Re: Apraxia evaluation by school?

[Guest guest]

If the school has an SLP, they should be able to diagnosed it but the

question is would they like to give a label of Apraxia (evenif obviously the

child has signs and symptoms of it). Remember, the more needs the child

has, the more services the school should provide.

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of dwvic

Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010 4:52 AM

Subject: [ ] Apraxia evaluation by school?

Hello All,

We need some help here. We asked school to do an evaluation for my son's

verbal apraxia. They told us they can only do some kind of educational

evaluation for language impair, and they can not evaluate apraxia? Is this

true?

Thanks for all your info. Working with school seems to be the hardest part

in my life now:-).

Dawen

[Guest guest]

Thank you for asking this -- I've wondered this myself! My son was given a

" suspected CAS " diagnosis by his former (private) SLP at age 2.9, and a letter

stating as such was sent along to the school district prior to his assessment

for services. Well once the school assessed him, the SLP (and team) refuse to

acknowledge the CAS as a diagnosis for him because they say " a diagnosis at that

age is too young, and controversial " . So therefore, they won't offer individual

therapy and argue that we don't know that his problems aren't just a simple

delay that a group preschool class won't address. {{sigh}}

This whole process is maddening!

I, too, wonder if I ask the district to do an eval for apraxia if they will do

one?? We have a meeting set for June 16 to discuss his progress to date and I

plan to bring it up then...

>

> If the school has an SLP, they should be able to diagnosed it but the

> question is would they like to give a label of Apraxia (evenif obviously the

> child has signs and symptoms of it). Remember, the more needs the child

> has, the more services the school should provide.

>

>

>

> From:

> [mailto: ] On Behalf Of dwvic

> Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010 4:52 AM

>

> Subject: [ ] Apraxia evaluation by school?

>

>

>

>

>

> Hello All,

>

> We need some help here. We asked school to do an evaluation for my son's

> verbal apraxia. They told us they can only do some kind of educational

> evaluation for language impair, and they can not evaluate apraxia? Is this

> true?

>

> Thanks for all your info. Working with school seems to be the hardest part

> in my life now:-).

>

> Dawen

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

IMHO, while a public school therapy department may be able to suspect apraxia

and other issues, they are not doctors and therefore can not 'diagnose' apraxia.

You really need to find a pediatric neurologist to get a diagnosis. Your child

pediatrician should be able to start this process.

Good luck.

Sandy

[Guest guest]

See I was just the opposite of you guys. I NEVER cared or wanted any of the

school SLPs to diagnose my son Tanner because they don't have to provide what is

best for your child -by law they only have to provide what is appropriate. On

the other hand my son's private SLP and I wanted what was best. The trick is to

take the private evaluation and use that to advocate for the " appropriate "

placement and therapy. And another thing I would never agree to is the name

childhood apraxia of speech or CAS put on my son's school records. Sure they

are little and you don't think about that name as part of their school career

-but speaking as a parent of a now 13 soon to be 14 year old I can tell you that

apraxia is not a childhood disorder...and once I get more money raised either

via http://www.pursuitofresearch.org or another way I am working on for CHERAB

there are a group of us, parents and professionals that will together work HARD

to eliminate that name just as we had to work hard to replace " developmental

apraxia of speech " or DAS with....uh...let's see...APRAXIA!!! I mean what the

heck?! We know it's not just of speech in 99.9 percent of cases and we also

know based on the testimonial page

http://pursuitofresearch.org/testimonials.html that there appears to almost be

more apraxic teens than children! Well at least more in that age group willing

to try a whole food approach? This poor population now has no home because who

wants to associate their already considered special needs teenager with a

diagnosis name that in ANY way implies that they are developmentally delayed to

childhood/that adds insult to injury once they are past the age

of...kindergarten?? Or close to that. Besides who really knows that our

children don't have the adult onset type of apraxia? I am one that for sure

doesn't believe my son was born apraxic- I even go over that in The Late Talker

book. Whether it was from the fever, his third Hep shot- there was a clear

regression at 11 months old that can be viewed in photos and videos -only minor

changes in his speech ...I mean who other than me or Glenn would even note that

he lost the ability to say " da " along with all his other babble sounds.

