Helping other kids understand Childhood Apraxia of Speech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re doing her a disservice if she has no signs and no PECS. Where is she age wise with receptive language?

Wholeheartedly AGREE. my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying reallllly hard to help them understand she needs early intervention and intensive speech therapy. Right now she only has speech once a week for 30 mins.

She’s about 9 -12 months delayed in receptive language from what my mom remembers but seems to be doing a bit better. She’s responding to yes/no questions and sometimes can guide my mom to what she wants. My mom is trying to teach her signs and sees her 3-4 times a week.

If she has receptive language delays, there's something else going on in addition to apraxia of speech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re doing her a disservice if she has no signs and no PECS. Where is she age wise with receptive language?

PECS is wildly inappropriate for this diagnosis. High tech which it sounds like they are pursuing is the answer but it takes time.

I disagree, I’ve used it for many kids. It’s not a long term solution, but short term until other avenues are better. Usually apraxia resolves itself and speech picks up after age 3. Often the fine motor skills aren’t there for sign language. Maybe some modified signs. I can utilize PECS easily prior to age 3 bc you can utilize pics that are taught in other ways. Many ways to get from point A to B, for some kids that’s PECS. Not all of course, but if there’s nothing else this is a great bridge.

If you think apraxia resolves itself, you have zero understanding of this condition and have no basis for giving advice at all. I have a kid with apraxia. We did teach him some basic signs when he was a toddler but didn't go too far with it because SLP wanted us to prioritize speech. It's a tricky balance between wanting to give them an avenue to communicate vs too much reliance on signing discourages them from working on speaking.

[Anonymous]

We have a family member with apraxia (teenager now) and when the kids were little- the kids were good. My older when at the time (probably 10?) was the only one who asked about lack of speech. Apraxia is tough so be kind OP. It was really my younger kids that understood their cousin the best. When he was three- there was a lot of pointing. In elementary school he had a tablet which the kids thought was cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like YOU need to understand it better.

What resources would you recommend? I don’t just randomly google disabilities. I’ve read several peer reviewed studies. I was a teacher and went back to my textbooks on disabilities and read the relevant sections. I’ve talked to friends who are SLPs. But I won’t just google random stuff to read and take it at face value.

I recommend minding your own business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re doing her a disservice if she has no signs and no PECS. Where is she age wise with receptive language?

Wholeheartedly AGREE. my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying reallllly hard to help them understand she needs early intervention and intensive speech therapy. Right now she only has speech once a week for 30 mins.

She’s about 9 -12 months delayed in receptive language from what my mom remembers but seems to be doing a bit better. She’s responding to yes/no questions and sometimes can guide my mom to what she wants. My mom is trying to teach her signs and sees her 3-4 times a week.

If she has receptive language delays, there's something else going on in addition to apraxia of speech.

It sounds like op is diagnosing and it’s inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 4 and 7. My 4 year old has been described as advanced linguistically by her teachers and pediatrician. She speaks in complex sentences and has a strong expressive and receptive language skills. She and her brother are asking point blank questions about why their niece can not/will not communicate (their words, not mine). They’ve tried signs, gestures, simplifying questions, etc. they want to know what’s up. None of that is to say they and we aren’t modeling playing and including their cousin. They will even say to new kids who they meet at the park “m is working her words” when kids ask why she doesn’t speak. We aren’t rude and unkind, of course we include her and play with her, we let her be independent while offering support as we would to any 3 year old. Fairly certain my kids aren’t the issue here, I want to know how to answer their questions.


I do wonder if I have the entire story. And I have no way of finding out if I do or not. I’m not sure it would matter significantly here. I’ve seen the diagnosis paper that my mom was shown. My husband has extensive experience working with nonverbal children with autism. It’s not the first time we, or our kids, have been around children who don’t speak. We have tried to help my mom understand how important it is for my niece to have some kind of expressive language which is what led to her learning and teaching the signs. My mom has taken over managing the weekly speech sessions bc my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying to get more speech sessions weekly, whether at home or at a center/office. It also sounds like my mom is running into Medicaid limiting how much she can get right now it seems.

