 by Blythe PhD

Factors in early development, for the majority, often underlie learning

difficulties

such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADD, ADHD and coordination problems.

[Guest guest]

Is that related to the anecdotal evidence that suggests that good

crawlers end up being good readers? I have discounted this because

my eldest was not interested in crawling AT ALL, and yet she is a

fantastic reader, but it does make some sense.

in NJ

>

> My son was diagnosed with verbal apraxia. I am a physical

therapist

> and pushed early on that ther was something wrong. Luckily my

> pediatrician agreed to a speech evaluaion and we have had some good

> success. He has received speech for about 6 months and is 22 months

> old. When I really noticed a big change is when I started doing

some

> physical therapy and crawlin activities with him as well as

> chiropractic adjustments for spinal alignment.

> When my son started to improve his " commando " crawling so it was

equal

> right and left, I noticed a huge jump in his attempts to talk. I

know

> it could be coincidence but I really believe it is all tied

together.

> There are some places that work on " patterning " . The problem comes

in

> it is thought to be non effective because it as tested in the

1970's

> with down's children thinking it would improve their intelligence

and

> it did not. But maybe with apraxia a more motor planning problem

then

> it could be more effective. As far as I know there has been no

> research with it done for any diagnosis rather than downs.

>

> Cari

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter's OT works on motor planning via lots of obstacle courses

and such. Daughter gets more of this by chasing our poor cat over and

under everything in the house. As she improves in OT, her speech

improves. But with the new fascination with chasing the cat, her gross

motor skills have greatly improved (she's getting lots and lots of

practice..... poor cat!) her speech has had a lot of improvement as

well especially in the use of sentences. I often think that

improvement in motor planning in one area helps the motor planning in

the other.

Kris

_______________________________________________________________________

Kris Haukoos

The Knitting Wannabe ( http://www.knittingwannabe.typepad.com )

Check out the shop:

Sonny & Shear: The I’ve Got Ewe, Babe Yarn Shop

http://www.sonnyandshear.com

On Apr 11, 2007, at 5:49 AM, cmccfar wrote:

> My son was diagnosed with verbal apraxia. I am a physical therapist

> and pushed early on that ther was something wrong. Luckily my

> pediatrician agreed to a speech evaluaion and we have had some good

> success. He has received speech for about 6 months and is 22 months

> old. When I really noticed a big change is when I started doing some

> physical therapy and crawlin activities with him as well as

> chiropractic adjustments for spinal alignment.

> When my son started to improve his " commando " crawling so it was equal

> right and left, I noticed a huge jump in his attempts to talk. I know

> it could be coincidence but I really believe it is all tied together.

> There are some places that work on " patterning " . The problem comes in

> it is thought to be non effective because it as tested in the 1970's

> with down's children thinking it would improve their intelligence and

> it did not. But maybe with apraxia a more motor planning problem then

> it could be more effective. As far as I know there has been no

> research with it done for any diagnosis rather than downs.

>

> Cari

>

>

[Guest guest]

My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped his

speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use what

he was learning in speech more effectively.

in NJ

[Guest guest]

You can also check into BRAIN GYM and the DORE Method (which specifies

it's more for 7+)

>

> My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

> hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped his

> speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use

what

> he was learning in speech more effectively.

>

> in NJ

>

[Guest guest]

where did you find hippotherapy? I've only been able to find it North

of here.

- In , " bigcheech91 "

<bigcheech91@...> wrote:

>

> My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

> hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped his

> speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use

what

> he was learning in speech more effectively.

>

> in NJ

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/12/2007 6:08:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

kayce_the_nut@... writes:

where did you find hippotherapy? I've only been able to find it North

of here.

There are therapeutic horseback riding places in Egg Harbor Township and

Lacey Township. The site for the one in Egg Harbor is _http://www.arch206.org/_

(http://www.arch206.org/) . Not even sure what the name of the one in Lacey

is, maybe something like Happy Trails.

Holly

SAHM to , Amber, and Jewel

Our family is walking to save babies

Please help us!

