Therapies

October 30, 2002

Hi Theresa,

Welcome aboard. You will find that this group has wonderful people

who are willing to share their experiences.

I have 2 boys both dx with dypraxia at a very young age and in both

in therapy since the age of 17 and a half months). I took some time

to go through the learning curve but once I did started prompt

and has been doing it since although has severe SID revolving being

touched. As for my younger son since his first session of therapy

(at 17 months) we have used prompt. Noah is dx with profound

dyspraxia and all I can say is it has made a world of difference. I

feel that there is no harm in trying most things and if it works for

your child then GREAT. Hope this helps and let me know if I can

help more.

Hugs,

(age 4.6 yrs, dyspraxia, hypotonia, SID)

Noah (age 2.4 yrs, profound dyspraxia, hypotonia, hypermobile

joints, SID, stopped eating almost all foods Sept 2001)

> Hi everyone, I am new to the listserv and have been reading with

interest

> everyone's postings, most especially the ones about the Kaufman

therapy kits.

>

> Our son Will just turned 3 last month. He was diagnosed with

apraxia in July

> (after repeated requests on our part) and sensory integration

issues.

The SLPs are saying that Will is not ready for

> PROMPT, because he needs to first learn to blow/exhale through his

mouth, and

> because he is hypersensitive to being touched around his mouth

(which is one

> of the goals that the OTs are working on). Has anyone seen/heard

that this

> is the case? I also asked them about the Kaufman Kits, and they

said I might

> as well get it to start trying /working with him at home. But not

to expect

> too much initially because of the same issues. The private SLP

says that she

> does use the techniques of the Kaufman Kits, she just doesn't have

them. The

> school's SLP considers it a success when Will points to a picture

when he

> wants a drink (my husband doesn't like her).

>

> FYI, we sometimes hear words but they are not consistent. I think

that's one

> of the telltale signs of apraxia? This morning I said " Good

Morning, Will, "

> and he replied, " Morreee! " which is probably his most consistent

word.

>

> -Theresa, mom to Will (3) and (16 months) who was also

recently found

> eligible for early intervention services.

October 30, 2002

> He did really well with

> the PT and went from being 8 months delayed in gross motor skills

to 3 months

> delayed, so during the IEP in June they told us that he no longer

needs PT.

I would re-evaluate in a few months to make sure he is still within

age guidelines.

> For this school year, Will is in an integrated classroom with 13

typical

> 3-year-olds and 2 other special needs kids. Each week, he receives

1 hour of

> OT, 90 minutes of SLT, and 23 hours of reinforcements from the

special ed

> teacher or her assistant at school. Since August, we have also

been taking

> him to a private OT and SLP for additional therapies.

Sounds great!

>

> My questions are these. The SLPs are saying that Will is not ready

for

> PROMPT, because he needs to first learn to blow/exhale through his

mouth, and

> because he is hypersensitive to being touched around his mouth

(which is one

> of the goals that the OTs are working on). Has anyone seen/heard

that this

> is the case?

I can understand the mouth sensitivity but not the blowing and

exhaling. I do know that if you e-mail PROMPT directly off their web

site you'll receive an answer about the blowing. The SLP may mean

that he needs more oral motor to actually get the sounds produced. My

son was already blowing when he started gettig PROMPT and he had

already gotten past the touching sensitivities so it is hard for me

to use his experience.

I also asked them about the Kaufman Kits, and they said I might

> as well get it to start trying /working with him at home. But not

to expect

> too much initially because of the same issues. The private SLP

says that she

> does use the techniques of the Kaufman Kits, she just doesn't have

them.

I don't get this either since you don't have to touch to use Kaufman

and it is based on approximations. It is possible she uses the

technique without having the cards.

The school's SLP considers it a success when Will points to a picture

when he wants a drink (my husband doesn't like her).

It is success b/c he is communicating which will keep him less

frustrated. Just keep verbalizing with pictures and reinforcing the

word for him.

>

> FYI, we sometimes hear words but they are not consistent. I think

that's one

> of the telltale signs of apraxia? This morning I said " Good

Morning, Will, "

> and he replied, " Morreee! " which is probably his most consistent

word.

