Re: Who can evaluate Apraxia?

April 26, 2002

Hi, I was having a hard time following who said what but I'l;l give

it a shot. I don't know what you meant by IU

The ASHA says a SLP can make the diagnosis but also recognizes that

not all SLPs have an expertise in apraxia and may not be able to do

so. Just like you wouldn't go to a foot doctor for a headache

Why not ask the dev. ped. why she thinks it is apraxia. Not all

apraxic children are autistic. From what I understand some kids in

the autistic spectrum have language.

As far as an Ot diagnosing that is a new one. Sure they may be able

to spot the soft signs of low tone, unless they deal with apraxic

kids regularly, I am not sure where that statement comes from.

He will be evaluated by the school SLP.

Hope I haven't confused you more.

denise

> Hi Listmates, My son is 5 1/2 yrs old, Autistic & non-verbal. His

Developmental Pediatrician at CHOP(Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia) dx him with verbal apraxia. The Early Intervention

School that my son is going to.. his Temp. Part-time SLP is

questioning his dx. She asked who made the dx.. I told her. She got

very annoyed and said that a Develop. Ped was not qualified to make

that dx that only a SLP can! IU says only a Neropysch can.. others

say SLP & OT together must make that dx.. My son has been under his

Develp Ped. care for two years.. I really like her BUT she did no

testing.. She verbal made this dx over the phone and I am trying to

get paperwork from her stating this is the dx she is making for .

If he has Apriaxia..fine and if he doesnt then I want to know. I have

also been told that ALL AUTISTIC kids have apraxia??? I have never

heard that before.. I have called an IEP Review to address speech

issues and will be having a transition IEP by June with the SD.. I

need to have my ducks in a row for ESY & Sept. Kindergarten. Please

Help!!

>

April 26, 2002

Regarding your question as to whether all autistic children are apraxic --

the answer to that is " no " according to our experts at Kennedy Krieger in

Baltimore . . . but the incidence of co-existing conditions is fairly high.

-BJ in polis, MD

April 26, 2002

,

The first person who gave us a diagnosis was a SLP

from Boston children's, her diagnosis was not in ger

report but was given to me off the record, sort of as

a " Oh by the way " but she also told me to take him to

a psychologist. He was diagnosed by the psychologist

as having at risk for PDD. Not all children with PDD

spectrum disorders have Apraxia, but remember that

alot of children get misdiagnosed all the time for

things they do not have. So before you make yourself

crazy, Ask the Pediatrican why she thinks your son has

apraxai, and then ask the slp why she disagrees with

the ped. Trust your instincts, If you disagree with

the ped. get another opinion by a slp.

I hope I was helpful.

Eileen

--- M Jameison <mjameison@...> wrote:

> Hi Listmates, My son is 5 1/2 yrs old, Autistic &

> non-verbal. His Developmental Pediatrician at

> CHOP(Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) dx him

> with verbal apraxia. The Early Intervention School

> that my son is going to.. his Temp. Part-time SLP is

> questioning his dx. She asked who made the dx.. I

> told her. She got very annoyed and said that a

> Develop. Ped was not qualified to make that dx that

> only a SLP can! IU says only a Neropysch can..

> others say SLP & OT together must make that dx.. My

> son has been under his Develp Ped. care for two

> years.. I really like her BUT she did no testing..

> She verbal made this dx over the phone and I am

> trying to get paperwork from her stating this is the

> dx she is making for . If he has Apriaxia..fine

> and if he doesnt then I want to know. I have also

> been told that ALL AUTISTIC kids have apraxia??? I

> have never heard that before.. I have called an IEP

> Review to address speech issues and will be having a

> transition IEP by June with the SD.. I need to have

> my ducks in a row for ESY & Sept. Kindergarten.

> Please Help!!

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

__________________________________________________

April 26, 2002

Hi :

Let's take your email in parts:

" Hi Listmates, My son is 5 1/2 yrs old, Autistic & non-verbal. His

Developmental Pediatrician at CHOP(Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia) dx him with verbal apraxia. The Early Intervention

School that my son is going to.. his Temp. Part-time SLP is

questioning his dx. She asked who made the dx.. I told her. She got

very annoyed and said that a Develop. Ped was not qualified to make

that dx that only a SLP can! "

My, my, my, aren't WE full of ourselves !!!

A physician trained in the neurodevelopmental assessment of children

can most certainly make a diagnosis of CVA. The greater question is,

do we have the diagnostic tools to determine the SEVERITY of the CVA.

