[kxl164]

Is anyone familiar with Apraxia?

Our foster son is FINALLY going for help with a Speech Therapist. She has seen him about 4 times and thinks that he has Apraxia, which is a neurological condition.

Anyone been through this or dealing with this?
Should we go to a Neurologist, we have been once but that was a for a different reason?
Since he doesn't have a definite diagnosis what do I do?

He has emotional issues which is what we thought was really standing in the way of this Speech development, but now what?

I will be talking to both the Speech Therapist and his Mental Health Therapist tomorrow so I should know more then, but since I do not feel we (as foster parents) get complete information, does anyone have any advice?

Thanks,

[Matushka]

Verbal apraxia is a disorder that can occur developmentally (in children) or be acquired (usually in adults from a stroke). Apraxia is a motor planning problem. In language development, this shows up as delayed start in talking, minimal consonant use and incorrect vowels, limited number of words and shorter than typical phrases and sentences. Very young children with apraxia will often sound like their speech is only vowels, usually "uh". The child may be attempting to speak but others may not realize the sounds are actually a word. As the child talks more, the problem presents as a severe articulation problem. For example, my daughter used to call a 'spoon' a 'fooba.' The only sound in the word that she got right was the oo. We had to break down the word to make it easier. Eventually she could imitate poon and later we added the s. I remember a little girl that I used to work with that said "ha ba da?" with perfect inflection meaning "how about that?" It is good that the speech therapist is able to identify apraxia. There should be no need to see a neurologist unless there are other concerns. The speech therapist should be able to provide therapy for verbal apraxia, just know that it will take significantly longer for progress to occur than it would if it were only a simple speech and language delay. With apraxia, the best treatment is repetition, repetition, repetition to train the brain to send the right signals. It sounds like your foster son's therapist is pretty astute, s/he'll know what to do and can teach you how to practice at home. If your fs is very frustrated, s/he may recommend the use of sign language to help him communicate while he works on the sounds. Keep us posted.

[kxl164]

Thank you!

Yes we are doing lots of repition at home, and articulation is his biggest issue, we have noticed that even when he aquires a new word, it takes a while for him to be able to say it in a way that we understand and then even longer for some other people to understand it.

We were just worried because he has a severe trauma history and has malformations to his head, we were worried that it may be aquired apraxia due to that.

But if either way, he needs to work through it then I think we'll keep trying the Speech first.

His Mental Health therapist said that she thinks as he is better able to communicate that he will start to lessen his anxiety and therefore be able to communicate even more.... she is also concerned about the Apraxia diagnosis if it points to more severe trauma than we know about.

The Speech therapist said that a Neurologist would probably suggest Speech therapy and perhaps an MRI, but since at his age we would need to sedate him to do that, she is suggesting going with just Speech for at least 6 months, although she doesn't think that seeing a Neurologist is a bad idea she just doesn't want to overwhelm him right now, which I totally agree with.

So, well here we'll see.

Thanks again,

[athikers]

Matushka, how interesting about the ha ba da, because my Big Sis says "here ya go" with perfect inflection, but its not REALLY "here ya go" more like er a o. Also, very interesting about the consenant thing, since the speech therapist brought that up as well.

Our fd "talks" with all appropriate pauses and inflection and to us it is complete gibberish. So, this ia all VERY interesting

[kayb]

our dd was diagnosed with apraxia at age 3. She only had about 10 words that other people could understand and 25 that we could understand. She replaced most words with "Dee"

Speech therapist thru the local school district was free.

Warning on how you handle repetition: Therapist said these kids get frustrated faster and will just "shut down" instead of trying, so go easy on the repetition in short sitting. Never make them (as tempting as it is...) to make them say something right before they can have it. It actually can make them regress.

Good luck, tons of 411 on the web. Also we bought a hand held mirror at the dollar store for dd to watch herself put her tongue and lips on the right place for each sound.

[dylav]

My son would only say Ga for the longest time. He has been working with a speech therapist for over six months and we have seen tremendous improvement. I noticed when he can communicate effectively, he is less anxious and happier. Good luck on this path...it is not an easy one.

[Robbiesmomma]

My son also has apraxia. The school district can provide therapy but, IMHO, private therapists may be a better route. You may have to fight the school to get the amount of therapy your child needs and you won't be able to choose the therapist. I had to fight them just to get 1 hour per week. I agree, repetition is key. My son's anxiety has decreased the more he is able to be understood and I do wish I had taught him to sign when he was diagnosed at 4.
HTH
Becki

[Happy123]

My six year old son has severe apraxia. He went thru speech thru the school from age three to five....with zero success. Apraxia requires intensive speech therapy. He has been in private speech for a year now and can say about five words. He often will say camel for cup...his little brain gets so confused. We have started using pictures to help him communicate and sign language. He has a lot of behaviors related partly to the inability to communicate. Watch the speech therapist because we went thru a couple who did not work. We are being trained by the therapist due work with him at home. They use a lot of cards w/ pictures and work on saying the words. When he gets frustrated (which does not happen often) he would kick the therapist, spit on her, bite her, blow his nose and try to wipe it on her, throw the chair, etc. She is amazing and really helped him thru those behaviors. But, we are looking at years of therapy, 2 times a week, 30min a session...plus we drive an hour each way. Each child is different and the younger they start the better.
Happy123

[kxl164]

I wanted to update!

My foster son, soon to be adoptive son, still has a delay but has made a lot of progress over the past year. We have been able to get him for 2 syllable words/sentences to 8 syllable sentences! We work on speech with him everyday, basically under-cover of play, and I sit down and do speech with him for 30 minutes twice a week, which he isn't thrilled about but does practice. We are very lucky that our speech therapist always explains what they are working on and why, I work with him at home and then give her advice on how to get around his behavior issues and let her know that some of the things he won't do/say for her he IS capable of and vice versa.

We are getting another hour of speech/week next year through the school district with the same therapist.

The anxiety wasn't standing in the way of the speech, but the speech is causing some of the behavior issues with him. It is wonderful to hear him jabbering away now, we may not always understand him, most other people still have some trouble when he talks too fast, but he TALKS now!!! He sings, he talks, he plays, he can have a bit of a conversation... he's like a different child.

Anyway, thanks for all of the support. Apraxia is a strange thing, they know the answers but they can't get them out, and when they do, if it is too much they will start dropping sounds, inching along is the only way to go, so inch by inch we march!

[dylav]

My son who is 27 months is now at the 19 month level for speech!!! This is a huge improvement since the only thing he was saying several months ago was ga. My son's aggression has dimminished since he has been able to communicate. We have been working tirelessly with him and like you said inch by inch!!!