All you parents know how " ma " and " da " mean so much to us- the parents! All I

know is that Tanner went from normal babble to just saying " ma " and " mmmm "

Anyway I digress but hope my point wasn't lost that good for your child the

school won't accept the CAS diagnosis -I agree with them on that point. If a

school clearly won't accept any diagnosis name however that means you need to

ask for them to put in writing why they will not...did you read The Late Talker

book as there is an entire chapter on advocacy there.

Also your best source of advocacy will be the therapy/intervention matrix which

was developed specifically for school based SLPs not on diagnosis but on

severity on particular areas to show how much therapy a child should receive.

You can find that as well in The Late Talker book or here online

Speech Therapy Matrix

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2007/speech-therapy-matrix

And as it says at the bottom CHERAB and The Late Talker book were both granted

permission to reprint this:

" By the age of 7 years, the student's phonetic inventory is completed and

stabilized. (Hodson, 1991). Adverse impact on the student's educational

performance must be documented. If the collaborative consultation model of

intervention is indicated at the meeting, the student receives one additional

service delivery unit. "

Source: Illinois State Board of Education (1993). Speech-language impairment: A

technical assistance manual Springfield: Author: Reprinted by permission.

(permission granted 11/28/2001)

There are strong reasons to advocate for the use of the name apraxia on the IEP.

Apraxia today is multifaceted- it's appropriate for most to not only receive ST

but OT as well.

And reasons for one on one for apraxia can be found here

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2006/one-on-one-therapy/

But again if any of you have not read The Late Talker I highly suggest it as the

advocacy chapter was helped along by in addition to me as a parent and Dr.

Marilyn Agin as a neurodevelopmental pediatrician/former SLP/and Medical

Director for EI for NYC- special ed law help from Ted and Staci

http://special-ed-law.com our VP of CHERAB Cheryl Bennet who is an award

winning school based ST

and award winning in her advocacy for children that can not yet speak for

themselves.

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/about/advisoryboard/cheryl-bennett-johnson-m-a-s\

lseducational-consultant

And when it comes down to it- that's all that matters is that we as parents are

advocating for what is most appropriate for our child's future school career

based on diagnosis and severity....a child that can't yet speak for themselves.

And again as a parent of a teenager -I can tell you that once they are able to

talk they have SO much to say...and they are able to advocate for themselves if

we do our jobs early on. And in Tanner's case I am thankful for his therapists,

doctors, fish oils and " NV " !!! Being an advocate went against my grain prior to

being a parent -but each of us has that ability to channel our inner advocate.

And to be that advocate just keep thinking that while the school only needs to

provide by law what is " appropriate " ...once you know what is accepted as

appropriate placement and therapy for your child's diagnosis and severity level-

advocate for that.

I just want to add that I am also thankful that the name childhood apraxia of

speech didn't exist when Tanner was first diagnosed with (as the SLP wrote down

both) " apraxia " or " dyspraxia " because I too may not have second guessed the

cruelty of that name for my child as he continued to grow. When you read the

book The Late Talker book you will see we call apraxia apraxia...but I just want

to know who wants to call it childhood apraxia of speech and why ASHA does this

to our children because I have a few bones to pick! And again I refuse to use

it ever for any child...unless they are just a late talker for developmental

reasons and will just start talking but a bit later than other young children.

=====

[Guest guest]

In addition to 's points, the school system can only use an " educational

handicapping condition " , of which there are 14 federal educational handicapping

conditions. Unfortunately, apraxia is not one of these conditions.

" Speech-language delay " is one of these. FYI.

Warmest wishes,

Barbara , M.S., CCC-SLP

www.helpmespeak.com

410-442-9791

Ask me about NutriiVeda!

