Apraxia

Childhood Apraxia of Speech…

Emotions upon emotions were felt and still arise about Trevor’s speech struggles.  He has been diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). 

A child with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech has difficulty programming and planning speech movements.   CAS is a motor speech disorder.  For reasons not yet fully understood, children with apraxia of speech have great difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for intelligible speech.  Production of words becomes more difficult with effort, but common phrases may sometimes be spoken spontaneously without effort.

“A” meaning absence of…

 Praxis, refers to "skilled movement."

Most of the information I am sharing with you is from Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA) http://www.apraxia-kids.org who believe “Every Child Deserves a Voice.” Awareness is important, because just looking at Trevor you cannot tell he struggles with speaking.

When I first researched apraxia, the best explanation I found and still refer to today is… comparing it to an adult who has suffered a stroke.  All the information is available within the brain, but they need to teach themselves how to get it “out.”

As a family we struggled through evaluations and rethinking information through sleepless nights as we determined how to assist Trevor.  It is extremely difficult to listen to and explain any developmental delays your child may encounter.  Starting mid-summer 2010, we began processes to help Trevor.  ND offers an Infant Development Program (ID) to children with special needs.  Trevor, after multiple evaluations and meetings, was accepted into the program in Sept 2010.  ID meets with Trevor once a week to follow progress and it is paid for by Medicaid (in ND).   After a few months of weekly visits we decided pediatric speech therapy was essential.  Sooo thankful for Medicaid eligibility to cover the remaining costs after our insurance!  Both programs are helping Trevor succeed daily.  Although it is a constant process to keep schedules running, it is worth every adaptation.

Just recently, we applied and were awarded an iPad to assist with Trevor’s speech and it has helped by leaps and bounds!  I will talk iPad later, but what a great “gadget” it has been to build his self-esteem… “talking” has picked up within our house in the last 2 months.  You cannot fully understand both Trevor (but at least he is verbal!!) and what that means to us as parents!  Thanks Spin for Kids Foundation for that opportunity. 

At times, it is a relief to me that Trevor’s current “diagnosis” contains the word “Childhood”… meaning, to me,  a place in time of which he will grow out of… As he progresses daily, I am so proud of him.  Yet there are always those thoughts in my mind of “what if” and “when.”

Some of the powerful words that helped me cope from CASANA—

“Your child is brimming with potential and is counting on your help so he or she can unfold the many gifts that lie inside of them.

and

 No matter what your child’s speech ability, he needs to have opportunities to simply be a child.”

I was finding it difficult again to write these thoughts, but it was one of my main reasons for starting this blog…helping me to cope with the everyday reasons families struggle, and apraxia is well established in our household. 

I have shared the link below under “my sites” for reference needs.