Apraxia diagnosis disagreement and best course of action

[Anonymous]

I've seen the Camaratas with my child a half-dozen times. I also had my son, who has a severe language disorder, in every kind of preschool setting, public and private ad with all kinds of speech therapists.


It was great Mary was able to observe him in his class. We've always had to go to Nashville to see her. Seriously, what a typical speech therapist knows and does and what Mary Camarata knows and does are just light years apart. It's almost like it's not even the same profession. I can't stress this enough. As a university level researcher in speech and language, an SLP hersefl, and parent to her own late talker child and the wife of a late talker -- who just happens to be one of the most prominent language researchers in the U.S., Mary's knowledge will swamp any SLP in a public setting and most private ones too boot. Just look at the level of diagnosis you got -- a clearcut, accurate one with phonological disorder, vs. the inaccurate, lazy apraxia diagnosis. Apraxia has a distinct meaning -- the ability to make speech sounds some times but not others -- but SLPs use it as a catch-all for everything.

You won't really know if the program is worth doing unless you visit it. My son was in a great program in one state, with a well-thought out curriculum that had him making instant progress. Then we moved, and the other speech preschool was an absolute disaster with no tested curriculum. It was just glorified babysitting. It really didn't do much for my child, and I would have likely been better just leaving him in his private preschool, without the so-called language program.

The Camaratas, I know, believe you should be judicious with your time and resources -- and your child's time. They only get one childhood, after all. I know there's this thought process out there to just throw any and every therapy on a child, "just in case." The truth is, if Mary says your child is going to catch up, then you can probably take that to the bank. I know literally dozens and dozens of parents who were give a timeline by Mary or Stephen, and they were spot on. Meanwhile, most had been told by school districts that their child was autistic, mentally retarded or severely developmentally delayed. In truth, they were just on a longer developmental track.

[Anonymous]

My daughter was tested by FCPS Infant & Toddler @ 3 and started IEP services @ 4 in a private pre-school setting. Two hours total per week. One hour was in class and usually included 2-3 other kids to make it a game. We also had one hour 1-on-1 at home. I was pleased with the progress. And, having the SLP support and IEP in place made transition to K a breeze. On the other hand, I tried getting one for my son, starting in K, and it was a nightmare -- took almost an entire year. Personnally, I think school based and private therapy is the winning combo.