I have heard this too.

>

> -Theresa, mom to Will (3) and (16 months) who was also

recently found

> eligible for early intervention services.

>

Hang in there it sounds like you are right on top of everything.

Keep us posted.

denise

Mom to 4.4 with verbal apraxia, low tone and 2.8 and

a non-stop talker!

>

October 26, 2005

You are so right. I originally signed on to this message board to

find ways to help my son while my special instructor and I waited

for an SLP. I would love any helpful speech therapy techniques you

have to offer. We just recently got a new SLP. I think she is

going to work out great, but I would still like any input on getting

new sounds out of my 2 year old.

Thanks for your message

Tina

>

> Having been through apraxia with my older son, and now struggling

> through a more difficult issue with my younger son, I'd like to

> offer a piece of advice to the newbies out there: while searching

> for " cures " for your child's issues, do not forget about the one

> tried and true intervention: Speech Therapy. This board used to

> have TONS posted about this method or that method or the " help me

> get him to say the " F " sound " requests, and I'm seeing less and

less

> of that lately. If I had spent more of my time actually drilling

my

> son or sleeping so I had MORE patience with him when he got

> frustrated rather than researching this that or the other thing,

he

> would have progressed EVEN faster than he did - diagnosed as

> severely apraxic, no intelligible words at 3 (to anyone but me)

and

> discharged at 5.5 speaking at an age-appropriate level. This in

now

> way is intended to diminish the potential benefits of various

> therapies, but I just know that you can get so involved in the

> SEARCH and the FIGHT that you can begin to forget WHY you are

> actually there. It's actually a normal, panicked response, but

one

> which is often not the best for our children.

>

> So go hug your speech therapist (or OT, or PT) and have a cup of

> coffee while smiling at your kids.

>

> Marina

>

October 27, 2005

Hi Tina -

We used to yell in the car - real screaming, actually - and people

in neighboring cars in the dead of winter could hear us! I'd make a

vowel sound - long O or short A - and have him copy me. For some

reason, he thought less about it when screaming, and it was fun.

Also, it emphasizes the mimicking which many of us have a hard time

with our kids.

Will someone else jump in and offer their great idea?

Marina

> >

> > Having been through apraxia with my older son, and now

struggling

> > through a more difficult issue with my younger son, I'd like to

> > offer a piece of advice to the newbies out there: while

searching

> > for " cures " for your child's issues, do not forget about the one

> > tried and true intervention: Speech Therapy. This board used

to

> > have TONS posted about this method or that method or the " help

me

> > get him to say the " F " sound " requests, and I'm seeing less and

> less

> > of that lately. If I had spent more of my time actually

drilling

> my

> > son or sleeping so I had MORE patience with him when he got

> > frustrated rather than researching this that or the other thing,

> he

> > would have progressed EVEN faster than he did - diagnosed as

> > severely apraxic, no intelligible words at 3 (to anyone but me)

> and

> > discharged at 5.5 speaking at an age-appropriate level. This in

> now

> > way is intended to diminish the potential benefits of various

> > therapies, but I just know that you can get so involved in the

> > SEARCH and the FIGHT that you can begin to forget WHY you are

> > actually there. It's actually a normal, panicked response, but

> one

> > which is often not the best for our children.

> >

> > So go hug your speech therapist (or OT, or PT) and have a cup of

> > coffee while smiling at your kids.

> >

> > Marina

> >

>

October 27, 2005

Marina

Funny, we do much the same thing. We do some of our best work in the

car.

I'll start & sing lalala , she'll repeat then i'll either change it

or do it again, then wahwahwah, fafafa, etc.... she thinks it's so

much fun, we sing it loudly & with lots of voice inflection.

There is a great cd we listen to also, it is the first one she has

ever tried to sing along with. It's called music for aardvarks &

they have a website....highly recommend it.