Those of us who have a background in and are trained in the proper

diagnostic tools can assess the severity of his impairment, just as a

speech pathologist can, as well as the severity of his autism. No

one of us is a mystical wizard who is all knowing and all seeing, and

is the sole source of knowledge to make a diagnosis. I think your

speech pathologist might try a little humble pie for lunch today...

" I have also been told that ALL AUTISTIC kids have apraxia??? I have

never heard that before.. "

Nonsense, one condition has nothing to do with the other. Apraxia is

the combination of an expressive language disorder, fine motor

dyscoordination, and oral motor dysfunction. SOME autistic children

happen to be apraxic, and some apraxic children have social

relatedness problems. Bottom line, the two conditions are not

syndromically linked (yet).

Hope this helps,

Good luck at the meeting,

Larry Laveman, MD

Consultant, CHERAB

http://www.apraxia.cc

> Hi Listmates, My son is 5 1/2 yrs old, Autistic & non-verbal. His

Developmental Pediatrician at CHOP(Children's Hospital of

April 29, 2002

Eileen,

What SLP has your son seen at Children's? Wiley has seen alana hennesey and

jean funk so far. Any recommendations?? Mucho Gratias. I'm off to order

some proefa online now. I fed Wiley a fish stick this morning and no

reactions. I'm shocked he was willing to eat it at all. Good, though! He

should be talking in no time!!! (wink)

Betsy

>From: eileen galusha <seanzonigal@...>

>Reply-

>

>Subject: Re: [ ] Who can evaluate Apraxia?

>Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 04:39:46 -0700 (PDT)

>

>,

>The first person who gave us a diagnosis was a SLP

>from Boston children's, her diagnosis was not in ger

>report but was given to me off the record, sort of as

>a " Oh by the way " but she also told me to take him to

>a psychologist. He was diagnosed by the psychologist

>as having at risk for PDD. Not all children with PDD

>spectrum disorders have Apraxia, but remember that

>alot of children get misdiagnosed all the time for

>things they do not have. So before you make yourself

>crazy, Ask the Pediatrican why she thinks your son has

>apraxai, and then ask the slp why she disagrees with

>the ped. Trust your instincts, If you disagree with

>the ped. get another opinion by a slp.

>I hope I was helpful.

>Eileen

>--- M Jameison <mjameison@...> wrote:

> > Hi Listmates, My son is 5 1/2 yrs old, Autistic &

> > non-verbal. His Developmental Pediatrician at

> > CHOP(Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) dx him

> > with verbal apraxia. The Early Intervention School

> > that my son is going to.. his Temp. Part-time SLP is

> > questioning his dx. She asked who made the dx.. I

> > told her. She got very annoyed and said that a

> > Develop. Ped was not qualified to make that dx that

> > only a SLP can! IU says only a Neropysch can..

> > others say SLP & OT together must make that dx.. My

> > son has been under his Develp Ped. care for two

> > years.. I really like her BUT she did no testing..

> > She verbal made this dx over the phone and I am

> > trying to get paperwork from her stating this is the

> > dx she is making for . If he has Apriaxia..fine

> > and if he doesnt then I want to know. I have also

> > been told that ALL AUTISTIC kids have apraxia??? I

> > have never heard that before.. I have called an IEP

> > Review to address speech issues and will be having a

> > transition IEP by June with the SD.. I need to have

> > my ducks in a row for ESY & Sept. Kindergarten.

> > Please Help!!

> >

> > [Non-text portions of this message have been

> > removed]

> >

>

>__________________________________________________

>

April 30, 2002

Dear Betsy,

I took Jack to Kerry Howland at Boston children's who

was very good. Another great place that I take Jack to

is Developmental Consulting services in Somerville,

where they will follow Jack until he is 21. They have

a developmental pediatrician, slp and pt there.

Another great place and people. where are you living I

am in New hampshire, but grew up in massachusetts.

Eileen mom to Jack and

--- Burt <bhollywood333@...> wrote:

> Eileen,

> What SLP has your son seen at Children's? Wiley has

> seen alana hennesey and

> jean funk so far. Any recommendations?? Mucho

> Gratias. I'm off to order

> some proefa online now. I fed Wiley a fish stick

> this morning and no

> reactions. I'm shocked he was willing to eat it at

> all. Good, though! He

> should be talking in no time!!! (wink)

> Betsy

April 30, 2002

Hi, Eileen. Thanks for the tip. I am living in Hatfield, MA, which is 10

minutes north of Northampton - UMASS Amherst area / Western Mass. I am

originally from West Roxbury (Boston) but I lived my teen years in Florida.