On May 23, 2010, at 1:49 PM, " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk@...> wrote:

> See I was just the opposite of you guys. I NEVER cared or wanted any of the

school SLPs to diagnose my son Tanner because they don't have to provide what is

best for your child -by law they only have to provide what is appropriate. On

the other hand my son's private SLP and I wanted what was best. The trick is to

take the private evaluation and use that to advocate for the " appropriate "

placement and therapy. And another thing I would never agree to is the name

childhood apraxia of speech or CAS put on my son's school records. Sure they are

little and you don't think about that name as part of their school career -but

speaking as a parent of a now 13 soon to be 14 year old I can tell you that

apraxia is not a childhood disorder...and once I get more money raised either

via http://www.pursuitofresearch.org or another way I am working on for CHERAB

there are a group of us, parents and professionals that will together work HARD

to eliminate that name just as we had to work hard to replace " developmental

apraxia of speech " or DAS with....uh...let's see...APRAXIA!!! I mean what the

heck?! We know it's not just of speech in 99.9 percent of cases and we also know

based on the testimonial page http://pursuitofresearch.org/testimonials.html

that there appears to almost be more apraxic teens than children! Well at least

more in that age group willing to try a whole food approach? This poor

population now has no home because who wants to associate their already

considered special needs teenager with a diagnosis name that in ANY way implies

that they are developmentally delayed to childhood/that adds insult to injury

once they are past the age of...kindergarten?? Or close to that. Besides who

really knows that our children don't have the adult onset type of apraxia? I am

one that for sure doesn't believe my son was born apraxic- I even go over that

in The Late Talker book. Whether it was from the fever, his third Hep shot-

there was a clear regression at 11 months old that can be viewed in photos and

videos -only minor changes in his speech ...I mean who other than me or Glenn

would even note that he lost the ability to say " da " along with all his other

babble sounds.

>

> All you parents know how " ma " and " da " mean so much to us- the parents! All I

know is that Tanner went from normal babble to just saying " ma " and " mmmm "

>

> Anyway I digress but hope my point wasn't lost that good for your child the

school won't accept the CAS diagnosis -I agree with them on that point. If a

school clearly won't accept any diagnosis name however that means you need to

ask for them to put in writing why they will not...did you read The Late Talker

book as there is an entire chapter on advocacy there.

>

> Also your best source of advocacy will be the therapy/intervention matrix

which was developed specifically for school based SLPs not on diagnosis but on

severity on particular areas to show how much therapy a child should receive.

You can find that as well in The Late Talker book or here online

>

> Speech Therapy Matrix

> http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2007/speech-therapy-matrix

>

> And as it says at the bottom CHERAB and The Late Talker book were both granted

permission to reprint this:

> " By the age of 7 years, the student's phonetic inventory is completed and

stabilized. (Hodson, 1991). Adverse impact on the student's educational

performance must be documented. If the collaborative consultation model of

intervention is indicated at the meeting, the student receives one additional

service delivery unit. "

>

> Source: Illinois State Board of Education (1993). Speech-language impairment:

A technical assistance manual Springfield: Author: Reprinted by permission.

(permission granted 11/28/2001)

>

> There are strong reasons to advocate for the use of the name apraxia on the

IEP. Apraxia today is multifaceted- it's appropriate for most to not only

receive ST but OT as well.

>

> And reasons for one on one for apraxia can be found here

> http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2006/one-on-one-therapy/

>

> But again if any of you have not read The Late Talker I highly suggest it as

the advocacy chapter was helped along by in addition to me as a parent and Dr.

Marilyn Agin as a neurodevelopmental pediatrician/former SLP/and Medical

Director for EI for NYC- special ed law help from Ted and Staci

http://special-ed-law.com our VP of CHERAB Cheryl Bennet who is an award

winning school based ST

> and award winning in her advocacy for children that can not yet speak for

themselves.

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/about/advisoryboard/cheryl-bennett-johnson-m-a-s\

lseducational-consultant

>

> And when it comes down to it- that's all that matters is that we as parents

are advocating for what is most appropriate for our child's future school career

based on diagnosis and severity....a child that can't yet speak for themselves.

>

> And again as a parent of a teenager -I can tell you that once they are able to

talk they have SO much to say...and they are able to advocate for themselves if

we do our jobs early on. And in Tanner's case I am thankful for his therapists,

doctors, fish oils and " NV " !!! Being an advocate went against my grain prior to

being a parent -but each of us has that ability to channel our inner advocate.

And to be that advocate just keep thinking that while the school only needs to

provide by law what is " appropriate " ...once you know what is accepted as

appropriate placement and therapy for your child's diagnosis and severity level-

advocate for that.

