May is "Better Hearing and Speech" month. May 14th is Apraxia Awareness Day (celebrated this year for the first time).
There is a chance that Patrick has Speech Apraxia.
I began to get desperate about Patrick's slow improvement in his speech. His speech therapist has been trying to help us with his behavior issues as well, so not much has been done regarding his speech. The most frustrating thing of all, is to not know exactly what the problem is. Is he stutter? Is he dyslexic? Can someone please give me a name, so I can read about it and know how to better help him? Patrick is still too young to give a specific diagnosis on his verbal delay, but I needed to speed up the process, so I decided to get myself educated in speech delay, by researching information online. A speech delay website recommended this book, and given the great reviews on amazon, I ordered it in a heart beat. I also came across this video which also had great reviews from parents. Patrick doesn't like watching TV, but, who cared at that point, I was (and still am) ready to try anything that can potentially help him, so I went ahead and ordered it as well. (No, I'm not going to have him try Nutriivida despite the claim that these diet pills help children with Apraxia and Autism)
While waiting for amazon to deliver my orders, I continued reading stuff online the next couple of days, and I came across this website which explained the characteristics of a child with speech apraxia, and the more I read, the more I felt that the website was describing Patrick. Before switching my google search from "speech delay" to "apraxia", I thought I should get a second opinion from the person that knows Patrick as well as I do: his daddy. I shared the link with my husband, without saying anything, and when he finished reading he said "that's Patrick".
I was excited. I had a name to his problem. I also had received the video and book and Patrickliked loved the DVD. For the first time in his life, he sat to watch something for more than 5 minutes. Go big or go home? He watched the whole 40 minutes of it. We were on track. Except, I was about to discover that this new track could be filled with obstacles: Apraxia isn't an easy thing, as a matter of fact, it's quite a pretty serious disorder.
"Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) causes children to have extreme difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, and palate that are necessary for the production of proper speech. It is among the most severe of speech and communication problems in children. While the act of learning to speak comes effortlessly to most children, those with apraxia endure an incredible and lengthy struggle. Although not life threatening it is life altering as families are left to cope with the emotional, physical, and financial challenges of having a child diagnosed with CAS. With early intervention and appropriate therapy, most children with CAS will learn to communicate with their very own voices."
I don't want Patrick to have Apraxia. (Heck, I don't want Patrick to have any of the health issues he has, but he does have them, and we have to live with that fact.) I talked to his speech therapist, but she said it may be too early to give him this diagnosis. She believes that while Patrick presents some of the characteristics of verbal apraxia, he is also able to do some other things that children with apraxia are usually not able to do. However, she doesn't want to rule out the possibility given that Patrick has visual apraxia (Oculomotor Apraxia).
The more I learn about verbal apraxia, the more I realize the hurdles that could come, but I must focus on the happy ending, and figure out a way to get there soon. After all, if it's not a happy ending, then it's not the end yet, right? It happened with walking. I did fear he wouldn't walk, but he eventually did, he does, he runs. We have to get him to talk too.While we get to the happy ending, let's work on the story, and let's try to make his story the least difficult possible. Hopefully soon we will learn that Patrick does not have speech apraxia, and just some minor speech disorder or even better, just a speech delay. But that doesn't change the fact that right now, at 30 months of age, he is still not able to put two words together, and 95% of his single words aren't even words but just mere approximations that nobody is able to understand but me and his dad.
This is why I'm writing this today. I'm honoring Apraxia day by giving you an overview about Apraxia, and sharing with you our struggles as parents. One of the things I fear the most, is my son being bullied, or simply having to hear constantly from other kids "mom, what is wrong with that kid?" while being pointed at. If more people are aware of these disorders, we could help kids overcome the emotional distress that their inability to express themselves like most kids causes them. I invite you to share this post, or this link, so that when you see a 5 year old child that isn't able to talk properly, but that otherwise looks completely "normal" you don't ask yourself "what is wrong with this kid?", and instead, offer a warm smile and treat him like any other child.
Every child deserves a voice!
There is a chance that Patrick has Speech Apraxia.
I began to get desperate about Patrick's slow improvement in his speech. His speech therapist has been trying to help us with his behavior issues as well, so not much has been done regarding his speech. The most frustrating thing of all, is to not know exactly what the problem is. Is he stutter? Is he dyslexic? Can someone please give me a name, so I can read about it and know how to better help him? Patrick is still too young to give a specific diagnosis on his verbal delay, but I needed to speed up the process, so I decided to get myself educated in speech delay, by researching information online. A speech delay website recommended this book, and given the great reviews on amazon, I ordered it in a heart beat. I also came across this video which also had great reviews from parents. Patrick doesn't like watching TV, but, who cared at that point, I was (and still am) ready to try anything that can potentially help him, so I went ahead and ordered it as well. (No, I'm not going to have him try Nutriivida despite the claim that these diet pills help children with Apraxia and Autism)
While waiting for amazon to deliver my orders, I continued reading stuff online the next couple of days, and I came across this website which explained the characteristics of a child with speech apraxia, and the more I read, the more I felt that the website was describing Patrick. Before switching my google search from "speech delay" to "apraxia", I thought I should get a second opinion from the person that knows Patrick as well as I do: his daddy. I shared the link with my husband, without saying anything, and when he finished reading he said "that's Patrick".