_WalkAmerica - Our Family's Personal Page_

(http://www.walkamerica.org/personal_page.asp?w=721804)

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Can you tell me who diagnosed your son with hypotonia? I believe my son has

all the symptoms of mild hypotonia but this has never been diagnosed. My son is

17 months old and only started to babble a little this week (and I really hope

it continues!) I found a new speech therapist who agrees he has low tone in the

mouth and, although he's so young and she says she doesn't want to make a

diagnosis, possible apraxia. I notice that he only makes sounds when he is

walking around and the therapist says it's because he needs the trunk stability.

This makes sense to me now. He didn't crawl until 11 1/2 months and started

walking just a few weeks ago. I'm wondering if this can all be related. I'm

going to take him to a developmental pediatrician in June. I read your fish oil

summary and just bought the Omega 3-6-9. I'm going to strat them soon....should

i do a full one each day? Any advice you can give would be greatly

appreciated!!!

in NJ

bigcheech91 <bigcheech91@...> wrote:

My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped his

speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use what

he was learning in speech more effectively.

in NJ

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

Ahhh...imagining that irresistible " new car " smell?

Check outnew cars at Autos.

[Guest guest]

I was told they only do theraputic (sp) riding, not hippotherapy w/

an SLP.---

In , " kayce_the_nut "

<kayce_the_nut@...> wrote:

>

> where did you find hippotherapy? I've only been able to find it

North

> of here.

>

> - In , " bigcheech91 "

> <bigcheech91@> wrote:

> >

> > My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

> > hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped

his

> > speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use

> what

> > he was learning in speech more effectively.

> >

> > in NJ

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi

I have never posted here but have been reading for about a year now. I

needed to respond to this

since as a PT, I picked up on my son's hypotonia. I had a difficult time

convincing the ped. that

he had it and that it was interfering with his gross motor development

(extremely flexible- almost painful to watch, not bearing weight on feet,

and finally walking at 17 months- of course the cut off for " concern " is 18

months. When I switched peds, she recommended a full eval through the

school district. Here it was determined that he did in fact have hypotonia,

decreased motor planning and speech delays. We completed 5 months of PT

with great success.

He now wears orthotics that helped him start to run. He is still in speech

and is now using 4-5 word sentences consistently, though the SLP did mention

apraxia in the beginning (thus my joining this site), she now feels he does

not have it. I have always given my kids, now 5 and 2.5, fish oils though I

now give my son the adult doses. I am not sure if his improvement is a

result, esp. like those on this group, but I will take it.

Since you are going to a dev. ped they should pick up on this issue. If

not, don't give up and call a pediatric PT in your area.

As far as dose of fish oil, check out the old posts from for

complete details.

Jess

On 13 Apr 2007 11:43:04 -0700, lauren baron <laurenrbaron@...> wrote:

>

> Hi ,

> Can you tell me who diagnosed your son with hypotonia? I believe my son

> has all the symptoms of mild hypotonia but this has never been diagnosed. My

> son is 17 months old and only started to babble a little this week (and I

> really hope it continues!) I found a new speech therapist who agrees he has

> low tone in the mouth and, although he's so young and she says she doesn't

> want to make a diagnosis, possible apraxia. I notice that he only makes

> sounds when he is walking around and the therapist says it's because he

> needs the trunk stability. This makes sense to me now. He didn't crawl until

> 11 1/2 months and started walking just a few weeks ago. I'm wondering if

> this can all be related. I'm going to take him to a developmental

> pediatrician in June. I read your fish oil summary and just bought the Omega

> 3-6-9. I'm going to strat them soon....should i do a full one each day? Any

> advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!!!

> in NJ

>

> bigcheech91 <bigcheech91@... <bigcheech91%40>> wrote:

> My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

> hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped his

> speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use what

> he was learning in speech more effectively.

>

> in NJ

>

> ---------------------------------

> Ahhh...imagining that irresistible " new car " smell?

> Check outnew cars at Autos.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for your reply! As a PT what made you aware of his hypotonia?

I am a medical professional as well and I would love to know what to look for.

I am not taking my son to the developmental ped for another 2 months (he will be

19 months then). Should I make a point of going sooner? Any other advice is

greatly appreciated!

