Re: Special pre-school/childcare for toddler w/ apraxia or not?

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

It's been a while since I've posted to the board but I'd thought I'd give

you my 2 cents. Our daughter is almost 4 1/2 and was also diagnosed with

apraxia. She was in a class of younger children because she is small and

not talking. We have since moved her to a class of her peers and then to a

program that is set up by the county called " More at 4 " . This is a pre-k

program for kids who they consider " at risk " . Tiana has speech therapy

twice a week for 1/2 hour each session at the school and then a 45 minute

session with a private therapist who has experience with apraxia and is

using some prompt therapy. Since she started with the class of children her

age we have seen her speech improve. Even her private therapist said she is

amazed at some of the new sounds she is producing!! Just the other day she

said " momma, we es ends " - Momma, we best friends " Wow - a sentence and she

used the " w " sound!! Now, if someone else heard her they would probably not

understand her but hey, that's okay! Its a start and a big step for her!

As far as him being frustrated because the kids don't understand him, yeah,

that's hard. We teach Tiana S.E.E (signing exact english) and it helps her

tremendously. No, the kids that she plays with don't know sign language but

her teacher does and she knows to go to her teacher if she can't get her

point across. You'd be surprised how kids at this age communicate anyways.

I've watched her and even though her play mates can't understand her that

well she still leads them in their play groups. She does this by motioning

or showing the other child, taking them by the hand, etc. I was pretty

impressed!

The biting might just be a stage he is going through. A bunch of kids bite

- its a normal thing. My youngest son went through this as well around that

age and he was talking fine!

So, with all that said, I would move him to a group of kids his age. We

thought that keeping her back was better too because of her speech issue and

because she is small (a whopping 30lbs soaking wet!!), but we have since

learned that being with kids her own age has sparked her speech! Plus she

hears them talking " regular talk " and not " baby talk " as your son might be

hearing in the younger class.

Now - as far as a special pre-school or a special needs school...we won't

even consider this for Little T. Am I nervous about kindergaten next year?

Yep, extremely and its a year away!! Tiana is a very smart little girl who

just has a hard time talking. Yes, apraxia is a special need but we want

her with her peers. We could hold her back a year and have her start at age

6 but then we have to think about her age when she is in highschool and if

being older will affect her in anyway. We are still working on this one!!

Anyway, that is my 2 cents!!

Good luck!!

~Carla

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 9:51 AM, <

michelle@...> wrote:

>

>

> I posted a couple of weeks ago about my newly diagnosed (with verbal

> apraxia), 22 month old son and a question has come up that I'd love some

> feedback on.

>

> If your toddler has apraxia, are you sending them to special pre-school or

> daycare? If so, what kind?

>

> I'm pregnant with baby #2 in January so now is the time to line up

> childcare and/or pre-schools for both my son and the new baby b/c of long

> waiting lists in our area.

>

> Ethan is currently in a regular daycare that is like a pre-school (a

> Goddard School serving infants thru pre-k) and I can enroll the baby at 3

> mos there also. We really like the place although it's a bit of a drive from

> our house (we didn't like anything close by).

>

> Ethan is doing well there, but lately he has been biting other kids due to

> frustrations around his inability to speak. We're holding him back with the

> younger kids a bit longer so he won't be more frustrated, but I'm trying to

> figure out if we should be looking into a special kind of childcare or

> pre-school for next year?

>

> He goes to school/daycare 2x a week and we've just started 1x a in private

> speech therapy with Lori Roth who specializes in apraxia, plus we're doing

> 2x a week speech through Early Intervention with a therapist who has some

> apraxia experience. So far, we've not seen any other issues than the apraxia

> and he's super advanced with gross motor skills and seems strong with fine

> motor too, so no other issues beyond speech. While I wonder whether normal

> childcare or a pre-school will be frustrating due to his speech limitations,

> I wonder how he would do in a special ed school with kids who have more

> physical limitations (since Ethan is incredibly advanced with gross

> motor)...

>

> I'd love to hear what other parents did or would recommend... And if you

> did a special pre-school was it a special speech school or a special needs

> school?

