Word Retrieval is a processing issue - may indicate more

[Guest guest]

I don't know what the average age of a child with apraxia is - as

represented on this list serve, but I can say that there should be

much more going on for these kids than simply speech therapy.

Apraxia is seldom a lone disorder, but rather an issue co-morbid with

other diagnosis. Issues which will reveal themselves full force

usually around third or fourth grade, which is too late to begin

remediation. So many kids' issues are not recognized until middle

school and the learning process has then been disrupted to a point

that catching up is extremely difficult, not to mention the self

esteem of the child.

It is a very prudent measure to request a full scale psychological

evaluation to be done on these (our) children who are already

manifesting issues at a young age. You can frequently get insurance

to pay for an intensive neuro-psychological evaluation as an aid in

further determining the full extent of the child's underlying

conditions. It may take a try or two to get the authorization to go

through and use of correct wording. You can certainly justify the

eval as a necessary tool to fully comprehend the hidden disabilies

your child may be dealing with.

Also, as has been mentioned on this list before screening for

bloodwork, at a neurologists office in my experience, which can

determine other issues you may not recognize.

I also would highly recommend that any child who has Apraxia be

referred to an OT for a full scale evaluation for sensory integration

disorder. I am sure most parents on this list have already gone that

route. There are things that can help to head off processing

issues. Listening therapies, the Fast Forword programs, mood

Bell, etc., First, though, you must get a detailed breakdown of your

child's specific needs and learning/processing/expression styles.

A neuropsych eval can then be presented to the school (your chil's

IEP team) to help develop individualized instruction and remediation

measures for your child. These accomodations can be carried through

college. Actually to use testing, classroom accomodations in college

the student has to have specific learning disabilies diagnosis and

have been using and needed accomodations in k - 12 school to receive

an appropriate educational experience.

This can make college possible for people who otherwise might have

been relegated to lesser ambitions.

And remember a LANGUAGE PROCESSING DISORDER can ALSO manifest itself

as problems with WRITTEN language.

sorry for the caps, but I don't know how to underline or italic on

list.

Brigett