Childhood Apraxia

[skipper30]

Is there anyone here familar with Apraxia in children?

TIA

Dallas

[Fiddle-Faddle]

My nephew was diagnosed with apraxia of speech. Is that what you are talking about?

[skipper30]

Yes. Do you mind telling me how old your nephew is and how is is progressing?? We have one who has a diagnosis that seems to be leaning that way. I am just wondering what to expect. (Yes I know that all children are different..but it would be some sort of a reference point for us.)

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Well, he is 8 years old, and has had a lot of speech therapy. He didn't speak at all for at least 2 years, maybe 3--I'm not sure because my brother and sister-and-law didn't think there was a problem at first and really delayed any kind of testing. Things weren't helped by the fact that the nanny who took care of him while his parents were at work basically left him alone because he never fussed.

I also think that he is autistic--but, again, they think that he is just fine and get offended if I suggest anything. He has no eye contact, he doesn't respond to his name, and he seems unable to maintain back-and-forth conversations. He is obsessed with a website game about penguins, and doesn't seem to understand that it isn't real. I don't know anything about speech apraxia, so I don't know if that fits, but it does seem to fit on the autistic spectrum.

When he did learn to speak, he spoke in a very strange sing-song tone. He now speaks more normally, except for some individual words here and there that come out in a very sing-song tone. He is extremely musical--his mother is a very talented pianist, and his siblings all play instruments (he plays violin), so maybe that is at least part of the reason? At any rate, he is now able to speak quite clearly, and is able to answer direct questions (when he feels like responding). Academically, e is very bright, and is in all mainstream classes at school. He has playdates with friends, and my brother tells me that all they do is play video games.

I also have a friend whose son (I think he is 10) was diagnosed with apraxia of speech as well as PDD. She had kind of the opposite approach--she tackled everything head-on, full force. She also worked, but instead of hiring a nanny, she went to the local university speech therapy program, and hired students who were studying to be speech therapists as baby sitters. So, every possible moment was used to teach him what he needed.

I believe this kid lost both diagnoses several years ago, and is doing really, really well.

I don't know if this helps you any; I know much more about autism than I know about apraxia. Is there a gray area in between?

[skipper30]

Jake is 2 1/2 and is in speech, for almost 2 months. The SLP has noticed that he has very limited tongue movement and poor muscle tone with his lips. He is VERY behind verbally. He tested out at around 9-18 months. He tries to say a lot and is very social...he just has a very hard time with the words. His receptive language is very good. He just seems to understand way more than he can express. He has a few favorite sounds and uses those most of the time. Other's can not understand the vast majority of what he says.

The SLP said that he has a lot of sounds, he just can not coordinate them to use together.

I really do not think he would be considered for PDD-NOS or Autism...but maybe that is just the mommy in me wanting him to not have it.

I am just a littel overwhelmed with the thought of another child having something "major" to deal with. But then, it could definately be so much worse!!

Thanks for sharing!!

Dallas

[Fiddle-Faddle]

When he turns 3, you might consider signing him up for Suzuki violin lessons. It is very different from traditional violin lessons. The kids learn to play by ear, way before they learn to read music (just as we learn to speak language before we learn to read it), and they are given a celiac disease (of really pretty, and easy songs played by a great violinist)to listen to every day. These are the same songs they learn to play, starting with Twinkle Twinkle lLttle Star and some rhthmic variations. The emphasis is on learning to make a beautiful sound and, eventually, to play beautifully (NOT to become a child prodigy). The classes are fun, the kids love it--and I am convinced it develops some much-needed neurological pathways.

Both my nephew and my friend's son take Suzuki violin lessons (and my son does, too). It does require one parent to be present at all lessons AND to practice with the child (actiing as a sort of teacher's assistant ) every day. And, no, you do not need to have ever played an instrument before; the idea is that the parent and child learn together at the beginning.

A friend of mine had a severe brain injury from a horse back riding accident, and was in a coma for 4 motnhs. INitially, she lost all speech, but was eventually able to relearn speaking, although she sounds very different from what she sounded like before the accident. However, a mutual friend (who is a voice teacher) noticed that Becky could SING with perfect enunciation--but she had great difficulty pronouncing words clearly when she tried to speak them. The voice teacher said she had noticed something similar with friends who had had strokes. She couldn't explain it, except to speculate that the neurons fired correctly when singing, for some reason,a nd not when speaking.

I tried to make my friend sing everything, hoping that it would soon translate into being able to speak normally, but she said (truthfully) that she couldn't sing worth a darn before her accident, so she wasn't going to start now! But I still wonder.....

[ravenwoodglass]

My youngest child lost all her speech, she had been an early talker, at around 18 months. Her only form of verbalization was screams and biting. At first autism was of course thought of but we became very aggressive in trying to find aout why and it turned out that an ear infection that she had at about a year had filled her ears with fluid that never drained. We began putting in tubes, she ended up with 5 sets and eventually some hearing damage from the scars but it enabled her to hear well enough to learn to speech again with the help of a speech therapist. Her speech was very 'baby' like until she was in about the 3rd grade. She is also a celiac but was not diagnosed till age 17. This may have no relation to what is going on with you child but make sure they do through hearing tests, they had to sedate my D for hers and we had to travel to a major childrens hospital for the tests as the local hospital did not have the equipment. Make sure they have ruled out unknown hearing problems.

[GFBetsy]

The kids learn to play by ear, way before they learn to read music (just as we learn to speak language before we learn to read it), and they are given a celiac disease (of really pretty, and easy songs played by a great violinist)to listen to every day.

Does that ever bother the parents who never had to deal with celiac before they started music lessons? Aren't the auto correct features fabulous?

Skipper -

Have you tried ASL? I am not suggesting that you give up on the speech therapy, but you need to find a way to let him communicate in the meantime. And sign language can also help children connect meanings with individual words. And you help him work on the words at the same time as he signs, so that he will improve his pronunciation and the muscle tone in his mouth at the same time as he learns to communicate with his hands.