> > >

> > > Having been through apraxia with my older son, and now

> struggling

> > > through a more difficult issue with my younger son, I'd like

to

> > > offer a piece of advice to the newbies out there: while

> searching

> > > for " cures " for your child's issues, do not forget about the

one

> > > tried and true intervention: Speech Therapy. This board used

> to

> > > have TONS posted about this method or that method or the " help

> me

> > > get him to say the " F " sound " requests, and I'm seeing less

and

> > less

> > > of that lately. If I had spent more of my time actually

> drilling

> > my

> > > son or sleeping so I had MORE patience with him when he got

> > > frustrated rather than researching this that or the other

thing,

> > he

> > > would have progressed EVEN faster than he did - diagnosed as

> > > severely apraxic, no intelligible words at 3 (to anyone but

me)

> > and

> > > discharged at 5.5 speaking at an age-appropriate level. This

in

> > now

> > > way is intended to diminish the potential benefits of various

> > > therapies, but I just know that you can get so involved in the

> > > SEARCH and the FIGHT that you can begin to forget WHY you are

> > > actually there. It's actually a normal, panicked response,

but

> > one

> > > which is often not the best for our children.

> > >

> > > So go hug your speech therapist (or OT, or PT) and have a cup

of

> > > coffee while smiling at your kids.

> > >

> > > Marina

> > >

> >

>

October 27, 2005

What a great idea Marina! I will have to try this one!

I am also really interested in ways to encourage speech as well as

communication in other forms. And also in hearing more about how

other people's dc act around speech. My son won't mimic at all, or

very rarely, but in the literature on apraxia of speech it claims

apraxic children often find mimicry easier than spontaneous speech, so

I was confused about whether this was typical.

We are still at a very early stage here and have had no luck getting

Eoin to mimic ANYTHING!

Fiona

>

> We used to yell in the car - real screaming, actually - and people

> in neighboring cars in the dead of winter could hear us! I'd make a

> vowel sound - long O or short A - and have him copy me. For some

> reason, he thought less about it when screaming, and it was fun.

October 27, 2005

Hi Marina:

That is a great idea! I take my 5 year old to school every morning

so that would be a great time to get him involved in helping his

baby brother. He loves to help his brother in any way he can. He

told me he is going to ask Santa to give his brother a toy that will

help him talk! I was almost in tears. Landon enjoys independent

play, and I have found that when he is playing I can get him to

mimic sounds better while I am doing something else in the house.

Have you found any great toys that were beneficial for speech? I

found a leapfrog magnet for the refridgerator. You put a letter in

and it tells you the letter sound. He likes that while I am cooking

dinner. I also found some puzzles that make sounds when you put the

pieces in. He has some books that are noisy. Anything that makes

noise, he likes! Every parent's nightmare, but they seem to be

helping him.

Besides speech, Landon has eye-hand coordination problems. I am

getting an OT for once a month, and he is going to teach me things

to work on with Landon. If anyone knows of any great games or toys

or activities that would also be great!

Thanks so much for the info

Tina

>

> What a great idea Marina! I will have to try this one!

>

> I am also really interested in ways to encourage speech as well as

> communication in other forms. And also in hearing more about how

> other people's dc act around speech. My son won't mimic at all, or

> very rarely, but in the literature on apraxia of speech it claims

> apraxic children often find mimicry easier than spontaneous

speech, so

> I was confused about whether this was typical.

>

> We are still at a very early stage here and have had no luck

getting

> Eoin to mimic ANYTHING!

>

> Fiona

>

> >

> > We used to yell in the car - real screaming, actually - and

people

> > in neighboring cars in the dead of winter could hear us! I'd

make a

> > vowel sound - long O or short A - and have him copy me. For

some

> > reason, he thought less about it when screaming, and it was fun.

>

October 27, 2005

Marina,

You're right that there hasn't been much discussion lately about

therapies. I do catch myself not spending enough time helping her

and too much time trying to " cure " her. Thank you for the reminder!

BUT, being that my daughter was developing normal if not above-

average in ALL areas of development until around 18 months, and now

is delayed in SEVERAL of those same areas, I feel like I just have

to figure out the underlying cause. She's made great progress in

the last month or so, and I'm sure a lot of it has to do with

therapy. But honestly, if I stop the fish oils for a couple of

days, she regresses - then start them again and get another spurt.

