Letter to Teachers

[Guest guest]

Dear Group Members,

This has been in my archive for awhile and felt it appropriate to

resurface again. I dont recall who wrote it, but I believe it was

off this listserve.

all the best,

Joanne

Dear teachers,

This year you'll be having my very special child in your class. When

you look at my child, you will see eyes that light up and are full

of life. He looks like the other children in your classroom. But my

child has lived with a lot of silence and a great struggle to

communicate. My child has Apraxia of Speech.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a speech disorder that is both

difficult to diagnose and challenging to treat. Children with

apraxia know what they want to say the words are in their heads but

often the child is not able to produce the words clearly. For

unknown reasons, children with apraxia have great difficulty

planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific

series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are

necessary for intelligible speech. As one expert has said, The

problem occurs when the brain tries to tell the muscles what to do --

somehow that message gets scrambled. It's like trying to watch

cable TV stations without the

right descrambler. There is nothing wrong with the TV station, and

nothing wrong with your set. It's just that your set can't read the

signal that the station is sending out. The child's language-

learning task is to figure out how to somehow unscramble the mixed

message his brain is sending to his muscles.

Children with apraxia, however, do understand language and speech.

These children are smart! However, others might mistake and misjudge

their unclear speech or quietness as a lack of intelligence. Many

children with apraxia experience a great sense of failure and

frustration in their attempts to communicate. Some children grow

even quieter; others may act out their frustration. Children with

apraxia need the support of teachers and parents.

What you can do

A speech-language pathologist (SLP) needs to help my child learn to

speak with more ease and clarity. It will help my child if you

communicate frequently with the SLP and determine if there are

things that you can do in the classroom to help my child communicate

and practice speech.

Try to create a tension-free and interesting " communication

environment " for my child. Encourage but do not insist he try to

speak. Praise his attempts at speech, if only for effort. Please

know that sometimes my child might not respond or might respond " I

don't know " as a way to help himself get out of a difficult

communication challenge.

Be patient. Sometimes the fast pace of others can leave my child out

of the experience although he may be able to successfully

communicate if others just offer a bit more time and patience.

Watch for and even create opportunities to help my child make

friends. It can be difficult for a child with apraxia to " break

into " social communication and situations. A supportive and

nurturing teacher can surely help. No child should be lonely and all

children need a friend.

Intervene immediately in any situations that involve bullying or

teasing. Reassure my child that you are his supporter and advocate

and that no teasing is acceptable.

Be aware that sometimes children with apraxia are also physically

uncoordinated, making competitive sports or even drawing, cutting,

and other motor tasks difficult. If you notice something, please do

bring it to my attention so we can work together to help my child.

Keep alert for any other signs of learning difficulty. Sometimes

children with apraxia have difficulty learning to read, write, spell

or do math.

Be open to alternative ways my child may need to communicate. Often

pictures can help my child as a bridge to clear speech, helping us

gain insight into his thoughts.

Include me as your partner. I want very much to help my child and to

do everything possible to help him or her. I hope we will always

reach out to communicate and share information with each other for

the benefit of my child.

With appreciation,