Re: Re: Do you have older apraxic children?/Teens

[Guest guest]

Dear Tammy,

Thanks for your reply. My son is 8 and we are not quite at your stage yet.

It is interesting to hear what your road has been and what we can anticipate

when they hit the dreaded teens. also has ADHD and we are now scheduling

appointments with a neurologist to get a full understanding of what other issues

he may have. It seems clear that he has trouble with his processing time. What

is CAPD and visual processing disorder? You are right- it is an evolution- an

unfolding of learning issues as they grow. Would love to hear more when you can.

have a great day.

Thanks for sharing your info with me.

Cheers

Liz

" Mrs. Tammy Gonzaga " <gonzotmi@...> wrote:

Our youngest daughter, 15, has Apraxia of Speech (mild/moderate). She

was diagnosed

when she was 6, and in Kindergarten. She had a couple good years of private

speech

therapy, and then we depended on the school district until now. She has just

started 9th

grade.

As she got older it was clear she had other issues such as CAPD, Visual

Processing

Disorder, and ADD. So, it felt like once we were more on top of the Speech, we

had to give

attention to something else. We did our best to support and address things as

they came

up. It was hard, and still is.

In 8th grade we had a full outside assessment by a qualified Psychologist

specializing in

learning disorders. We did this in order to prepare her, and her IEP for High

School. We

knew this transition would be difficult for her and that LD kids are more at

risk than those

who are not LD. I must say the assessment process was grueling, but proved to be

in her

best interests. She seems to have had a very good start to High School, is

loving it and

only had about a week of transition stress.

At this point in her life she struggles the most with math. She needs special

tutoring for

her math needs. She actually does well in English and loves to read. Composition

is OK.

(all the things we expected a struggle at went OK).

When doing homework after school she hits the wall neuologically so we are

trying to

encouage her to develop good life skills of organization, learning to know

herself and

know when to take a rest when she can no longer think or process. Her short term

memory has it's ups and downs and always will. That is another thing she must

learn to

live with.

" Self awareness " has had its struggles. Through Jr. High and even now she is

ashamed of

her

LDs and has been in denial at times. She even had anger toward us for them. The

assessment made this worse for a while. However I think she is slowely getting

over that.

Her confidence is getting stronger and that really makes a huge difference on

her outlook

on her life.

Having a teen with Apraxia is frustrating for the teen and the parents.

Communication

takes work while parenting a teen, and even more work and patience when the teen

has

apraxia. There has been a lot of frustration and angst the past couple years

between us

and our daughter, but I think we see light at the end of the tunnel now.

We are proud of her because she is a hard worker and stays involved in all the

right things.

She has good friends and makes wise choices. Sometimes the frustration of the

Apraxia

clouds the strengths in our child's life. We have learned to see past the " fog "

of Apraxia

and the angst it brings an older child. We have learned to remember the angst

comes from

fatigue and frustration and shouldn't be taken personal. That has helped us.

I hope this gives some of you the short version of what Apraxia may look like in

the teens.

It was hard work for us, but the hard work is paying off. Our daugher raises

guide dog

puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, runs on her school Cross Country Team,

plays

Lacrosse and is in the AVID program at her school, which is an honor to be in.

Her GPA

stays above 3.0! It has even been a 3.5!

Keep it up parents! As your child gets older things change. Try to stay on top

of the

seasons of their development. Be proactive to know what you may be facing in the

future

and how you can prepare for that. In the end, it is such a joy to see our hard

work as a

parent pay off.

Blessings to all of you,

Tammy

[Guest guest]

Dear Tammy,

Thanks for your reply. My son is 8 and we are not quite at your stage yet.

It is interesting to hear what your road has been and what we can anticipate

when they hit the dreaded teens. also has ADHD and we are now scheduling

appointments with a neurologist to get a full understanding of what other issues

he may have. It seems clear that he has trouble with his processing time. What

is CAPD and visual processing disorder? You are right- it is an evolution- an

unfolding of learning issues as they grow. Would love to hear more when you can.

have a great day.

Thanks for sharing your info with me.

Cheers

Liz

" Mrs. Tammy Gonzaga " <gonzotmi@...> wrote:

Our youngest daughter, 15, has Apraxia of Speech (mild/moderate). She

was diagnosed

when she was 6, and in Kindergarten. She had a couple good years of private

speech

therapy, and then we depended on the school district until now. She has just

started 9th

grade.

As she got older it was clear she had other issues such as CAPD, Visual

Processing

Disorder, and ADD. So, it felt like once we were more on top of the Speech, we

had to give

attention to something else. We did our best to support and address things as

they came

up. It was hard, and still is.

In 8th grade we had a full outside assessment by a qualified Psychologist

specializing in

learning disorders. We did this in order to prepare her, and her IEP for High

School. We

knew this transition would be difficult for her and that LD kids are more at

risk than those

who are not LD. I must say the assessment process was grueling, but proved to be

in her

best interests. She seems to have had a very good start to High School, is

loving it and

only had about a week of transition stress.

At this point in her life she struggles the most with math. She needs special

tutoring for

her math needs. She actually does well in English and loves to read. Composition

is OK.

(all the things we expected a struggle at went OK).

When doing homework after school she hits the wall neuologically so we are

trying to

encouage her to develop good life skills of organization, learning to know

herself and

know when to take a rest when she can no longer think or process. Her short term

memory has it's ups and downs and always will. That is another thing she must

learn to

live with.

" Self awareness " has had its struggles. Through Jr. High and even now she is

ashamed of

her

LDs and has been in denial at times. She even had anger toward us for them. The

assessment made this worse for a while. However I think she is slowely getting

over that.

Her confidence is getting stronger and that really makes a huge difference on

her outlook

on her life.

Having a teen with Apraxia is frustrating for the teen and the parents.

Communication

takes work while parenting a teen, and even more work and patience when the teen

has

apraxia. There has been a lot of frustration and angst the past couple years

between us

and our daughter, but I think we see light at the end of the tunnel now.

We are proud of her because she is a hard worker and stays involved in all the

right things.

She has good friends and makes wise choices. Sometimes the frustration of the

Apraxia

clouds the strengths in our child's life. We have learned to see past the " fog "

of Apraxia

and the angst it brings an older child. We have learned to remember the angst

comes from

fatigue and frustration and shouldn't be taken personal. That has helped us.

I hope this gives some of you the short version of what Apraxia may look like in

the teens.

It was hard work for us, but the hard work is paying off. Our daugher raises

guide dog

puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, runs on her school Cross Country Team,

plays

Lacrosse and is in the AVID program at her school, which is an honor to be in.

Her GPA

stays above 3.0! It has even been a 3.5!

Keep it up parents! As your child gets older things change. Try to stay on top

of the

seasons of their development. Be proactive to know what you may be facing in the

future

and how you can prepare for that. In the end, it is such a joy to see our hard

work as a

parent pay off.

Blessings to all of you,

Tammy