>

> I just want to add that I am also thankful that the name childhood apraxia of

speech didn't exist when Tanner was first diagnosed with (as the SLP wrote down

both) " apraxia " or " dyspraxia " because I too may not have second guessed the

cruelty of that name for my child as he continued to grow. When you read the

book The Late Talker book you will see we call apraxia apraxia...but I just want

to know who wants to call it childhood apraxia of speech and why ASHA does this

to our children because I have a few bones to pick! And again I refuse to use

it ever for any child...unless they are just a late talker for developmental

reasons and will just start talking but a bit later than other young children.

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

See, this is where I'm just so frustrated with our school district. It doesn't

matter to them who might give our son a diagnosis of apraxia (and I tried to

tell them in our IEP that 3 different SLPs at different times had told me they

thought he was apraxic), they don't have evidence themselves that he has

apraxia, so therefore, they don't feel the need to treat him as such (i.e., with

frequent, individual speech sessions -- heck, for that matter, with ANY

individual speech!). So therefore, they put him in a group class, and that's

that.

Our private SLP went to the apraxia-kids website and printed off some articles

on the appropriate level of therapy for kids with apraxia, and the school's SLP

completely dismissed it because they said it's a moot point -- they're not

convinced he has apraxia (because they think 3 is too young to diagnose it - by

anyone, be it an SLP, a neuro, a developmental ped, whoever). So showing them

the info in the Late Talker book (which I have read and tried to show them)

didn't mean a hill of beans to them. It's apples and oranges to them. Not to

mention, that they just adamantly believe that group classes is the way to go to

treat speech problems in preschoolers. They don't believe that individual

therapy is appropriate for a 3-4 year old (never mind the fact that my son has

been doing great in individual therapy for several months before we started with

the school system!). And just to be clear -- I *do* believe that a group

setting is a wonderful way for him to gain language skills and practice those

skills, but I also believe that he needs individual as well to work specifically

on his speech motor planning.

That's why I was wondering about having them diagnose him -- clearly they won't

take any outside professional's opinion that he has apraxia, so what will it

take to get them to admit that yes, we think that's what his problem is and now

we'll treat him appropriately. It's essentially become a stand-off between them

and us -- we're saying he's apraxic and his problems stem from motor-planning

issues, and they're saying no, he's too young to be able to know that, it could

just be a generic delay or phonological problem, so we're going to just put him

in a " language rich " preschool class, along with a phonology class and we

PROMISE you he'll start talking all over the place before you know it. Well,

let's just say I'm not holding my breath.

This whole advocacy thing is just so frustrating!

, you mention the part in the Late Talker book about advocacy -- I thought I

had read it pretty carefully, but can you help me out with what you mention

below about writing a follow-up letter? If you were in my shoes, what would you

include in that letter? If you need me to provide more info in his case

offline, I can. We've got a follow-up IEP meeting on June 16th -- that was

their concession to us over not giving him any individual speech sessions. They

said they'd re-assess his progress on his goals at that time to show us that

their program is working. And if it's not, then we can talk about changing his

program. I just want to make sure in my head that I've got all my thoughts

composed prior to going in to that meeting.

Thanks!

>

> See I was just the opposite of you guys. I NEVER cared or wanted any of the

school SLPs to diagnose my son Tanner because they don't have to provide what is

best for your child -by law they only have to provide what is appropriate. On

the other hand my son's private SLP and I wanted what was best. The trick is to

take the private evaluation and use that to advocate for the " appropriate "