Dion <Jessdion@...> wrote:

Hi

I have never posted here but have been reading for about a year now. I

needed to respond to this

since as a PT, I picked up on my son's hypotonia. I had a difficult time

convincing the ped. that

he had it and that it was interfering with his gross motor development

(extremely flexible- almost painful to watch, not bearing weight on feet,

and finally walking at 17 months- of course the cut off for " concern " is 18

months. When I switched peds, she recommended a full eval through the

school district. Here it was determined that he did in fact have hypotonia,

decreased motor planning and speech delays. We completed 5 months of PT

with great success.

He now wears orthotics that helped him start to run. He is still in speech

and is now using 4-5 word sentences consistently, though the SLP did mention

apraxia in the beginning (thus my joining this site), she now feels he does

not have it. I have always given my kids, now 5 and 2.5, fish oils though I

now give my son the adult doses. I am not sure if his improvement is a

result, esp. like those on this group, but I will take it.

Since you are going to a dev. ped they should pick up on this issue. If

not, don't give up and call a pediatric PT in your area.

As far as dose of fish oil, check out the old posts from for

complete details.

Jess

On 13 Apr 2007 11:43:04 -0700, lauren baron <laurenrbaron@...> wrote:

>

> Hi ,

> Can you tell me who diagnosed your son with hypotonia? I believe my son

> has all the symptoms of mild hypotonia but this has never been diagnosed. My

> son is 17 months old and only started to babble a little this week (and I

> really hope it continues!) I found a new speech therapist who agrees he has

> low tone in the mouth and, although he's so young and she says she doesn't

> want to make a diagnosis, possible apraxia. I notice that he only makes

> sounds when he is walking around and the therapist says it's because he

> needs the trunk stability. This makes sense to me now. He didn't crawl until

> 11 1/2 months and started walking just a few weeks ago. I'm wondering if

> this can all be related. I'm going to take him to a developmental

> pediatrician in June. I read your fish oil summary and just bought the Omega

> 3-6-9. I'm going to strat them soon....should i do a full one each day? Any

> advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!!!

> in NJ

>

> bigcheech91 <bigcheech91@... <bigcheech91%40>> wrote:

> My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

> hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped his

> speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use what

> he was learning in speech more effectively.

>

> in NJ

>

> ---------------------------------

> Ahhh...imagining that irresistible " new car " smell?

> Check outnew cars at Autos.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Thinking back, I first noticed something around 6-7 months, but as babies

tend to be " floppy " I gave it some time plus he was reaching milestones such

as reaching to midline, rolling and sitting unsupported. However, he never

progressed to crawling or putting weight through his legs like most babies

seem to enjoy. You know, you hold them up and they stand on your

thighs....Ben's knees just buckled. Now, as a PT I can feel for tone....you

do a movement at a joint ie. bend and straighten the knee...and there is no

resistance at all (this is hard to describe without showing!).

Try it on someone for comparison, just be sure they are completely relaxed

and you can feel some resistance.

Oh, another thing...if Ben fell forward, he would lay flat on his belly

between his legs. I always joke that he is my yoga baby. Lax ligaments go

pretty much hand in hand with hypotonia.

Is your son walking? standing? did your ped refer you to a dev ped?

It sounds like you are on track and starting the process early as we did.

My thought is that you have an appt with the dev ped which is great. Why

not try to get an eval with a pediatric PT (ask for referrals and see if

they have worked with kids who have hypotonia) as well. Also, contact your

school district since they will also do a complete eval (OT, PT,

psychologist, speech) for free (required by law). You can use the school

district's PT, or as we did, have insurance pay for a private PT.

Please let me know if I helped or if you have any more questions. I

remember crying a lot since the future feels so unknown. Once we were on a

track and issues were being addressed everything seems so much more

" controllable " and ok.

Jess

On 15 Apr 2007 17:11:33 -0700, lauren baron <laurenrbaron@...> wrote:

>

> Thank you so much for your reply! As a PT what made you aware of his

> hypotonia? I am a medical professional as well and I would love to know what

> to look for. I am not taking my son to the developmental ped for another 2

> months (he will be 19 months then). Should I make a point of going sooner?

