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[quote=Anonymous]Our third (and youngest) child has low tone and started in EI at 15 months because he struggled to pull himself up into a standing position (he wasn’t anywhere near walking).  He’d met all other milestones on time and a speech eval at that time showed he was age appropriate.  By the time he was 20 months, that was no longer the case and he started ST at 24 months.  His non-verbal communication was excellent.

Progress was excruciatingly slow.  Like a PP, we’d work on a single word for months.  We taught him sign language and, counting the words he could sign he was on track for language acquisition.  The SLP suspected apraxia at 28 months but indicated a formal diagnosis wouldn’t be made until he was at least 3.  He made much better progress once we switch to a PROMPT certified SLP – and it wasn’t because the other SLPs weren’t good.  They were but PROMPT was a far more effective approach.

The PROMPT certified SLP suggested therapy 2x/week.  Because of fatigue issues, the sessions were initially only 30 minutes each.  As his stamina improved over time, the session length was increased.

DS was evaluated by developmental pediatrician at age 3.5.  He confirmed the diagnosis of apraxia and MERLD.  We have a strong family history of ADHD (inattentive) but DS couldn’t be diagnosed until he was @7 because of language/communication issues.  It was too difficult to determine if his inattention was due to his communication/language issues or because of ADHD.  We’ve confirmed the ADHD but communication/language also plays a role.

DS was found eligible for a FCPS special ed preschool (non-categorical).  He started when he was @2.5 and it was fabulous.  It was far easier to get him in the special ed preschool than it was to get his brother (then in K) assessed by the IEP screening committee even though we had LOTS of private reports indicating delays.  That brother also has ADHD (inattentive) and hypotonia but to a much lesser degree.  We saw no need for genetic testing.  These disorders are highly heritable but genetic testing didn’t seem warranted.

DS is now in 2nd grade and apraxia is not his greatest challenge – it’s MERLD.  DS is solidly average in non-verbal intelligence testing but is below grade level in reading and math.  DS has some social challenges because he’s unable to keep up with more complex conversations with his peers but he’s well liked.  He has strengths that are valued/appreciated by his peers.

We use fish oil supplements (Nordic Naturals) and multivitamins but have noticed no improvements that we can attribute to them – but at least they don’t’ hurt.

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