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[quote=Anonymous]My DD has severe apraxia.  She turned 3 a few months ago.  She also has hypotonia and mild dyspraxia.

1.  She's our oldest, so we didn't have much to compare her speech to.  Her regular ped raised the possibility of a problem with speech just before 17 months.  She started PT and ST at 19 months.  SLP suspected apraxia at 21 months.

2.  She currently does 3 hours of ST/week.  For a while we had her at 4 hours/week and we'd like to get her back up to that again -- it's just a matter of logistics and cost right now.

3.  We sent her to 2 year old preschool and I think it helped a bit.  It was Montessori based, though; if I could do it over I think I would have chosen play-based because it makes offers even more opportunities for speech.  For much of last year she saw a private SLP who came to her private preschool and saw other kids and her individually.  She would also see an EI SLP 3 x/week at home.  She qualified for EI at 30 months (we initiated the process late).

4.  In 1.5 years of therapy she has gone from not being able to imitate any sound at all and referring to everything as "ba" to having a small collection of absolutely clear words, being able to approximate many more, and even stringing words together for phrases and short sentences ("I want juice please" or "monkey bars please") even though they are very tricky for her.  She is catching up, but it feels like the target is always moving (b/c her peers at always advancing, too, of course).  Other issues do seem to be popping up -- she seems to have some sensory issues, although nothing unmanageable.  Balance and coordination are challenging (think riding a trike, hopping on one foot, etc.).  It's too early for us to tell about reading (although she's very excited about learning) and her SLPs assure me that they don't pick up any aud processing issues, but I still worry about that a bit.

5.  We use fish oil and I have no clue if it helps or not, but it doesn't seem to hurt.  She is delighted to take her fish oil every day -- we use Barlean's Omega Swirl.

6.  Her ped referred her to a dev ped at 17 months, which is when she was dx with dyspraxia.  Having this diagnosis made her automatically eligible for DC EI services, although we didn't know it.  Having an apraxia dx does too, although it's a catch-22 because SLPs usually don't officially dx apraxia until age 3, which is when EI ends here (for now anyway).  We think the dev ped was good for the initial dx but we're thinking about finding a ped neurologist who can help us keep an eye on her in the coming years.

7.  We have a younger son -- NT as far as we can tell, but it's early to know for sure yet.

Have you gone on apraxia-kids.org?  I found it and their FB pages really helpful and supportive.  I also liked the book "Speaking of Apraxia" -- kind of gave a roadmap, which was something I was looking for at the time.
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