I was excited. I had a name to his problem. I also had received the video and book and Patrick
"Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) causes children to have extreme difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, and palate that are necessary for the production of proper speech. It is among the most severe of speech and communication problems in children. While the act of learning to speak comes effortlessly to most children, those with apraxia endure an incredible and lengthy struggle. Although not life threatening it is life altering as families are left to cope with the emotional, physical, and financial challenges of having a child diagnosed with CAS. With early intervention and appropriate therapy, most children with CAS will learn to communicate with their very own voices."
I don't want Patrick to have Apraxia. (Heck, I don't want Patrick to have any of the health issues he has, but he does have them, and we have to live with that fact.) I talked to his speech therapist, but she said it may be too early to give him this diagnosis. She believes that while Patrick presents some of the characteristics of verbal apraxia, he is also able to do some other things that children with apraxia are usually not able to do. However, she doesn't want to rule out the possibility given that Patrick has visual apraxia (Oculomotor Apraxia).
The more I learn about verbal apraxia, the more I realize the hurdles that could come, but I must focus on the happy ending, and figure out a way to get there soon. After all, if it's not a happy ending, then it's not the end yet, right? It happened with walking. I did fear he wouldn't walk, but he eventually did, he does, he runs. We have to get him to talk too.While we get to the happy ending, let's work on the story, and let's try to make his story the least difficult possible. Hopefully soon we will learn that Patrick does not have speech apraxia, and just some minor speech disorder or even better, just a speech delay. But that doesn't change the fact that right now, at 30 months of age, he is still not able to put two words together, and 95% of his single words aren't even words but just mere approximations that nobody is able to understand but me and his dad.
This is why I'm writing this today. I'm honoring Apraxia day by giving you an overview about Apraxia, and sharing with you our struggles as parents. One of the things I fear the most, is my son being bullied, or simply having to hear constantly from other kids "mom, what is wrong with that kid?" while being pointed at. If more people are aware of these disorders, we could help kids overcome the emotional distress that their inability to express themselves like most kids causes them. I invite you to share this post, or this link, so that when you see a 5 year old child that isn't able to talk properly, but that otherwise looks completely "normal" you don't ask yourself "what is wrong with this kid?", and instead, offer a warm smile and treat him like any other child.
Every child deserves a voice!
Lupita, you are so amazing to document everything you're learning on top of everything else you do as a mom every day. Being a parent is so much work, and I know how much extra work you and Tim are doing with Patrick to help him--we do what we have to do for our kids, so you probably don't give much thought to it because you love him and want the best for him, but know that all of your efforts are not unnoticed.
ReplyDeleteIt really touches my heart to read your posts, because you *are* overcoming the obstacles that come your way--I know there are more things yet to overcome, but your successes so far are extraordinary. Patrick is such an incredible kid, and I know he's going to be able to thank you himself someday soon for all you two are doing for him. But for now, mom to mom, I want to thank you for being such an inspiration to me and for loving that sweet little boy as much as you do. <3
Lupita thank you for writing this...I too am struggling to find the cause of my son's speech delay. What you wrote is so familiar...slow progress with speech therapy, struggling to find answers. My son is 29 months old and also does not have any two word phrases, no two syllable words, and most of the words he does have are approximations. A lot of those are very similar too ("ca" can mean car, popcorn, cake, pancake, etc.).
ReplyDeleteHi Dana, thank you for sharing this and reading my blog. I know exactly what you mean about all the word approximations being similar... Patrick used to say "ba" for so many things (ball, bath, pacifier...), and also used "ca" and "pu" a lot. Now he is 34 months, and he started improving significantly recently. He is FINALLY using two words (bye mommy, go tide (go outside), baby sit...) and he is more interested in repeating two- or three-word syllables. I'm very excited about the improvements, although the concern is still there as to whether he has or not apraxia or dyspraxia, because his articulation is still poor. He is taking a break from speech therapies, since he just started school and I want to see if that helps him like most people tell me. After seeing the recent improvements, I have to say that it makes more optimistic, and I'm sure your son will follow the same path. Have you read my other posts related to speech delay and the things we did to help him? You can find them here: http://overcomingtinyobstacles.blogspot.com/search/label/speech%20delay
DeleteI learned very recently about PROMPT speech therapies, I wonder if Patrick would benefit from that. If you do anything specific that helps your child, I would love to know, so please check back and write a note! Good luck with your little one!