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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Our Challenging Children (gifted, ADHD, sensitive, defiant)
Verbal Apraxia of Childhood



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Does your child(ren) have verbal apraxia?
Yes - 1 child  
 60%  [ 6 ]
Yes - 2 children  
 20%  [ 2 ]
Yes - 3+ children  
 0%  [ 0 ]
None  
 20%  [ 2 ]
Total Votes : 10



amother


 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 11:31 am
I did a quick search on apraxia and nothing turned up. I was wondering how many other mothers out there are raising a child with suspected or diagnosed verbal apraxia. I know that there are general support groups, but it would be nice to have one on this forum as well. Alternatively, we could set up an email group and post information or advice. Anyone interested?

By the way, for those of you who have absolutely no clue what I'm referring to, you can read about the disorder at: http://www.apraxia-kids.org/
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the world's best mom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 11:39 am
I have one child with verbal apraxia and one who has verbal and oral apraxia. That is much more severe and he has no oral awareness at all. He also has all over apraxia- trouble using his hands well. It can be tough dealing with these things.

If your child only has verbval apraxia, then a lot of speech therapy should work well. My dd's speech has improved tons over the 3 years that she's been getting therapy. It's only ds who, after a year and a half of speech therapy, still can't say a single word and only has about 3 sounds that he can produce with difficulty.
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amother


 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 1:01 pm
the world's best mom wrote:
I have one child with verbal apraxia and one who has verbal and oral apraxia. That is much more severe and he has no oral awareness at all. He also has all over apraxia- trouble using his hands well. It can be tough dealing with these things.

If your child only has verbval apraxia, then a lot of speech therapy should work well. My dd's speech has improved tons over the 3 years that she's been getting therapy. It's only ds who, after a year and a half of speech therapy, still can't say a single word and only has about 3 sounds that he can produce with difficulty.


I guess there really must be a genetic component to apraxia. I'm so worried that my other child and future children might have it as well. B"H, my eldest is a bright, sociable kid with an above average understanding of spoken language - he just can't express himself verbally. He does have quite a few approximations, though they are still below the expected number of words that a child his age should have. We are providing him with 2-3 sessions of speech therapy a week.

Have you taught your son signs? Can he communicate with gestures? Is your daughter able to be in a regular classroom? I'm worried that the Jewish schools won't be able to handle a bright child who can't speak.
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cuties' mom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 1:14 pm
I have a ds with global apraxia. He's in a special preschool but will go to regular ed next year. He gets speech therapy 5 times a week, OT and PT twice a week, and counseling twice a week. Speech therapy 2-3 times a week for an apraxic kid isn't really enough. Ds started out getting all therapies twice a week. After 6 months of no progress, they were increased to 3 times a week. 6 months later, his speech therapy was increased to its current mandate. He has been getting therapy for 3 years and talks a lot, its just not very clear. He didn't make any progress in speech the first year and a half. Once he started talking, he made tons of progress in terms of expressive language. Its only the articulation part that's going slow. Signs were never really an option for ds since he has global apraxia and can't imitate actions. Before he started talking, he communicated with PECS.
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amother


 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 1:24 pm
cuties' mom wrote:
I have a ds with global apraxia. He's in a special preschool but will go to regular ed next year. He gets speech therapy 5 times a week, OT and PT twice a week, and counseling twice a week. Speech therapy 2-3 times a week for an apraxic kid isn't really enough. Ds started out getting all therapies twice a week. After 6 months of no progress, they were increased to 3 times a week. 6 months later, his speech therapy was increased to its current mandate. He has been getting therapy for 3 years and talks a lot, its just not very clear. He didn't make any progress in speech the first year and a half. Once he started talking, he made tons of progress in terms of expressive language. Its only the articulation part that's going slow. Signs were never really an option for ds since he has global apraxia and can't imitate actions. Before he started talking, he communicated with PECS.


