Attn Speech therapists--can anyone enlighten me?

amother

Sat, Jun 15 2013, 10:03 pm

My 2.5 year old son has been receiving intensive speech therapy for almost 9 months now, and while I am seeing improvement, I am wondering if they are getting to the core of the problem. He has speech 4x30. week with 2 different therapists. They have diagnosed him as "apraxic" and he has low tone in his mouth.

One thing that stands out is when he's talking he's not speaking from his diaphragm, he's only using the "top of his mouth"--kind of when you have your tongue pushed towards your palate. So while he cannot produce the sounds, he's not using his breath appropriately to make the sounds. When I asked one of them about it--they said it's probably habit. Most of his sounds are "t" and "d" his "m" and "b" are not closed mouth sounds. He does not have a "h" or an intial "a" sound--those arent muscles sounds, but how you propel breath. Is that characteristic of apraxia?

He is making improvement, slow, agonizing improvement. I guess the question here is if there is something physiologically wrong with how he is producing sounds, is this something to speak to pediatrician about? ENT? (He had his tonsils out, so I kind of assumed an ENT would have picked up on this).

MinnieMa

Sat, Jun 15 2013, 10:17 pm

Trust your gut at least ask your pediatrician and if not go on to an ent. Maybe bec he is low tone he's not using his diaphragm. Speech therapists definitely work on breath support.... Is he getting other therapies like pt- they would help too? But I say your best bet is to ask drs first and tell them your concern

Classicookie

Sat, Jun 15 2013, 10:57 pm

my dd is apraixic we had it diagnosed officially by a neurologist at about 3 she started speech at 8 months. low tone plays a big part of it and progress is slow prompt therapy work with apraxia deff talk to your pedi about this you can also get tons of info online
http://www.asha.org/public/spe.....a.htm

http://www.apraxia-kids.org/?g.....yUAQQ

if you have anything else I can try to help you with let me know

amother

Sat, Jun 15 2013, 10:57 pm

OP here. He's getting OT and SI through early intervention. I highly doubt he would qualify for PT.

He saw an ENT back in Sept/Oct for his tonsils and had a tonsil/addenoidectomy. We thought that would help his speech--and a number of other issues. The other issues were more or less corrected, but the speech is still the main issue. It was my impression that they screened him pretty thoroughly before the T&A, including a scope up his nose. If there would have been a problem--wouldn't they have detected it?

He babbles and mumbles constantly, but to me its quite apparent that he cannot make the breathier sounds "ha" "ah" etc. and he just sounds so nasal---especially when he's screaming/grunting.

Is there more to it or is this normal for Apraxia?

Ashrei

Sat, Jun 15 2013, 11:06 pm

How do you feel about your ST? My son is not involved regarding speech, but we have been getting 5x30 of PT, and we've been thru 4 or 5 at home PT's. We now use someone excellent. It's such a relief to know he's working with people who are experienced in his diagnosis and have so much skill and knowledge.

Hatzlacha Smile

imasinger

Sat, Jun 15 2013, 11:53 pm

I have no ideas or knowledge about diagnosis, but as a singer, I know something about breathing from the diaphragm.

Here are some games you can try playing with him every day to build strength and practice:

Play "fire engine", and have him make a sound like a siren.

Play the "laughing game". Lie down on your back, and have him lie perpendicular to you, with his head on your stomach. Laugh. Usually, kids enjoy the bouncing, and they will start laughing, too. Then, put your hand or a favorite toy on his stomach, and see if he can laugh and give it a ride.

Radiator Hiss: Take big breaths, count to 3, and have a contest to see who can continue a "sss" sound for the longest. Play "beat the clock", and see if he can break his own record.

Blow bubbles. If he can't blow bubbles himself, you can make them with the wand, heading towards him, and let him try to blow them away.

Big Belly Breath: practice taking a breath where the stomach goes out.

Hope this helps!