Speech Apraxia

[ZZBane]

I was not told that she was behind and none of her paperwork indicated anything. We had about five minutes with one of the orphanage nannies to ask any questions (with the aid of a translator) but I quickly figured out that this was not one of the nannies who regularly cared for her so the meeting was not helpful.



It took me a while to realize that I didn't need to keep explaining myself or my daughter or our unusual family or anything else. Sometimes, you do need to clarify something but most people are just being nosy and don't need an explanation.

For example, I may explain that my daughter is using signs but is not deaf so that people will talk directly to her but won't go into detail explaining her speech delays.

I have a biological son and an adopted daughter of a different race. Yes, I have gotten questions over the years. If someone is truly interested in what it takes to adopt because that might be their journey, I will take the time to have a conversation but when people are just being nosy, I deflect and don't answer.



My daughter started out needing all the things (OT,PT ST...) and they came to the house until she turned 3. Then I had to fight a little bit to get her services in the county where I worked and her daycare was rather than where we lived but once she got in, she got amazing services. At that time, she was at a special education center.

By the time I moved her back to our home county she received services in school and although she didn't have her own aid, there was an aid in the classroom. She used to get pulled from the classroom for Speech Therapy and reading intervention. Now, she is in middle school and one of her classes is reading intervention.

My schools have been amazing. They are always ready to throw services at her. They are super supportive.

I have a friend one county away who had such a bad experience with her school system that she actually sold her house and moved to my county for her special needs child.

My key pieces of advice are: Get help early and be prepared to be an advocate for your child.

That’s incredibly sad. But good for you for recognizing that she needed help in the first place.

I don’t even say he’s not deaf... I usually say “oh, he can’t talk yet” but almost in an apologetic way. Sometimes I feel like I’m failing my son because I don’t understand any of this myself. When we lived up north, no body cared. Everyone kept to themselves. But down here, everyone wants to know everything. Most days I don’t mind, but sometimes it’s exhausting.

I hope the schools around here are good. We live in Beverly Hills Florida. We don’t even have a Starbucks. There’s not a lot here at all and it’s very small. I haven’t heard anything bad about the schools, but we don’t really have options like we did up north. I do have a bit of time, but it doesn’t hurt to have a head start.

How awful about the school system your friend was in. Good for her for getting out of there! It’s sad that she had to make that decision to begin with.

Thank you! Your advice and your story is beyond appreciated

 

[ZZBane]

My son has apraxia and we are in Florida. Look up Early Steps Florida, call them and get an evaluation. That gets you free services through age 3. At age 3, my son entered a pre-K3 class at a public school that was specially for children with speech difficulties. The teacher was a speech pathologist and she made all the difference. Signs were very helpful.
He’s 7 now, still speech delayed. I have had him in private therapy and therapy through his school for years. He has come so far but his speech is still not perfect although he talks a lot.
The Miami Dade public schools provide very good services just make sure that you stay on top of getting them for him. Another thing to know is that if he goes to public school for at least a year but you feel it is not the best for him, the state of Florida has the McKay scholarship that provides money to send him to a private school.
Feel free to continue to ask questions - I learned most things from other parents.

Omg! Florida! We just moved here in June! From Pittsburgh. My son was in the early start program there, but not down here yet. How do you get into a pre-K3 class for speech? I’ve never heard of something like that. I’ve also never heard of the McKay scholarship. This is amazing information! Thank you!!!

 

[ZZBane]

My son has speech apraxia and he is 13 now, diagnosed around 2.5. He still struggles with enunciation and making certain letter sounds properly. He still cannot properly place his tongue and lips to make 's' and 'z.' He tends to speak very quickly now and sometimes people can't understand him. He is also autistic.

For us, the signs helped as well as the PECS for communication. He didn't actually start saying recognizable words until around 4-4.5 years old. He started to babble "ba ba ba" at age 3 and slowly worked up from there.

I will say, he used to have the MOST EPIC MELTDOWNS ever due to frustration/lack of communication that started at age 1.5 and continued until about age 8. As he has gotten better about expressing himself, and sharing his thoughts, they have tapered off considerably. He is a very sweet, kind kid and has never lashed out externally, but man, can he get worked up

My best advice to you is READ TO HIM EVERY DAY, NUMEROUS TIMES A DAY. This is a super important thing to do that will help SO much with learning speech patterns, cadence, rhythm, etc. Do not ever stop doing this. I still read to my teen son.