placement and therapy. And another thing I would never agree to is the name

childhood apraxia of speech or CAS put on my son's school records. Sure they

are little and you don't think about that name as part of their school career

-but speaking as a parent of a now 13 soon to be 14 year old I can tell you that

apraxia is not a childhood disorder...and once I get more money raised either

via http://www.pursuitofresearch.org or another way I am working on for CHERAB

there are a group of us, parents and professionals that will together work HARD

to eliminate that name just as we had to work hard to replace " developmental

apraxia of speech " or DAS with....uh...let's see...APRAXIA!!! I mean what the

heck?! We know it's not just of speech in 99.9 percent of cases and we also

know based on the testimonial page

http://pursuitofresearch.org/testimonials.html that there appears to almost be

more apraxic teens than children! Well at least more in that age group willing

to try a whole food approach? This poor population now has no home because who

wants to associate their already considered special needs teenager with a

diagnosis name that in ANY way implies that they are developmentally delayed to

childhood/that adds insult to injury once they are past the age

of...kindergarten?? Or close to that. Besides who really knows that our

children don't have the adult onset type of apraxia? I am one that for sure

doesn't believe my son was born apraxic- I even go over that in The Late Talker

book. Whether it was from the fever, his third Hep shot- there was a clear

regression at 11 months old that can be viewed in photos and videos -only minor

changes in his speech ...I mean who other than me or Glenn would even note that

he lost the ability to say " da " along with all his other babble sounds.

>

> All you parents know how " ma " and " da " mean so much to us- the parents! All I

know is that Tanner went from normal babble to just saying " ma " and " mmmm "

>

> Anyway I digress but hope my point wasn't lost that good for your child the

school won't accept the CAS diagnosis -I agree with them on that point. If a

school clearly won't accept any diagnosis name however that means you need to

ask for them to put in writing why they will not...did you read The Late Talker

book as there is an entire chapter on advocacy there.

>

> Also your best source of advocacy will be the therapy/intervention matrix

which was developed specifically for school based SLPs not on diagnosis but on

severity on particular areas to show how much therapy a child should receive.

You can find that as well in The Late Talker book or here online

>

> Speech Therapy Matrix

> http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2007/speech-therapy-matrix

>

> And as it says at the bottom CHERAB and The Late Talker book were both granted

permission to reprint this:

> " By the age of 7 years, the student's phonetic inventory is completed and

stabilized. (Hodson, 1991). Adverse impact on the student's educational

performance must be documented. If the collaborative consultation model of

intervention is indicated at the meeting, the student receives one additional

service delivery unit. "

>

> Source: Illinois State Board of Education (1993). Speech-language impairment:

A technical assistance manual Springfield: Author: Reprinted by permission.

(permission granted 11/28/2001)

>

> There are strong reasons to advocate for the use of the name apraxia on the

IEP. Apraxia today is multifaceted- it's appropriate for most to not only

receive ST but OT as well.

>

> And reasons for one on one for apraxia can be found here

> http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2006/one-on-one-therapy/

>

> But again if any of you have not read The Late Talker I highly suggest it as

the advocacy chapter was helped along by in addition to me as a parent and Dr.

Marilyn Agin as a neurodevelopmental pediatrician/former SLP/and Medical

Director for EI for NYC- special ed law help from Ted and Staci

http://special-ed-law.com our VP of CHERAB Cheryl Bennet who is an award

winning school based ST

> and award winning in her advocacy for children that can not yet speak for

themselves.

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/about/advisoryboard/cheryl-bennett-johnson-m-a-s\

lseducational-consultant

>

> And when it comes down to it- that's all that matters is that we as parents

are advocating for what is most appropriate for our child's future school career

based on diagnosis and severity....a child that can't yet speak for themselves.

>

> And again as a parent of a teenager -I can tell you that once they are able to

talk they have SO much to say...and they are able to advocate for themselves if

we do our jobs early on. And in Tanner's case I am thankful for his therapists,

doctors, fish oils and " NV " !!! Being an advocate went against my grain prior to

being a parent -but each of us has that ability to channel our inner advocate.

And to be that advocate just keep thinking that while the school only needs to

provide by law what is " appropriate " ...once you know what is accepted as

appropriate placement and therapy for your child's diagnosis and severity level-

advocate for that.

>

> I just want to add that I am also thankful that the name childhood apraxia of

speech didn't exist when Tanner was first diagnosed with (as the SLP wrote down

both) " apraxia " or " dyspraxia " because I too may not have second guessed the

cruelty of that name for my child as he continued to grow. When you read the

book The Late Talker book you will see we call apraxia apraxia...but I just want

to know who wants to call it childhood apraxia of speech and why ASHA does this

to our children because I have a few bones to pick! And again I refuse to use

it ever for any child...unless they are just a late talker for developmental

reasons and will just start talking but a bit later than other young children.