>

> Thanks!

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

My situation is a bit different, but I'll share anyway. My 26 month old is

starting a program next week through early intervention. She does have other

issues with hypotonia and motor planning, so she possibly has global apraxia,

but not sure yet. For now, she is just diagnosed with oral/verbal apraxia. We

looked into the self contained classrooms and the children seemed to need more

care and attention than Madelyn. We decided on an integrated class. There are 5

typical children and 5 special needs children. They are obviously speaking more

than she is, but since her receptive language is normal or close to normal, I

think she will benefit from the other children.

It sounds like you have a good situation now. Have you visited any special needs

or speech programs?

Can't wait to see other people's responses.

From:

Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 10:51 AM

Subject: [ ] Special pre-school/childcare for toddler w/

apraxia or not?

I posted a couple of weeks ago about my newly diagnosed (with verbal apraxia),

22 month old son and a question has come up that I'd love some feedback on.

If your toddler has apraxia, are you sending them to special pre-school or

daycare? If so, what kind?

I'm pregnant with baby #2 in January so now is the time to line up childcare

and/or pre-schools for both my son and the new baby b/c of long waiting lists in

our area.

Ethan is currently in a regular daycare that is like a pre-school (a Goddard

School serving infants thru pre-k) and I can enroll the baby at 3 mos there

also. We really like the place although it's a bit of a drive from our house (we

didn't like anything close by).

Ethan is doing well there, but lately he has been biting other kids due to

frustrations around his inability to speak. We're holding him back with the

younger kids a bit longer so he won't be more frustrated, but I'm trying to

figure out if we should be looking into a special kind of childcare or

pre-school for next year?

He goes to school/daycare 2x a week and we've just started 1x a in private

speech therapy with Lori Roth who specializes in apraxia, plus we're doing 2x a

week speech through Early Intervention with a therapist who has some apraxia

experience. So far, we've not seen any other issues than the apraxia and he's

super advanced with gross motor skills and seems strong with fine motor too, so

no other issues beyond speech. While I wonder whether normal childcare or a

pre-school will be frustrating due to his speech limitations, I wonder how he

would do in a special ed school with kids who have more physical limitations

(since Ethan is incredibly advanced with gross motor)...

I'd love to hear what other parents did or would recommend... And if you did a

special pre-school was it a special speech school or a special needs school?

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

My 9yo daughter went to a special needs prek and was bused there five days a

week full time. She was in a self-contained class with only other special needs

kids. But there were also Integrated classrooms wiht typical kids whose parents

drove them there and most did half day. That may be something you could look

for, so he could still get his services, if he qualifies, and still be in a

regular prek for prek programs. They also had full-day programs for typical kids

who needed it as a daycare too. There were very few kids with physical

limitations, most were autistic, down syndrome or had CP and speech delays like

mine.

[Guest guest]

We came out of EI with speech 2x a week. She had no diagnosis, it was just

severe speech delay going into special needs prek, but they did increase her

speech to 3x a week. She was 3yo when she started. The next summer when she

turned 4yo, we saw her Ped Neurologist who gave her a dx of Apraxia and wrote a

letter to the district and prek to give her an Augmentive Communication

Evaluation. They did that right away and bought her a simple device. The SLP at

her prek went out and took a course in Apraxia within a month. She was very

excited with her new knowledge. But no, when she got there, they had no

knowledge of Apraxia, I dont know if it was ever mentioned during EI either. I'd

also been told that Apraxia can't be truly diagnosed until after the age of

3-4yo. All you can do is ask at the schools you're looking at how much

experience they have with Apraxia.

Maureen

[Guest guest]

Thanks Colleen and Carla for your additional responses to this thread. Very

helpful.