> Any other advice is greatly appreciated!

>

>

> Dion <Jessdion@... <Jessdion%40gmail.com>> wrote:

> Hi

> I have never posted here but have been reading for about a year now. I

> needed to respond to this

> since as a PT, I picked up on my son's hypotonia. I had a difficult time

> convincing the ped. that

> he had it and that it was interfering with his gross motor development

> (extremely flexible- almost painful to watch, not bearing weight on feet,

> and finally walking at 17 months- of course the cut off for " concern " is

> 18

> months. When I switched peds, she recommended a full eval through the

> school district. Here it was determined that he did in fact have

> hypotonia,

> decreased motor planning and speech delays. We completed 5 months of PT

> with great success.

> He now wears orthotics that helped him start to run. He is still in speech

> and is now using 4-5 word sentences consistently, though the SLP did

> mention

> apraxia in the beginning (thus my joining this site), she now feels he

> does

> not have it. I have always given my kids, now 5 and 2.5, fish oils though

> I

> now give my son the adult doses. I am not sure if his improvement is a

> result, esp. like those on this group, but I will take it.

> Since you are going to a dev. ped they should pick up on this issue. If

> not, don't give up and call a pediatric PT in your area.

> As far as dose of fish oil, check out the old posts from

> for

> complete details.

> Jess

>

> On 13 Apr 2007 11:43:04 -0700, lauren baron

<laurenrbaron@...<laurenrbaron%40>>

> wrote:

> >

> > Hi ,

> > Can you tell me who diagnosed your son with hypotonia? I believe my son

> > has all the symptoms of mild hypotonia but this has never been

> diagnosed. My

> > son is 17 months old and only started to babble a little this week (and

> I

> > really hope it continues!) I found a new speech therapist who agrees he

> has

> > low tone in the mouth and, although he's so young and she says she

> doesn't

> > want to make a diagnosis, possible apraxia. I notice that he only makes

> > sounds when he is walking around and the therapist says it's because he

> > needs the trunk stability. This makes sense to me now. He didn't crawl

> until

> > 11 1/2 months and started walking just a few weeks ago. I'm wondering if

> > this can all be related. I'm going to take him to a developmental

> > pediatrician in June. I read your fish oil summary and just bought the

> Omega

> > 3-6-9. I'm going to strat them soon....should i do a full one each day?

> Any

> > advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!!!

> > in NJ

> >

> > bigcheech91 <bigcheech91@... <bigcheech91%40><bigcheech91%

> 40>> wrote:

> > My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

> > hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped his

> > speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use what

> > he was learning in speech more effectively.

> >

> > in NJ

> >

> > ---------------------------------

> > Ahhh...imagining that irresistible " new car " smell?

> > Check outnew cars at Autos.

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Thank you! You've been very helpful. I will ask my pediatrician for a

pediatric PT referral when I see her in a few weeks. My son sat at 7 months,

pulled himself up at 10 months, crawled at 11 and a half months and started

walking at close to 17 months. Maybe he just does things on the later end of

normal? I just wonder if he could have truncal hypotonia because I also feel he

has oral hypotonia. He started to babble (babababa) lfor the first time ever

last week and did it for just 5 days. I didn't want to get my hopes up and now

he's back to silent. It's so upsetting that he stopped. We have an appointment

with a dev. ped in June. I'm trying to find someone who I can see sooner.

Thank you for your input!

Dion <Jessdion@...> wrote:

Hi ,

Thinking back, I first noticed something around 6-7 months, but as babies

tend to be " floppy " I gave it some time plus he was reaching milestones such

as reaching to midline, rolling and sitting unsupported. However, he never

progressed to crawling or putting weight through his legs like most babies

seem to enjoy. You know, you hold them up and they stand on your

thighs....Ben's knees just buckled. Now, as a PT I can feel for tone....you

do a movement at a joint ie. bend and straighten the knee...and there is no

resistance at all (this is hard to describe without showing!).

Try it on someone for comparison, just be sure they are completely relaxed

and you can feel some resistance.