>

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

Actually, although a ped Neuro or developmental ped can dx apraxia, a

Speech-Language Pathologist is the expert in dx apraxia. The docs do not use

sp-lang tests to dx apraxia; SLPs do.

Warmest wishes,

Barbara , M.S., CCC-SLP

www.helpmespeak.com

410-442-9791

Ask me about NutriiVeda!

On May 23, 2010, at 1:15 PM, " aulranchquilts " <aulranchquilts@...> wrote:

> IMHO, while a public school therapy department may be able to suspect apraxia

and other issues, they are not doctors and therefore can not 'diagnose' apraxia.

You really need to find a pediatric neurologist to get a diagnosis. Your child

pediatrician should be able to start this process.

>

> Good luck.

>

> Sandy

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks all. Your info are really help.

I know for the eligibility, there is only a Speech-language delay or language

impair.

For an OT evaluation, they have to say finder motor delay or motor planing

problem and so on. So, for a speech-language delay, can we ask them to give us

the reason the reason (which is apraxia)? So we will have room to ask for the

services which target the real problem. We really don't expect anything best

from them at all (it is too bad:-)). We basically just ask more proper services.

To my understanding, for apraxia kids, they need individual Speech first.

We have our private SLP's apraxia evaluation for them. We will see what is going

to happen.

Thanks

Dawen

>

> > See I was just the opposite of you guys. I NEVER cared or wanted any of the

school SLPs to diagnose my son Tanner because they don't have to provide what is

best for your child -by law they only have to provide what is appropriate. On

the other hand my son's private SLP and I wanted what was best. The trick is to

take the private evaluation and use that to advocate for the " appropriate "

placement and therapy. And another thing I would never agree to is the name

childhood apraxia of speech or CAS put on my son's school records. Sure they are

little and you don't think about that name as part of their school career -but

speaking as a parent of a now 13 soon to be 14 year old I can tell you that

apraxia is not a childhood disorder...and once I get more money raised either

via http://www.pursuitofresearch.org or another way I am working on for CHERAB

there are a group of us, parents and professionals that will together work HARD

to eliminate that name just as we had to work hard to replace " developmental

apraxia of speech " or DAS with....uh...let's see...APRAXIA!!! I mean what the

heck?! We know it's not just of speech in 99.9 percent of cases and we also know

based on the testimonial page http://pursuitofresearch.org/testimonials.html

that there appears to almost be more apraxic teens than children! Well at least

more in that age group willing to try a whole food approach? This poor

population now has no home because who wants to associate their already

considered special needs teenager with a diagnosis name that in ANY way implies

that they are developmentally delayed to childhood/that adds insult to injury

once they are past the age of...kindergarten?? Or close to that. Besides who

really knows that our children don't have the adult onset type of apraxia? I am

one that for sure doesn't believe my son was born apraxic- I even go over that

in The Late Talker book. Whether it was from the fever, his third Hep shot-

there was a clear regression at 11 months old that can be viewed in photos and

videos -only minor changes in his speech ...I mean who other than me or Glenn

would even note that he lost the ability to say " da " along with all his other

babble sounds.

> >

> > All you parents know how " ma " and " da " mean so much to us- the parents! All

I know is that Tanner went from normal babble to just saying " ma " and " mmmm "

> >

> > Anyway I digress but hope my point wasn't lost that good for your child the

school won't accept the CAS diagnosis -I agree with them on that point. If a

school clearly won't accept any diagnosis name however that means you need to

ask for them to put in writing why they will not...did you read The Late Talker

book as there is an entire chapter on advocacy there.

> >

> > Also your best source of advocacy will be the therapy/intervention matrix

which was developed specifically for school based SLPs not on diagnosis but on

severity on particular areas to show how much therapy a child should receive.

You can find that as well in The Late Talker book or here online

> >

> > Speech Therapy Matrix

> > http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2007/speech-therapy-matrix

> >

> > And as it says at the bottom CHERAB and The Late Talker book were both

granted permission to reprint this:

> > " By the age of 7 years, the student's phonetic inventory is completed and

stabilized. (Hodson, 1991). Adverse impact on the student's educational

performance must be documented. If the collaborative consultation model of

intervention is indicated at the meeting, the student receives one additional

service delivery unit. "

> >

> > Source: Illinois State Board of Education (1993). Speech-language

impairment: A technical assistance manual Springfield: Author: Reprinted by

permission. (permission granted 11/28/2001)

> >

> > There are strong reasons to advocate for the use of the name apraxia on the

IEP. Apraxia today is multifaceted- it's appropriate for most to not only

receive ST but OT as well.