Best,

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 11:22 AM, C Wicks <wickscster@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hi ,

>

> It's been a while since I've posted to the board but I'd thought I'd give

> you my 2 cents. Our daughter is almost 4 1/2 and was also diagnosed with

> apraxia. She was in a class of younger children because she is small and

> not talking. We have since moved her to a class of her peers and then to a

> program that is set up by the county called " More at 4 " . This is a pre-k

> program for kids who they consider " at risk " . Tiana has speech therapy

> twice a week for 1/2 hour each session at the school and then a 45 minute

> session with a private therapist who has experience with apraxia and is

> using some prompt therapy. Since she started with the class of children her

> age we have seen her speech improve. Even her private therapist said she is

> amazed at some of the new sounds she is producing!! Just the other day she

> said " momma, we es ends " - Momma, we best friends " Wow - a sentence and she

> used the " w " sound!! Now, if someone else heard her they would probably not

> understand her but hey, that's okay! Its a start and a big step for her!

>

> As far as him being frustrated because the kids don't understand him, yeah,

> that's hard. We teach Tiana S.E.E (signing exact english) and it helps her

> tremendously. No, the kids that she plays with don't know sign language but

> her teacher does and she knows to go to her teacher if she can't get her

> point across. You'd be surprised how kids at this age communicate anyways.

> I've watched her and even though her play mates can't understand her that

> well she still leads them in their play groups. She does this by motioning

> or showing the other child, taking them by the hand, etc. I was pretty

> impressed!

>

> The biting might just be a stage he is going through. A bunch of kids bite

> - its a normal thing. My youngest son went through this as well around that

> age and he was talking fine!

>

> So, with all that said, I would move him to a group of kids his age. We

> thought that keeping her back was better too because of her speech issue

> and

> because she is small (a whopping 30lbs soaking wet!!), but we have since

> learned that being with kids her own age has sparked her speech! Plus she

> hears them talking " regular talk " and not " baby talk " as your son might be

> hearing in the younger class.

>

> Now - as far as a special pre-school or a special needs school...we won't

> even consider this for Little T. Am I nervous about kindergaten next year?

> Yep, extremely and its a year away!! Tiana is a very smart little girl who

> just has a hard time talking. Yes, apraxia is a special need but we want

> her with her peers. We could hold her back a year and have her start at age

> 6 but then we have to think about her age when she is in highschool and if

> being older will affect her in anyway. We are still working on this one!!

>

> Anyway, that is my 2 cents!!

>

> Good luck!!

> ~Carla

>

>

> On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 9:51 AM, <

> michelle@...<michelle%40michellewaldointeriors.com>>

> wrote:

>

> >

> >

> > I posted a couple of weeks ago about my newly diagnosed (with verbal

> > apraxia), 22 month old son and a question has come up that I'd love some

> > feedback on.

> >

> > If your toddler has apraxia, are you sending them to special pre-school

> or

> > daycare? If so, what kind?

> >

> > I'm pregnant with baby #2 in January so now is the time to line up

> > childcare and/or pre-schools for both my son and the new baby b/c of long

> > waiting lists in our area.

> >

> > Ethan is currently in a regular daycare that is like a pre-school (a

> > Goddard School serving infants thru pre-k) and I can enroll the baby at 3

> > mos there also. We really like the place although it's a bit of a drive

> from

> > our house (we didn't like anything close by).

> >

> > Ethan is doing well there, but lately he has been biting other kids due

> to

> > frustrations around his inability to speak. We're holding him back with

> the

> > younger kids a bit longer so he won't be more frustrated, but I'm trying

> to

> > figure out if we should be looking into a special kind of childcare or

> > pre-school for next year?

> >

> > He goes to school/daycare 2x a week and we've just started 1x a in

> private

> > speech therapy with Lori Roth who specializes in apraxia, plus we're

> doing

> > 2x a week speech through Early Intervention with a therapist who has some

> > apraxia experience. So far, we've not seen any other issues than the

> apraxia

> > and he's super advanced with gross motor skills and seems strong with

> fine

> > motor too, so no other issues beyond speech. While I wonder whether

> normal

> > childcare or a pre-school will be frustrating due to his speech

> limitations,

> > I wonder how he would do in a special ed school with kids who have more

> > physical limitations (since Ethan is incredibly advanced with gross

> > motor)...

> >

> > I'd love to hear what other parents did or would recommend... And if you

> > did a special pre-school was it a special speech school or a special

> needs

> > school?

> >

> > Thanks!

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>