Our nephew has similar challenges. The diagnosis really doesn’t matter, so you can say something like “Larlo is still working on their words, this is how they communicate yes/ no” You may need to provide guidance on how to ask questions to get a response. Or it may be a word-free engagement. I like to make sure to use the word “yet” if I have to say something like “Larlo can’t answer that yet” to hold space for their learning and growth.

For my kids, waiting for a response was the hardest part. They aren’t patient, but once they realized their cousin would answer in some way if given the space to do so, their waiting improved a lot.

[Anonymous]

Bring activities that aren’t speech heavy that they can all do together. Games, art supplies.

Don’t over explain to your kids, especially if you don’t have the full story. “She’s not talking yet but she is working hard with her family and therapists to do her best. If you don’t understand her, offer her two choices or ask her yes and no questions so she can participate.”

[Anonymous]

Thanks for wanting to be supportive. My youngest is doing amazing now but has CAS. Few relatives understood the challenges and we were told repeatedly that he must just be a late talker. He started with EI before 2 and the diagnosis became evident by 2.5 when we decided to see a private SLP. I threw every possible resource his way. Apraxia Kids really helped me to understand CAS and to know how to advocate. I believe they have book recommendations on the website. Interestingly, DS was in a mainstream preschool class with his cousin and his cousin was his bestie. She made sure he was always included by other children and seemed to miraculously understand him.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to the 3 most recent responses with actual suggestions that answered the question. I appreciate the helpful suggestions. We do try to hold space and offer lots of patience. My kids are not patient and yes we are working on it. Again, thanks for the helpful suggestions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re doing her a disservice if she has no signs and no PECS. Where is she age wise with receptive language?

Wholeheartedly AGREE. my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying reallllly hard to help them understand she needs early intervention and intensive speech therapy. Right now she only has speech once a week for 30 mins.

She’s about 9 -12 months delayed in receptive language from what my mom remembers but seems to be doing a bit better. She’s responding to yes/no questions and sometimes can guide my mom to what she wants. My mom is trying to teach her signs and sees her 3-4 times a week.

I am surprised that someone seeing a 2 year old for 30 minutes a week would make a definite diagnosis of CAS, especially in a kid with receptive delays. Is it possible you don’t have the whole story?

I had the same thought. My kid's SLP would not diagnose him that young. Also the fact that this child has receptive delays too makes me suspect there is something else going on either in addition to apraxia or it's a different condition entirely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 4 and 7. My 4 year old has been described as advanced linguistically by her teachers and pediatrician. She speaks in complex sentences and has a strong expressive and receptive language skills. She and her brother are asking point blank questions about why their niece can not/will not communicate (their words, not mine). They’ve tried signs, gestures, simplifying questions, etc. they want to know what’s up. None of that is to say they and we aren’t modeling playing and including their cousin. They will even say to new kids who they meet at the park “m is working her words” when kids ask why she doesn’t speak. We aren’t rude and unkind, of course we include her and play with her, we let her be independent while offering support as we would to any 3 year old. Fairly certain my kids aren’t the issue here, I want to know how to answer their questions.


I do wonder if I have the entire story. And I have no way of finding out if I do or not. I’m not sure it would matter significantly here. I’ve seen the diagnosis paper that my mom was shown. My husband has extensive experience working with nonverbal children with autism. It’s not the first time we, or our kids, have been around children who don’t speak. We have tried to help my mom understand how important it is for my niece to have some kind of expressive language which is what led to her learning and teaching the signs. My mom has taken over managing the weekly speech sessions bc my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying to get more speech sessions weekly, whether at home or at a center/office. It also sounds like my mom is running into Medicaid limiting how much she can get right now it seems.

Our nephew has similar challenges. The diagnosis really doesn’t matter, so you can say something like “Larlo is still working on their words, this is how they communicate yes/ no” You may need to provide guidance on how to ask questions to get a response. Or it may be a word-free engagement. I like to make sure to use the word “yet” if I have to say something like “Larlo can’t answer that yet” to hold space for their learning and growth.

For my kids, waiting for a response was the hardest part. They aren’t patient, but once they realized their cousin would answer in some way if given the space to do so, their waiting improved a lot.

I would add that if your nephew needs longer to answer, then coach your kids on giving him time to wait instead of jumping in to talk for him with the response they guess he would say

[Anonymous]

It often resolves itself around age 3-4.

[Anonymous]

This sounds like autism not apraxia.