We upped it from 1x a week because of limited progress. It's a huge financial strain, but we are doing our best to provide him with as much therapy as feasible. He's also in a regular preschool which exposes him to age appropriate language. I'd love for my son to be able to tell me about his day and all those silly thoughts that he acts out... It's reassuring to hear that with therapy there is hope for him to be verbal!
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cuties' mom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 2:39 pm
Why isn't the board of ed paying for it? Does he have an IEP?
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 2:54 pm
I suspected my eldest of having verbal apraxia. He never babbled as a baby, and never made any consonant sounds until age ~2, after I worked with him for a while on my own. Before that, the only sound he could make was "uh". In addition to working w/him on my own, I took him to a speech therapist. Now he speaks very well.
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Aribenj




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 5:07 pm
One of mine has this too.
He was a very vocal baby but never any consonants. Just a lot of aaaaaahhhh and oooooooh. By the time he was 15 months he still hadn't said his first word. He wasn't even babbling (bababababa, dadadada, mamama) etc. He didn't wave, clap or point either. His receptive vocabulary was normal though.

He started working with a speech therapist who says he has a slight case of apraxia. He's been working with her 2-3 times a week for the past six months and he went from that to having a vocabulary of about 50 words that he says sponataneously.

There are still sounds he can't do. Like clicking his tounge like a horse, or saying words that have an O and a P sound next to each other, like OPEN, or saying words that begin with a sound involving a sort of closed mouth, like Fish. He doesn't even say ISH. He just gets stuck on it and gives up You can see him trying but it just doesn't happen.

It hasn't really affected his behavior yet, since he's not in school, but my guess is he's going to be frustrated if he doesn't catch up with his peers.

Right now, his speech is sort of at the level of a 18 month old, which means he's not officially delayed, since he's 21 months and falls within the 18-24 month range. However, there are things he catches on to fast and others which seem to present a physical difficulty for him (which is where the apraxia comes in) which is what scares me for him.

Still, early intervention is key and hopefully we caught it early enough to make a difference in the long run.
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the world's best mom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Mar 09 2011, 10:49 pm
amother wrote:
the world's best mom wrote:
I have one child with verbal apraxia and one who has verbal and oral apraxia. That is much more severe and he has no oral awareness at all. He also has all over apraxia- trouble using his hands well. It can be tough dealing with these things.

If your child only has verbval apraxia, then a lot of speech therapy should work well. My dd's speech has improved tons over the 3 years that she's been getting therapy. It's only ds who, after a year and a half of speech therapy, still can't say a single word and only has about 3 sounds that he can produce with difficulty.


I guess there really must be a genetic component to apraxia. I'm so worried that my other child and future children might have it as well. B"H, my eldest is a bright, sociable kid with an above average understanding of spoken language - he just can't express himself verbally. He does have quite a few approximations, though they are still below the expected number of words that a child his age should have. We are providing him with 2-3 sessions of speech therapy a week.

Have you taught your son signs? Can he communicate with gestures? Is your daughter able to be in a regular classroom? I'm worried that the Jewish schools won't be able to handle a bright child who can't speak.

Yes, there is a genetic factor there. I have never had a speech problem, B"H, but I have siblings who did and my dh also has siblings with apraxia.

I taught ds some signs, but they were very difficult for him to learn due to his limited use of his hands. He made up his own sign for "open" because the standard one was too hard. He signs "I want" and "more" and "all done". He just learned to nod his head and to wave.

Dd is in a regular kindergarten with a SEIT to help her be understood. Next year she'll be too old for a SEIT, but she has improved so much lately that I'm not worried. she'll be fine.

And BTW, dd gets speech therapy 5 times a week, and ds gets 4 sessions a week, plus I take him to a special school twice a week that has a speech based program.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Mar 10 2011, 11:21 am
One kid with suspected verbal apraxia. Took him to speech as he was drooling at age 3. He also has low muscle tone. I wonder if he also has moter apraxia.

My other is 2 3/4. He says only a few words and skips out the first constant like ight for light. He goes to speech therapy only occasionally. Unfortunately we do not live in NY. It cost close to $100 a session here and I do not have the money. I am going to a government funded one but they give very few hours. I need to change providers.
We both get very frustrated that he does not talk.
I have a brother who had it and now you would never know. I suspect that my husband may of had it as he did not speak till age 3. It must be hereditary.
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