speech therapist for Apraxia in DC area

[klein400]

We're hoping to find a speech therapist/pathologist who has strong experience treating childhood apraxia (verbal). We live in Bethesda, but for an outstanding apraxia therapist we'd be willing to drive, if needed. If you happen to know of a developmental pediatrician/neurologist with experience diagnosing apraxia, that'd be helpful too.

[Anonymous]

my dd has global apraxia (or dyspraxia), including speech. our speech therapist is wonderful. she knows PROMPT and is actually participates on the dc apraxia yahoo discussion board. i can't recommend her highly enough. kirsten metzger at building blocks therapy, on macarthur blvd in the palisades section of dc.

as for an official diagnosis, we never pushed for one, but i'm sure chuck conlon, who is a neurodevelopmental ped (and shares office space with a pediatric neurologist) can do it for you. kirsten also has relationships with dev peds who are experienced with apraxic kids.

[klein400]

Thank you so much for the helpful response. If you don't mind, I'm new to the world of apraxia and have a few questions. How does your dyspraxia differ from the verbal apraxia that I believe my daughter has? Has your insurance covered the therapy sessions with Kirsten? And, finally, how much do the sessions cost? Thank you so much. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed by -- and a bit emotional about -- the possibility that my daughter has this disorder and your email definitely provided some needed sense of direction.

[Anonymous]

My son has apraxia and global developmental delay, and I would love to know about the dc apraxia yahoo listserv. Do you have the link to this site? Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

klein400 wrote:Thank you so much for the helpful response. If you don't mind, I'm new to the world of apraxia and have a few questions. How does your dyspraxia differ from the verbal apraxia that I believe my daughter has? Has your insurance covered the therapy sessions with Kirsten? And, finally, how much do the sessions cost? Thank you so much. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed by -- and a bit emotional about -- the possibility that my daughter has this disorder and your email definitely provided some needed sense of direction.

I'm not the one to whom you've addressed your questions, but am the PP who has the son with apraxia. I remember feeling so overwhelmed and scared by the whole thing. I would be happy to email with you offlist if it would be helpful:
[e-mail]

I know it's scary, but there are excellent therapists who know how to work with children with apraxia (also called dyspraxia) and the general prognosis for most children with apraxia is really quite good. The key is to get the right intervention as soon as possible.

Feel free to email if it would be of any help.

[Anonymous]

hi -- i'm the pp with the dyspraxic daughter. as for terminology, there are many names for the same thing. my daughter has a global problem with praxis, or planning and executing movements and ideas throughout her body and her life. her problems are particularly noticeable in speech and in fine motor, but ideation is also a problem. speech apraxia (or dyspraxia) affects only the formation of speech; i don't know how children with speech apraxia do with pragmatic speech (spontaeous interaction/conversation with others), which my daughter is still working on. she has come a long way though.
as for insurance, ours covers it -- but only a bit; we are reimbursed about 30%. the rest is out of pocket. we see kirsten 2 times a week, and have occupational therapy twice a week as well. for our daughter, particularly at first, we found the occupational therapy was just as important as the speech therapy for the production of speech because it helped her motor planning and organization throughout her body.
as for the cost, i'm not entirely sure, because i don't pay the bills (my husband takes care of them); but her services are in the neighborhood of $100 per session, or maybe a bit more. it's worth it. big time.
you might also want to explore what's available in your area for free. you don't say how old your dd is -- but an early intervention program might provide services.
feel free to email me at [e-mail]
good luck.
cindy

[Anonymous]

the yahoo group is GreaterDCApraxiaSupport

[Anonymous]

FYI It is really more appropriate to have a SLP (speech language pathologist) diagnose apraxia than a neurologist. That's the latest recommendation from NIH.

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to say that many kids with apraxia, including my child, have been helped a great deal by fish oil supplements. We saw Kelly Dorfman, who is a nutritionist, I think she has a lot of information on her website. If you need the diagnosis for insurance I would wait to try the omegas until after the evaluation. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Our experience absolutely bears out the powers of high daily doses of fish oil. I'm the poster from 10:52 above, and we have been using fish oils at the recommendation of Dr Marilyn Agin, the neuro-developmental pediatrician who is one of the authors of The Late Talker, which really helped put apraxia on the map for childhood disorders. It's been about 3 years since we started them, and we can really see the difference when our son is on them and when he is not (he has had to go off them a few times over the years). In his case, it's not so much pronunciation as focus, ability to do things independently, and overall communication. On the odd times when we run out of them and I have to wait for a new bottle (we do the liquid) to come, it's always hard watching him regress (though lots of people I know take their children off their fish oils before testing, to ensure that their children retain all services).

We use the Nordic Naturals and do the recommended ration of 1:2 of the EFAs:EPAs. Before you start, consult someone who knows about this, as the recommended doses are actually a fair amount higher than those written on the labels of the bottles or jars. There was some research on this - on how high the recommended levels are - published a few years ago; you might be able to google it or find it on the big yahoo apraxia site childrensapraxia.net or the CHERUB site. One thing is that you do need to be careful about disclosing fish oils to your doctors, as fish oil can be a blood thinner so if your child needs surgery (our son has had a few), you will need to stop them for a specific period.

HTH

[Anonymous]

14:16 we use nordic naturals too - currently 3,000 mg (3,000 twice per day) plus 800 iu complete E 8. is the liquid more affordable than the capsules? do you use a higher dosage? we have to balance the help with the apraxia against the fact that the omegas seem to heighten her sensory issues (thus the E). we might try increasing it again soon, the change has been remarkable. i think i read a study where 6,000 was the upper limit but i can't find the link now. if anyone wants to try omegas i'd caution to start slowly and increase slowly so you can pick up on things like increased sensitivity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:14:16 we use nordic naturals too - currently 3,000 mg (3,000 twice per day)

oops, 1,500 twice per day. i think we started with 500 once per day originally.