Also, do as much therapy as you feel is right, but don't overdo it. Let the kid be a kid too, you know? You may not have luck with a daycare/preschool situation until your child is 3 and can be eligible for public school district based special education. Many places won't take a kid with special needs and will kick out kids who have behaviors that are difficult to manage. Being around typical kids also doesn't help as much as you think it might, especially if there are other developmental issues at play. Mine had a hard time in just group speech therapy...he needs a very small, uncrowded environment to learn best. I would contact the state's Early Intervention service and get enrolled which will help provide additional resources at no cost to you, as well as get you ready to transition to district based services at 3. Speech apraxia is a qualifying condition for special education services, and depending on what that looks like in your area, may mean free all day preschool from ages 3-5. Both my kids had that and it was invaluable. We actually never paid anything for any therapies; as it was all covered by the state from 0-3, and then by the school district after that. Our medical insurance never came into play.

The meltdowns are intense and I never know what to do. When they are in public, I just want to crawl in a hole and cry. Sometimes he bites me or hits me. I try to to tell at him for trying to vent his frustrations because his feelings are valid, but I feel like I’m drowning sometimes. I also have no idea if these are “normal” tantrums.

I actually started reading to my son when he was a baby and we typically read about 3 books a night. I read that that was a good thing to do anyway. He loves books and especially letters. He tries very hard to pronounce them....but it’s just gibberish.

I’ll definitely be looking into Early Intervention here. He had it when we lived up north. He gets therapy right now covered by insurance 3 times a week for an hour each time. We’re also waiting on approval for OT.

 

[ZZBane]

Here is the website for the Florida Early Steps program. It’s the best way to start getting the services available to him.
http://www.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/childrens-health/early-steps/index.html

THANK YOU!!!!!

 

[ReneeA]

My son just turned 18 and was diagnosed with Apraxia at 2. At diagnosis, he could get out only one sound, like "deeee". I was very fortunate that my mom worked as a paraprofessional at an elementary school and recognized right away that he had a delay...he is my oldest and I just figured he was a little slow to talk.

He did one on one with a speech therapist twice a week, then program he was involved in developed a structured setting for 8-12 kids ages 3-5 that was similar to preschool but with a ST, PT, and OT. My son also had significant fine and gross motor skill delays as well, and from what we were told it is extremely common with kids with Apraxia. Most of the kids in the group had Apraxia or mild Autism.

Once he went to school, he continued with ST, PT, and OT once a week funded through the school district. I think he "graduated" at about 8, and at that time unless you knew him, you couldn't tell anything was wrong with his speech, other than having to slow down and think through multisyllabic words. He continued to struggle through school, and barely graduated...but I think it was more attention related and not caring about grades. He also still has gross motor skills issues - super clumsy and has a very strange gait that I attribute to his diagnosis. He's super social and likeable, but has just been super slow to mature (that may just be the boy in him though).

Good luck! My son's diagnosis, years of therapy and stressing about his future seems like just a blip now. I'd take those days in a heartbeat again over teen and early adult issues now.

 

[ZZBane]

My son just turned 18 and was diagnosed with Apraxia at 2. At diagnosis, he could get out only one sound, like "deeee". I was very fortunate that my mom worked as a paraprofessional at an elementary school and recognized right away that he had a delay...he is my oldest and I just figured he was a little slow to talk.

He did one on one with a speech therapist twice a week, then program he was involved in developed a structured setting for 8-12 kids ages 3-5 that was similar to preschool but with a ST, PT, and OT. My son also had significant fine and gross motor skill delays as well, and from what we were told it is extremely common with kids with Apraxia. Most of the kids in the group had Apraxia or mild Autism.

Once he went to school, he continued with ST, PT, and OT once a week funded through the school district. I think he "graduated" at about 8, and at that time unless you knew him, you couldn't tell anything was wrong with his speech, other than having to slow down and think through multisyllabic words. He continued to struggle through school, and barely graduated...but I think it was more attention related and not caring about grades. He also still has gross motor skills issues - super clumsy and has a very strange gait that I attribute to his diagnosis. He's super social and likeable, but has just been super slow to mature (that may just be the boy in him though).

Good luck! My son's diagnosis, years of therapy and stressing about his future seems like just a blip now. I'd take those days in a heartbeat again over teen and early adult issues now.

Thank you so much! My son has a lot of...interesting qualities. Haha he’s definitely different, but in the best way. Anytime he’s around other kids, it tends to come out a bit more. Or maybe it’s because it’s more noticeable then.

I appreciate your reply. I’m hoping Florida has a school similar to what you mention. I have a lot to look up and research this week.

I will say though, I’m not looking forward to the teen years. I feel like the bigger they are, the bigger the problems. He will also most likely be my only child. I’m taking all the cuddles I can get!

 

[chocolateavocado]

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[Reyna de Reynas]

My son is almost 2 1/2 and has speech apraxia. Does anyone else have a child with that? He’s in speech therapy 3 times a week and he’s making progress, but it’s very slow.
I’m just curious. At what age did it “click” for your kid? Was there a specific thing that seemed to help the most?
Sign language has helped tremendously as far as the frustration with lack of verbal communication, but as much as I’d like for him to continue to learn that, he seems to pick that up much easier than talking. So I’ve stopped teaching him new signs.