It's definitely been nice to have Boston Children's relatively nearby as

some of the bedside manners out this way leave a lot to be desired. My

father lived for awhile in Southern New Hampshire after my parents split - I

want to say Derry but maybe that is just a made-up name - near Nashua I

think. How do you like it?

Western Mass is alright - a tad (underestimation) DULL, but it can be

pretty. My husband teaches English at UMASS. And so we're a bit stuck

here. (I was an English major at UMASS, hence...) I've never heard of the

Somerville place - Wiley had his developmental eval done recently at

Children's. He is reported to have an Expressive Language Disorder, Motor

Coordination Disorder (low tone), and ... uh? what was the other?? Oh yeah,

Mild Global Developmental Delay. Unknown etiology. Ah, the thrills of

parenthood!! Have you tried the ProEFA? I ordered some today. Costly

stuff!

Betsy

>Dear Betsy,

>I took Jack to Kerry Howland at Boston children's who

>was very good. Another great place that I take Jack to

>is Developmental Consulting services in Somerville,

>where they will follow Jack until he is 21. They have

>a developmental pediatrician, slp and pt there.

>Another great place and people. where are you living I

>am in New hampshire, but grew up in massachusetts.

>Eileen mom to Jack and

>--- Burt <bhollywood333@...> wrote:

> > Eileen,

> > What SLP has your son seen at Children's? Wiley has

> > seen alana hennesey and

> > jean funk so far. Any recommendations?? Mucho

> > Gratias. I'm off to order

> > some proefa online now. I fed Wiley a fish stick

> > this morning and no

> > reactions. I'm shocked he was willing to eat it at

> > all. Good, though! He

> > should be talking in no time!!! (wink)

> > Betsy

April 30, 2002

Dear Betsy,

I live in Derry. Just moved here 2 months ago. Boston

children's is the best and Jack went there for

physical therapy there to. He has a brachial plexus

injury from birth and I refused to go to the local

hospital where I lived. I moved from Marblehead to

here. I had a bad expierence with the neurologist and

PT at the hospital so I said no more. I even took my

other son to a pediatric cardiologist when he was 6

weeks old for a heart murmer. It is a great

hospital!!!

while I like New hampshire, I just do not know anyone

here so feel a little lonely, my husband works in

boston, so he is not here all that often, and no

babysitter. So While I love being with my kids it

would be nice to get out once in a while! I am sure

once JAck starts his pre school in September I will

meet other parents.

Jack has moderate oral Apraxia, Sensory Intergration

dysfunction and a possible auditory processing issue,

but it is too soon for an official diagnosis. But I

tend to think he has. His sensory issues are

processing too so it all ties in together. Jack is

also Low toned everywhere in his body. But he is doing

very well, and has made unbelievable progress, and I

contribute the progress for his apraxia, form the

Pro-efa's. You can actually see Jack and read his

story from Liz s site. But the funny thing is I

don't know how to write her Web address down. Don't

ask me why, I have it in my favorites, so I always

just press that and it goes to it. I should ask her

what the exact address is. Sorry.

You can look in the archives of messages and look up

" Another Great success story " under liz millers name.

It will tell you all about Jack and our awesome

success with the efa's.

Sincerely,

Eileen

--- Burt <bhollywood333@...> wrote:

> Hi, Eileen. Thanks for the tip. I am living in

> Hatfield, MA, which is 10

> minutes north of Northampton - UMASS Amherst area /

> Western Mass. I am

> originally from West Roxbury (Boston) but I lived my

> teen years in Florida.

> It's definitely been nice to have Boston Children's

> relatively nearby as

> some of the bedside manners out this way leave a lot

> to be desired. My

> father lived for awhile in Southern New Hampshire

> after my parents split - I

> want to say Derry but maybe that is just a made-up

> name - near Nashua I

> think. How do you like it?

> Western Mass is alright - a tad (underestimation)

> DULL, but it can be

> pretty. My husband teaches English at UMASS. And

> so we're a bit stuck

> here. (I was an English major at UMASS, hence...)

> I've never heard of the

> Somerville place - Wiley had his developmental eval

> done recently at

> Children's. He is reported to have an Expressive

> Language Disorder, Motor

> Coordination Disorder (low tone), and ... uh? what

> was the other?? Oh yeah,

> Mild Global Developmental Delay. Unknown etiology.

> Ah, the thrills of

> parenthood!! Have you tried the ProEFA? I ordered

> some today. Costly

> stuff!