> >

> > And reasons for one on one for apraxia can be found here

> > http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2006/one-on-one-therapy/

> >

> > But again if any of you have not read The Late Talker I highly suggest it as

the advocacy chapter was helped along by in addition to me as a parent and Dr.

Marilyn Agin as a neurodevelopmental pediatrician/former SLP/and Medical

Director for EI for NYC- special ed law help from Ted and Staci

http://special-ed-law.com our VP of CHERAB Cheryl Bennet who is an award

winning school based ST

> > and award winning in her advocacy for children that can not yet speak for

themselves.

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/about/advisoryboard/cheryl-bennett-johnson-m-a-s\

lseducational-consultant

> >

> > And when it comes down to it- that's all that matters is that we as parents

are advocating for what is most appropriate for our child's future school career

based on diagnosis and severity....a child that can't yet speak for themselves.

> >

> > And again as a parent of a teenager -I can tell you that once they are able

to talk they have SO much to say...and they are able to advocate for themselves

if we do our jobs early on. And in Tanner's case I am thankful for his

therapists, doctors, fish oils and " NV " !!! Being an advocate went against my

grain prior to being a parent -but each of us has that ability to channel our

inner advocate. And to be that advocate just keep thinking that while the school

only needs to provide by law what is " appropriate " ...once you know what is

accepted as appropriate placement and therapy for your child's diagnosis and

severity level- advocate for that.

> >

> > I just want to add that I am also thankful that the name childhood apraxia

of speech didn't exist when Tanner was first diagnosed with (as the SLP wrote

down both) " apraxia " or " dyspraxia " because I too may not have second guessed

the cruelty of that name for my child as he continued to grow. When you read the

book The Late Talker book you will see we call apraxia apraxia...but I just want

to know who wants to call it childhood apraxia of speech and why ASHA does this

to our children because I have a few bones to pick! And again I refuse to use

it ever for any child...unless they are just a late talker for developmental

reasons and will just start talking but a bit later than other young children.

> >

> > =====

> >

[Guest guest]

Yes, but only a diagnosis from a medical doctor would help you get anywhere with

a school district. An SLP cannot diagnose a Neurological condition--at least not

where I live. With a dx from a real doctor--the school might provide more

services that are suggested for an Apraxia dx.

>

> > IMHO, while a public school therapy department may be able to suspect

apraxia and other issues, they are not doctors and therefore can not 'diagnose'

apraxia. You really need to find a pediatric neurologist to get a diagnosis.

Your child pediatrician should be able to start this process.

> >

> > Good luck.

> >

> > Sandy

> >

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

so true! Unfortunately I had to learn the hard way.

Robin

Sent from my iPad

On May 23, 2010, at 1:49 PM, " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk@...> wrote:

> See I was just the opposite of you guys. I NEVER cared or wanted any of the

school SLPs to diagnose my son Tanner because they don't have to provide what is

best for your child -by law they only have to provide what is appropriate. On

the other hand my son's private SLP and I wanted what was best. The trick is to

take the private evaluation and use that to advocate for the " appropriate "