I think that no matter how much therapy she receives and how much

she " catches up " in certain areas, if we don't find the underlying

problem it may plague her for the rest of her life. There may be

something that is " off " that we need to fix in order for her body to

right itself. (If your kids were eating lead paint chips and it was

causing neurological problems, you wouldn't dream of letting them

continue eating paint chips because therapy was helping them - would

you?)

Just my 2 cents,

Kerri

>

> Having been through apraxia with my older son, and now struggling

> through a more difficult issue with my younger son, I'd like to

> offer a piece of advice to the newbies out there: while searching

> for " cures " for your child's issues, do not forget about the one

> tried and true intervention: Speech Therapy. This board used to

> have TONS posted about this method or that method or the " help me

> get him to say the " F " sound " requests, and I'm seeing less and

less

> of that lately. If I had spent more of my time actually drilling

my

> son or sleeping so I had MORE patience with him when he got

> frustrated rather than researching this that or the other thing,

he

> would have progressed EVEN faster than he did - diagnosed as

> severely apraxic, no intelligible words at 3 (to anyone but me)

and

> discharged at 5.5 speaking at an age-appropriate level. This in

now

> way is intended to diminish the potential benefits of various

> therapies, but I just know that you can get so involved in the

> SEARCH and the FIGHT that you can begin to forget WHY you are

> actually there. It's actually a normal, panicked response, but

one

> which is often not the best for our children.

>

> So go hug your speech therapist (or OT, or PT) and have a cup of

> coffee while smiling at your kids.

>

> Marina

>

October 27, 2005

I ditto your comment Marina!!! I am one of the old timers that still

reads & moderates almost daily on this list but have been very sad to

see the list getting away from sharing more on the therapies that

work. I can only imagine how overwhelmed newbies are after reading on

this list for a few days.

My son is now 7 1/2 & is in mainstream second grade. At 3 1/2 he was

completely nonverbal. The only thing that got him where he is now

are great slp's that knew about apraxia & gave him appropriate

therapy 2 times a week, Pro EFA & prayer!! I have heard from others

that have younger children that there are many new statagies for the

apraxic kids but never hear anything here. I was talking with a slp

that heads up a center in Tampa, FL the other day. She will be

coming to speak at our support group soon. She mentioned that ASHA

had a satelite conference recently & introduced some new methods.

She invited me to come to a replay of the conference & I can't wait

to attend. Even the slp that use to work with my son privately often

says I wish I could work with him again, there are many new ideas

that seem to work.

So for all of you just starting the journey, never give up. It is a

slow process but worth the wait. My son was dx at a 6-9 month old

level at age 3 & now you would never know it!!! He still receives

speech therapy in school & gets a little extra help in reading but

overall he is amazing!! I would never dream he could come so far.

Tammy I. in FL

>

> Having been through apraxia with my older son, and now struggling

> through a more difficult issue with my younger son, I'd like to

> offer a piece of advice to the newbies out there: while searching

> for " cures " for your child's issues, do not forget about the one

> tried and true intervention: Speech Therapy. This board used to

> have TONS posted about this method or that method or the " help me

> get him to say the " F " sound " requests, and I'm seeing less and

less

> of that lately. If I had spent more of my time actually drilling

my

> son or sleeping so I had MORE patience with him when he got

> frustrated rather than researching this that or the other thing, he

> would have progressed EVEN faster than he did - diagnosed as

> severely apraxic, no intelligible words at 3 (to anyone but me) and

> discharged at 5.5 speaking at an age-appropriate level. This in

now

> way is intended to diminish the potential benefits of various

> therapies, but I just know that you can get so involved in the

> SEARCH and the FIGHT that you can begin to forget WHY you are

> actually there. It's actually a normal, panicked response, but one

> which is often not the best for our children.

>

> So go hug your speech therapist (or OT, or PT) and have a cup of

> coffee while smiling at your kids.

>

> Marina

>

October 27, 2005

Lately we've been using clapping or a metronome as we repeat sounds or

syllables.

Kinda moving to the beat keeps the activity engaging and starting slowly and

speeding up when you can keeps it fun, too.

Fishing for flashcards has been a hit, too: a magnet on a string tied to a dowel

and

picture cards with magnetic tape on them make a great game for working on sounds

and words.