> Betsy

>

> >Dear Betsy,

> >I took Jack to Kerry Howland at Boston children's

> who

> >was very good. Another great place that I take Jack

> to

> >is Developmental Consulting services in Somerville,

> >where they will follow Jack until he is 21. They

> have

> >a developmental pediatrician, slp and pt there.

> >Another great place and people. where are you

> living I

> >am in New hampshire, but grew up in massachusetts.

> >Eileen mom to Jack and

> >--- Burt <bhollywood333@...>

> wrote:

> > > Eileen,

> > > What SLP has your son seen at Children's? Wiley

> has

> > > seen alana hennesey and

> > > jean funk so far. Any recommendations?? Mucho

> > > Gratias. I'm off to order

> > > some proefa online now. I fed Wiley a fish

> stick

> > > this morning and no

> > > reactions. I'm shocked he was willing to eat it

> at

> > > all. Good, though! He

> > > should be talking in no time!!! (wink)

> > > Betsy

>

__________________________________________________

April 30, 2002

Hi, Eileen. Imagine that - Derry. So I wasn't making it up. Well I've

spent lots of time there skating by myself on ponds and it was very pretty

and very lonely. How far is Derry from Portsmouth? I go up there from time

to time - perhaps we could do lunch or something if I'm up that way some

time this summer. I can imagine it gets a little jiggy with your husband

working in Boston. only teaches 2 classes so he goes on to campus

twice a week, then a meeting here and there, but mainly I have him to myself

on most days. (When he's not at some conference - Singapore in June, I

could kill him!!!) Wiley starts preschool in November (he's 3 nov. 1) EIP

has questioned SID with Wiley; he has a feeding disorder so most foods he

has trouble handling. Does oral apraxia affect Jack's ability to eat? With

the low tone and tactile sensitivity, Wiley rejects a lot of foods, though

he's a bit of a junk food addict (ooops...) and will do a fair variety -

just not into a lot of textures. Doesn't have the strength to do meat -

takes a long time chewing, gets bored in the midst of eating, and gives up

before he's taken in enough, so he has a g-tube which I'm looking to get rid

of this year hopefully. Do you have an oral motor program in place for

Jack? I'm supposed to toy with chewy tubes and nuk brushes ad nauseum every

day, but I've been playing hookey a bit on it lately, paying more attention

to his speech and physical activity - must get back into a rhythm soon

though.

Oops - there's the phone.

Betsy

>Dear Betsy,

>I live in Derry. Just moved here 2 months ago. Boston

>children's is the best and Jack went there for

>physical therapy there to. He has a brachial plexus

>injury from birth and I refused to go to the local

>hospital where I lived. I moved from Marblehead to

>here. I had a bad expierence with the neurologist and

>PT at the hospital so I said no more. I even took my

>other son to a pediatric cardiologist when he was 6

>weeks old for a heart murmer. It is a great

>hospital!!!

>while I like New hampshire, I just do not know anyone

>here so feel a little lonely, my husband works in

>boston, so he is not here all that often, and no

>babysitter. So While I love being with my kids it

>would be nice to get out once in a while! I am sure

>once JAck starts his pre school in September I will

>meet other parents.

>Jack has moderate oral Apraxia, Sensory Intergration

>dysfunction and a possible auditory processing issue,

>but it is too soon for an official diagnosis. But I

>tend to think he has. His sensory issues are

>processing too so it all ties in together. Jack is

>also Low toned everywhere in his body. But he is doing

>very well, and has made unbelievable progress, and I

>contribute the progress for his apraxia, form the

>Pro-efa's. You can actually see Jack and read his

>story from Liz s site. But the funny thing is I

>don't know how to write her Web address down. Don't

>ask me why, I have it in my favorites, so I always

>just press that and it goes to it. I should ask her

>what the exact address is. Sorry.

>You can look in the archives of messages and look up

> " Another Great success story " under liz millers name.

>It will tell you all about Jack and our awesome

>success with the efa's.

>Sincerely,

>Eileen

May 1, 2002

> Hi, Eileen. Imagine that - Derry. So I wasn't

> making it up. Well I've

> spent lots of time there skating by myself on ponds

> and it was very pretty

> and very lonely. How far is Derry from Portsmouth?

I don't know how far it is from portsmouth, all I know

is that Portsmouth is on the coast and Derry isn't.

May 7, 2002

Hi Dr. Laveman, Thank you so much for responding to my post. I was wondering if

you could e-mail privately? I received my response from 's Developmental

Ped. and I have a feeling the Intermediate Unit is going to really dig into the

letter with a pitch fork! I wanted to ask your thoughts on some things. Thanks

Again.

----- Original Message -----