placement and therapy. And another thing I would never agree to is the name

childhood apraxia of speech or CAS put on my son's school records. Sure they are

little and you don't think about that name as part of their school career -but

speaking as a parent of a now 13 soon to be 14 year old I can tell you that

apraxia is not a childhood disorder...and once I get more money raised either

via http://www.pursuitofresearch.org or another way I am working on for CHERAB

there are a group of us, parents and professionals that will together work HARD

to eliminate that name just as we had to work hard to replace " developmental

apraxia of speech " or DAS with....uh...let's see...APRAXIA!!! I mean what the

heck?! We know it's not just of speech in 99.9 percent of cases and we also know

based on the testimonial page http://pursuitofresearch.org/testimonials.html

that there appears to almost be more apraxic teens than children! Well at least

more in that age group willing to try a whole food approach? This poor

population now has no home because who wants to associate their already

considered special needs teenager with a diagnosis name that in ANY way implies

that they are developmentally delayed to childhood/that adds insult to injury

once they are past the age of...kindergarten?? Or close to that. Besides who

really knows that our children don't have the adult onset type of apraxia? I am

one that for sure doesn't believe my son was born apraxic- I even go over that

in The Late Talker book. Whether it was from the fever, his third Hep shot-

there was a clear regression at 11 months old that can be viewed in photos and

videos -only minor changes in his speech ...I mean who other than me or Glenn

would even note that he lost the ability to say " da " along with all his other

babble sounds.

>

> All you parents know how " ma " and " da " mean so much to us- the parents! All I

know is that Tanner went from normal babble to just saying " ma " and " mmmm "

>

> Anyway I digress but hope my point wasn't lost that good for your child the

school won't accept the CAS diagnosis -I agree with them on that point. If a

school clearly won't accept any diagnosis name however that means you need to

ask for them to put in writing why they will not...did you read The Late Talker

book as there is an entire chapter on advocacy there.

>

> Also your best source of advocacy will be the therapy/intervention matrix

which was developed specifically for school based SLPs not on diagnosis but on

severity on particular areas to show how much therapy a child should receive.

You can find that as well in The Late Talker book or here online

>

> Speech Therapy Matrix

> http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2007/speech-therapy-matrix

>

> And as it says at the bottom CHERAB and The Late Talker book were both granted

permission to reprint this:

> " By the age of 7 years, the student's phonetic inventory is completed and

stabilized. (Hodson, 1991). Adverse impact on the student's educational

performance must be documented. If the collaborative consultation model of

intervention is indicated at the meeting, the student receives one additional

service delivery unit. "

>

> Source: Illinois State Board of Education (1993). Speech-language impairment:

A technical assistance manual Springfield: Author: Reprinted by permission.

(permission granted 11/28/2001)

>

> There are strong reasons to advocate for the use of the name apraxia on the

IEP. Apraxia today is multifaceted- it's appropriate for most to not only

receive ST but OT as well.

>

> And reasons for one on one for apraxia can be found here

> http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2006/one-on-one-therapy/

>

> But again if any of you have not read The Late Talker I highly suggest it as

the advocacy chapter was helped along by in addition to me as a parent and Dr.

Marilyn Agin as a neurodevelopmental pediatrician/former SLP/and Medical

Director for EI for NYC- special ed law help from Ted and Staci

http://special-ed-law.com our VP of CHERAB Cheryl Bennet who is an award

winning school based ST

> and award winning in her advocacy for children that can not yet speak for

themselves.

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/about/advisoryboard/cheryl-bennett-johnson-m-a-s\

lseducational-consultant

>

> And when it comes down to it- that's all that matters is that we as parents

are advocating for what is most appropriate for our child's future school career

based on diagnosis and severity....a child that can't yet speak for themselves.

>

> And again as a parent of a teenager -I can tell you that once they are able to

talk they have SO much to say...and they are able to advocate for themselves if

we do our jobs early on. And in Tanner's case I am thankful for his therapists,

doctors, fish oils and " NV " !!! Being an advocate went against my grain prior to

being a parent -but each of us has that ability to channel our inner advocate.

And to be that advocate just keep thinking that while the school only needs to

provide by law what is " appropriate " ...once you know what is accepted as

appropriate placement and therapy for your child's diagnosis and severity level-

advocate for that.

>

> I just want to add that I am also thankful that the name childhood apraxia of

speech didn't exist when Tanner was first diagnosed with (as the SLP wrote down

both) " apraxia " or " dyspraxia " because I too may not have second guessed the

cruelty of that name for my child as he continued to grow. When you read the

book The Late Talker book you will see we call apraxia apraxia...but I just want

to know who wants to call it childhood apraxia of speech and why ASHA does this

to our children because I have a few bones to pick! And again I refuse to use

it ever for any child...unless they are just a late talker for developmental

reasons and will just start talking but a bit later than other young children.

>

> =====

>