October 27, 2005

That is a fun idea. I can see Landon sitting on the coffee table

fishing!

>

> Lately we've been using clapping or a metronome as we repeat sounds

or syllables.

> Kinda moving to the beat keeps the activity engaging and starting

slowly and

> speeding up when you can keeps it fun, too.

>

> Fishing for flashcards has been a hit, too: a magnet on a string

tied to a dowel and

> picture cards with magnetic tape on them make a great game for

working on sounds

> and words.

>

October 28, 2005

-

I am curious about the RDI. I can see how it can be effective with older

ones; getting them to watch your facial expressions for cues. How old is your

daughter? My little guy is 3 and still basically non-verbal (receptively

also). Is RDI appropriate in his case? Thanks!

October 28, 2005

Hi Marina,

My post asking for biomedical intervention advice was certainly not

meant to discourage or de-emphasize the importance of good speech

therapy! Personally, we went from no intelligible speech (except to

me) to good mimicking and attempting to approximate sounds with a

tactile cue approach. Not sure if this is the same as the PROMPT

method, but its basically, our therapist (or us) uses a tactile cue

to get her to say a sound, for example " t " is touching quickly above

her upper lip, " mmmm " sound is indicated by putting two fingers on

each lip and pressing down, " k " and " g " are down on our neck, etc.

It's hard to explain, but I do it on myself to elicit the sound from

her, and then alternately on her so its visual and tactile. It

mimics where the sound comes from so it helps her place her tongue.

That was the real breakthrough for us in getting her to

approximate. The leap frog fridge alphabet toy has been a lifesaver

too, we can now use the song in therapy " s says sssss, s says ___ "

to prompt for the sound. Kaufman cards have also helped her so

much. My daughter also has a PDD dx so we have started RDI therapy

with great success.

Take Care,

>

> Having been through apraxia with my older son, and now struggling

> through a more difficult issue with my younger son, I'd like to

> offer a piece of advice to the newbies out there: while searching

> for " cures " for your child's issues, do not forget about the one

> tried and true intervention: Speech Therapy. This board used to

> have TONS posted about this method or that method or the " help me

> get him to say the " F " sound " requests, and I'm seeing less and

less

> of that lately. If I had spent more of my time actually drilling

my

> son or sleeping so I had MORE patience with him when he got

> frustrated rather than researching this that or the other thing,

he

> would have progressed EVEN faster than he did - diagnosed as

> severely apraxic, no intelligible words at 3 (to anyone but me)

and

> discharged at 5.5 speaking at an age-appropriate level. This in

now

> way is intended to diminish the potential benefits of various

> therapies, but I just know that you can get so involved in the

> SEARCH and the FIGHT that you can begin to forget WHY you are

> actually there. It's actually a normal, panicked response, but

one

> which is often not the best for our children.

>

> So go hug your speech therapist (or OT, or PT) and have a cup of

> coffee while smiling at your kids.

>

> Marina

>

October 28, 2005

Hi ,

My daughter will be 3 in 3 months. We initally started with ABA

(lovaas style verbal behavior) for about 2 months and were totally

shocked at her receptive language. We realized she understood wayyy

more than we had thought, even words and commands that we had never

used with her. In our case (and not to knock ABA as for some children

it is great), ABA quickly became too " academic " and non-functional for

her. We explored RDI and liked how it seemed to attack the core

problems of her PDD (mainly not just poor eye contact, but the fact

that she is not social referencing which is a normal part of emotional

development that naturally develops in typical children, and it builds

from there). Anyway, we just started RDI 3 weeks ago and have already

seen great results. In our case, it seemed like her lack of speech was

not just the apraxia, but also the motivation to speak to us (because

of the PDD) so RDI seems to really be helping her want to connect more

with us which is naturally eliciting more speech from her. (she has

been putting two words together this past week! still unintelligible

to most, but a giant milestone for us)

So, all this being said, I would never JUST do RDI for a child with

apraxia. We go to speech therapy 4 times per week with an awesome

speech therapist who has also worked wonders with her. Incidentally, I

don't know if your son has sensory issues, but OT helped Izabella so

much, she was basically non-verbal before the OT and it really helped

take away the sensory issues that were occupying so much of her brain

power. So, for us, (and every child is different) but, OT, intense

speech therapy, fish oil, GFCF diet and RDI have finally brought about

the progress we so desperately were looking for.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to e-mail me.