Idk. I just feel fairly alone in this and I was hoping someone else was going through it or went through it at some point with their kid and could give me a boost

My niece son is 18 months and does not talk at all. We are trying to see what signs other children with Apraxia had. He only grunts but no words. He is most of the time quite just looking around. We are taking him Tuesday to the district to see if he can get services with early intervention. He looks around and doesnt do much. We have tried to coach him to talk by repeating objects he points at and wants. Like not giving him a toy or a bottle till he trays to say it. But no luck with words or sound a that sound similar to what we are saying. For bottle he makes the sound ta that's it. Can you guys tell me the early signs your kids had and if they are similar to what he is experience

 

[mjkacmom]

My niece son is 18 months and does not talk at all. We are trying to see what signs other children with Apraxia had. He only grunts but no words. He is most of the time quite just looking around. We are taking him Tuesday to the district to see if he can get services with early intervention. He looks around and doesnt do much. We have tried to coach him to talk by repeating objects he points at and wants. Like not giving him a toy or a bottle till he trays to say it. But no luck with words or sound a that sound similar to what we are saying. For bottle he makes the sound ta that's it. Can you guys tell me the early signs your kids had and if they are similar to what he is experience

If he has no language he should be eligible for services. My son had no words at 18 months, turns out he just had weak mouth muscles (he was a big drooled). ST helped so much, he was no longer eligible at 3.

 

[ZZBane]

My niece son is 18 months and does not talk at all. We are trying to see what signs other children with Apraxia had. He only grunts but no words. He is most of the time quite just looking around. We are taking him Tuesday to the district to see if he can get services with early intervention. He looks around and doesnt do much. We have tried to coach him to talk by repeating objects he points at and wants. Like not giving him a toy or a bottle till he trays to say it. But no luck with words or sound a that sound similar to what we are saying. For bottle he makes the sound ta that's it. Can you guys tell me the early signs your kids had and if they are similar to what he is experience

I think my son was sort of like that. He was very vocal, just no actual words. He would point to something and just scream. There was a lot of early frustration due to lack of being able to communicate what he wanted. Sign language is a dream and has helped so much! Have they tried that with him? My son is also a bit developmentally delayed. The also think he may have hyperlexia and dyspraxia. He’s also having tremors, with a possibility of seizures. Idk if all of these things are because of one of these things or not. He goes to speech and OT 3 times a week for 2 hours through my insurance and then early start comes once a week to my house for speech. Get in with Early Start or Head Start or whatever it’s called in your area asap. The responses I have gotten on this thread are beyond helpful. My son has made incredible progress, but we still have a very long way to go. In April, he will be evaluated again to see if he qualifies for Early Start version of preschool.
Your niece will have to do some legwork, but the more help you can get him and the earlier it happens, the better.

 

[Reese'smom]

My son spent 4 years in speech starting at age 3. We thought we were going just for a speech delay and stuttering. We ended up with a sensory processing disorder diagnosis. He threw huge temper tantrums that we know now we’re a combination of being frustrated about communicating and not being regulated with his sensory needs. I would look into that too. Our son is now 9 and graduated from both speech and OT. The results were really great. He still mumbles some and speaks too quickly but you can understand almost everything. He pronounces all sounds correctly now. His problem stemmed from really not knowing at all how to move his mouth and tongue to make the correct sound. He has low sensitivity in his mouth. Now you would never know if has SPD. He’s a very intelligent child and a very hard worker because he’s used to working hard. These problems seemed huge and devastating when we were in the beginning but now sensory processing disorder seems like a gift. He’s very inquisitive about everything, very gifted thinker, a problem solver, sensitive to others needs. They told us he would never be able to participate in sports because he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the other kids. Now he was awarded defensive player of the year for his fall baseball team. Keep your head up and know that it is going to be ok.

 

[elaine amj]

My niece son is 18 months and does not talk at all. We are trying to see what signs other children with Apraxia had. He only grunts but no words. He is most of the time quite just looking around. We are taking him Tuesday to the district to see if he can get services with early intervention. He looks around and doesnt do much. We have tried to coach him to talk by repeating objects he points at and wants. Like not giving him a toy or a bottle till he trays to say it. But no luck with words or sound a that sound similar to what we are saying. For bottle he makes the sound ta that's it. Can you guys tell me the early signs your kids had and if they are similar to what he is experience

Sounds similar to my DS at that age. First word was at 18 months shortly before his assessment lol. He had apraxia and started therapy very early which really helped.

 

[low-key]

Things going to be ok, but try and get it on right track before school . Not same thing, but I couldnt pronounce my s,s , I grew out of it, maybe in junior high or first year of highschool, But the thing was it messed with my confidence , I woud never talk out loud in class, but if the teacher called on me, I would make sure I never said a word with a S in it