Oh, another thing...if Ben fell forward, he would lay flat on his belly

between his legs. I always joke that he is my yoga baby. Lax ligaments go

pretty much hand in hand with hypotonia.

Is your son walking? standing? did your ped refer you to a dev ped?

It sounds like you are on track and starting the process early as we did.

My thought is that you have an appt with the dev ped which is great. Why

not try to get an eval with a pediatric PT (ask for referrals and see if

they have worked with kids who have hypotonia) as well. Also, contact your

school district since they will also do a complete eval (OT, PT,

psychologist, speech) for free (required by law). You can use the school

district's PT, or as we did, have insurance pay for a private PT.

Please let me know if I helped or if you have any more questions. I

remember crying a lot since the future feels so unknown. Once we were on a

track and issues were being addressed everything seems so much more

" controllable " and ok.

Jess

On 15 Apr 2007 17:11:33 -0700, lauren baron <laurenrbaron@...> wrote:

>

> Thank you so much for your reply! As a PT what made you aware of his

> hypotonia? I am a medical professional as well and I would love to know what

> to look for. I am not taking my son to the developmental ped for another 2

> months (he will be 19 months then). Should I make a point of going sooner?

> Any other advice is greatly appreciated!

>

>

> Dion <Jessdion@... <Jessdion%40gmail.com>> wrote:

> Hi

> I have never posted here but have been reading for about a year now. I

> needed to respond to this

> since as a PT, I picked up on my son's hypotonia. I had a difficult time

> convincing the ped. that

> he had it and that it was interfering with his gross motor development

> (extremely flexible- almost painful to watch, not bearing weight on feet,

> and finally walking at 17 months- of course the cut off for " concern " is

> 18

> months. When I switched peds, she recommended a full eval through the

> school district. Here it was determined that he did in fact have

> hypotonia,

> decreased motor planning and speech delays. We completed 5 months of PT

> with great success.

> He now wears orthotics that helped him start to run. He is still in speech

> and is now using 4-5 word sentences consistently, though the SLP did

> mention

> apraxia in the beginning (thus my joining this site), she now feels he

> does

> not have it. I have always given my kids, now 5 and 2.5, fish oils though

> I

> now give my son the adult doses. I am not sure if his improvement is a

> result, esp. like those on this group, but I will take it.

> Since you are going to a dev. ped they should pick up on this issue. If

> not, don't give up and call a pediatric PT in your area.

> As far as dose of fish oil, check out the old posts from

> for

> complete details.

> Jess

>

> On 13 Apr 2007 11:43:04 -0700, lauren baron

<laurenrbaron@...<laurenrbaron%40>>

> wrote:

> >

> > Hi ,

> > Can you tell me who diagnosed your son with hypotonia? I believe my son

> > has all the symptoms of mild hypotonia but this has never been

> diagnosed. My

> > son is 17 months old and only started to babble a little this week (and

> I

> > really hope it continues!) I found a new speech therapist who agrees he

> has

> > low tone in the mouth and, although he's so young and she says she

> doesn't

> > want to make a diagnosis, possible apraxia. I notice that he only makes

> > sounds when he is walking around and the therapist says it's because he

> > needs the trunk stability. This makes sense to me now. He didn't crawl

> until

> > 11 1/2 months and started walking just a few weeks ago. I'm wondering if

> > this can all be related. I'm going to take him to a developmental

> > pediatrician in June. I read your fish oil summary and just bought the

> Omega

> > 3-6-9. I'm going to strat them soon....should i do a full one each day?

> Any

> > advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!!!

> > in NJ

> >

> > bigcheech91 <bigcheech91@... <bigcheech91%40><bigcheech91%

> 40>> wrote:

> > My son has mild hypotonia in the trunk, and I have found that

> > hippotherapy, OT, and PT helped with his posture, which helped his

> > speech production tremendously. Basically, it enabled him to use what

> > he was learning in speech more effectively.

> >

> > in NJ

> >

> > ---------------------------------

> > Ahhh...imagining that irresistible " new car " smell?

> > Check outnew cars at Autos.

> >

> >