>

> -

>

> I am curious about the RDI. I can see how it can be effective with

older

> ones; getting them to watch your facial expressions for cues. How

old is your

> daughter? My little guy is 3 and still basically non-verbal

(receptively

> also). Is RDI appropriate in his case? Thanks!

>

November 2, 2005

Greetings,

Thanks so much to all that share their wealth of knowledge on this subject. I

greatly appreciate the information and hope that when I do post, my information

is helpful as well. I was reading about getting the kids to pronounce the

letter " F " . Can someone help me with that. My daughter will say all of her

numbers up to 10 but leave out 4 and 5 and her name starts with " F " also.

All suggestions are truly appreciated.

Bonnye - Faith's mommy

jean hilliker <jhilliker@...> wrote:

Thank you for letting us know that there is hope for our little ones. I

offen wonder what will happen to my 3 yr old when he is a little older

hearing how well your son is doing gives me hope that someday my son will

talk

thank you

[ ] Re: Therapies

>I ditto your comment Marina!!! I am one of the old timers that still

> reads & moderates almost daily on this list but have been very sad to

> see the list getting away from sharing more on the therapies that

> work. I can only imagine how overwhelmed newbies are after reading on

> this list for a few days.

>

> My son is now 7 1/2 & is in mainstream second grade. At 3 1/2 he was

> completely nonverbal. The only thing that got him where he is now

> are great slp's that knew about apraxia & gave him appropriate

> therapy 2 times a week, Pro EFA & prayer!! I have heard from others

> that have younger children that there are many new statagies for the

> apraxic kids but never hear anything here. I was talking with a slp

> that heads up a center in Tampa, FL the other day. She will be

> coming to speak at our support group soon. She mentioned that ASHA

> had a satelite conference recently & introduced some new methods.

> She invited me to come to a replay of the conference & I can't wait

> to attend. Even the slp that use to work with my son privately often

> says I wish I could work with him again, there are many new ideas

> that seem to work.

>

> So for all of you just starting the journey, never give up. It is a

> slow process but worth the wait. My son was dx at a 6-9 month old

> level at age 3 & now you would never know it!!! He still receives

> speech therapy in school & gets a little extra help in reading but

> overall he is amazing!! I would never dream he could come so far.

>

> Tammy I. in FL

November 2, 2005

Dear Bonnye,

Regarding the F sound. I hope I can describe it to you. Have Faith put her upper

teeth slightly over top of her lower lip. Then, maintaining that position, have

her blow gently. You can put your finger at the center of her bottom lip and at

the same time as she is blowing you can apply a very gentle pressure.

I hope that description was okay. Best of Luck.

Anita.

P.S. Are you in Canada?

Bonnye <durhamregional@...> wrote:

Greetings,

Thanks so much to all that share their wealth of knowledge on this subject. I

greatly appreciate the information and hope that when I do post, my information

is helpful as well. I was reading about getting the kids to pronounce the letter

" F " . Can someone help me with that. My daughter will say all of her numbers up

to 10 but leave out 4 and 5 and her name starts with " F " also.

All suggestions are truly appreciated.

Bonnye - Faith's mommy

November 3, 2005

Thanks so much, I will try it. We live in North Carolina.

Bonnye - Faith's mommy

anita robertson <anita.robertson@...> wrote:

Dear Bonnye,

Regarding the F sound. I hope I can describe it to you. Have Faith put her upper

teeth slightly over top of her lower lip. Then, maintaining that position, have

her blow gently. You can put your finger at the center of her bottom lip and at

the same time as she is blowing you can apply a very gentle pressure.

I hope that description was okay. Best of Luck.

Anita.

P.S. Are you in Canada?

November 5, 2005

hi tammy- thank you so much for letting everyone know how well your son is

doing- it just shows us that ther is alot of hope- charlotte henry

November 27, 2005