Re: IEP/Apraxia trained therapist

[Guest guest]

,

I thought I would answer this question because 1 year ago we received

the apraxia diagnosis 2 weeks before my son's IEP meeting. I scoured

everything I could and from what I read both the Kaufman cards as

well as the PROMPT technique were appropriate methods of therapy.

None of which my private therapist who at the time was with EI or the

school system used.

Now my dilemma, my a son had seen another EI therapist who was a

waste of my son's time. The new EI therapist who was not trained in

PROMPT or Kaufman cards was reaching my son in a month's time. He was

happy with her and was responding to her oral motor therapy as well

as maying eye contact on cue and using many word approximations. I

say many b/c 30-40 was many more then the previous 10! I kept her on

privately and my son has made tremendous improvements in a years

time. He now has more spontaneous speech, says 5-6 word sentences,

and his clarity is slow but is coming! My feeling was that as long as

they had a connection and he was making progress, why switch. The

PROMPT Institute was unable to provide me with the names of any

certified instructors within 60 miles. In the interim, our private

SLP has taken the first PROMPT class and is using the techniques with

her other techniques.

The school SLP indicated right off the bat that she had experience

with apraxic children and used a multi approach. With that how can

you argue she is not qualified. The school system has to provide what

is appropriate not the best. Additionally there is no research that

says PROMPT is the best, over any other cueing technique. In the

apraxic world we have seen it work wonders but concrete documentation

and research is hard to come by. Their web site has some interesting

research but from what I recall it was done on a small group. The

school SLP has ended up being effective as well. She does heavy oral

motor work which my son needed. She uses pictures as visual stimuli

to get my son to copy facial movements. She also works on pragmatics

which is also an important part of therapy. An added bonus, she

taught my son to say Mommy within a month!! The funny thing is we

have different definitions of what apraxia is. Being he has made so

much progress in a year it is hard to argue that he needs a different

SLP at school.

I guess my point is I am glad I did not get too hung up on what

technique was being used. I think a good SLP will incorporate all her

skills into therapy. The important thing is progress and the

connection between the therapist and the child. If progress is steady

and your child is not expressing a dislike for the therapist and

seems to be cooperating then I would go with it. I do think that a

child needs to get use to a therapist though, so you do need a little

time.

Hope this helps and feel free to write me off-line if you have any

more questions.

Mom to verbal apraxia 3.10

> Question: In regards to the school IEP, has anyone had any

experience in

> requesting/insisting that your child be seen by a speech therapist

who has

> experience with apraxia? Could you share with me your experience?

Thanks in

> advance!

>

>

> Mom to (3.5 years; developmental delays, hypotonia, apraxia)

and

> (22 months and a bundle of energy)

[Guest guest]

from the archives.

/message/4614

> Question: In regards to the school IEP, has anyone had any

experience in

> requesting/insisting that your child be seen by a speech therapist

who has

> experience with apraxia? Could you share with me your experience?

Thanks in

> advance!

>

>

> Mom to (3.5 years; developmental delays, hypotonia, apraxia)

and

> (22 months and a bundle of energy)

[Guest guest]

Hello,

My daughter's speech therapist is really good, she tries anything to reach

the child. We have a particular problem that I was wondering if anyone else

has run across. My daughter is hypotonic, and the low muscle tone appears

to be affecting the soft palette. So the sounds she makes seem to be coming

from her nose not her mouth and thus she cannot shape the sounds. Has

anyone ever dealt with low tone in the soft palette, or does anyone have any

ideas on how to strengthen the muscle tone of the soft palette?

Thanks for your input.

Deirdre

[Guest guest]

My son who is 4, may have something wrong with his palatte. My brother and

I both had a short palette and had corrective surgery done when we were

kids. We are suspecting it in Colin as well, but until he has connected

speech, the professionals will not evaluate him, which has been frustrating.

He has been diagnosed by his SLP as moderated expressive language delay due

to dysarthria, some degree of apraxia, and VPI. He also has low muscle tone

and a mild gross motor delay. Did your SLP discover the soft palatte being

affected? So far, Colin has visited a VPI clinic team at Cinncinnati

Children's Hopital in Ohio to evaluate his soft palatte. Hope others have

suggestions for both of us.

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

From: Deirdre Fisher [mailto:deirdrefisher@...]

Hello,

My daughter's speech therapist is really good, she tries anything to reach

the child. We have a particular problem that I was wondering if anyone else

has run across. My daughter is hypotonic, and the low muscle tone appears

to be affecting the soft palette. So the sounds she makes seem to be coming

from her nose not her mouth and thus she cannot shape the sounds. Has

anyone ever dealt with low tone in the soft palette, or does anyone have any

ideas on how to strengthen the muscle tone of the soft palette?

Thanks for your input.

Deirdre

[Guest guest]

,

What did the VPT clinic in Cinncinnati have to say about the low tone and

soft palate? Did they give you any suggestions on strengthening exercises?

Deirdre

> My son who is 4, may have something wrong with his palatte. My brother and

> I both had a short palette and had corrective surgery done when we were

> kids. We are suspecting it in Colin as well, but until he has connected

> speech, the professionals will not evaluate him, which has been

frustrating.

> He has been diagnosed by his SLP as moderated expressive language delay

due

> to dysarthria, some degree of apraxia, and VPI. He also has low muscle

tone

> and a mild gross motor delay. Did your SLP discover the soft palatte being

> affected? So far, Colin has visited a VPI clinic team at Cinncinnati

> Children's Hopital in Ohio to evaluate his soft palatte. Hope others have

> suggestions for both of us.

>