Re: Apraxia and mis-shaped heads???

[Guest guest]

Our daughter (adopted from China at 9 months) has an odd shaped head. Our

doctor said it was genetic. She has Auditory SID and apraxia. A couple other

little girls in her travel group also had odd shaped heads. We refer to them as

the Fengcheng head since that's where the girls are from. The other girls do

not have apraxia but do have SID.

Kathy

**************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.

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[Guest guest]

My son's anterior fontanelle closed at 11 months but the neuro

declared that within normal range (like the blood tests and

everything else that showed no cause for his speech stuff). I was

carrying him out of a room and bumped the doorway at 7 days old and

that still haunts me. He also has an interesting bone bump that was

checked out. Bottom line is he had a fluoride issue and probably

contributed to the early closure and rigid skull, early closure and

less room to house allergy toxins but we are on all of it and there

is hope. For you, if the head shape is a concern three docs can be

seen:

neuro

metabolic specialist

genetics to assess mito

Nadine Tilber posts here and she has been through this and may be

able to better tell you how she knew to go where so you could send an

open post and hope she replies.

Best Wishes!

Liz

>

> Hello everyone,

> Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may

have

> had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

>

[Guest guest]

By misshapen heads, are you referring to positional plageocephaly,

often due to torticollis? If so, yes. My 5-1/2 year old and my 18

month old both had this condition (corrected by PT and helmet

therapy). Both had apraxia/dyspraxia, the older one officially, the

younger one is too young for a dx, but is definitely has a moderate

to severe communication delay, along with lesser motor delays. I

posted about this awhile ago, and the consensus was that this is just

a coincidence. You will never convince me of that. My other two, NT

kids had perfect heads/no torticollis, despite limited/no tolerance

for tummy time. My oldest in particular should have had a pancake

head -- slept a ton and spent all her waking time either in my arms

or on her back. She didn't even roll over until 9 months, yet she

walked by one and met all milestones and never had even a smidge of a

language delay.

in NJ

>

> Hello everyone,

> Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may

have

> had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

>

[Guest guest]

Flattening of the sides of the head or in the back is a dysmorphic

feature, possibly indicative of a genetic syndrome. Apraxia is a

symptom of some syndromes. You should likley consult with a geneticist

if you have not already.

Hope this helps.

Nadine

[Guest guest]

How does one know if their child has tortocolis? I suspect you know

from the head loll (we had that) and if a kid can't nod (had that

too).

> >

> > Hello everyone,

> > Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may

> have

> > had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

> >

>

[Guest guest]

My son also had mild tortocollis. Same deal, they said coincidence also. his

was corrected through PT. No helmet needed.

Colleen

mother of Charlie 29 months

[ ] Re: Apraxia and mis-shaped heads???

By misshapen heads, are you referring to positional plageocephaly,

often due to torticollis? If so, yes. My 5-1/2 year old and my 18

month old both had this condition (corrected by PT and helmet

therapy). Both had apraxia/dyspraxia, the older one officially, the

younger one is too young for a dx, but is definitely has a moderate

to severe communication delay, along with lesser motor delays. I

posted about this awhile ago, and the consensus was that this is just

a coincidence. You will never convince me of that. My other two, NT

kids had perfect heads/no torticollis, despite limited/no tolerance

for tummy time. My oldest in particular should have had a pancake

head -- slept a ton and spent all her waking time either in my arms

or on her back. She didn't even roll over until 9 months, yet she

walked by one and met all milestones and never had even a smidge of a

language delay.

in NJ

>

> Hello everyone,

> Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may

have

> had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

>

[Guest guest]

YES! The geneticist we saw called his head " dolicocephalic " . But,

this wasn't from the newborn phase. I started noticing it more after

a year of age. He has a big " bump out " at the back of his skull, but

the geneticist said the extra " bump " usually occurs toward the front

of the skull when the plates fuse too early.

As far as his newborn head shape. It was very round because he had

been stuck in a breech position for so long. His head was very flat

on top from being pushed up into my diaphragm so long.

Since we're on the subject. I'd also be interested in knowing if

anyone has every heard that their child has epicanthal folds? That

was something else the geneticist noted and I have read that it's very

common in down syndrome children. (it has something to do with extra

skin at the inner corner of the eye)

Other than that, she said his face appears very hypotonic.

>

> Hello everyone,

> Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may have

> had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

>

[Guest guest]

We see a geneticist in Feb and you have somewhat described my boy. He

is, as his sister says, " manpretty " but he has palpable bump in the

front top where the early fusion occurred and a shelf-head in the

back (Charlie Brown). Did she mention any complications. Early

closure I read can lead to depression but with the B6, dietary

chages, and a bright future I am hoping we can avoid that.

A friend's kid had only the fold, and was dx as Downs at

birth...never caught on the ultrasounds. He is doing well, surpassed

every milestone, physically well (no heart stuff) and as a wise woman

once said " It will be amazing to see who he becomes as he just needed

to be born. "

> >

> > Hello everyone,

> > Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may

have

> > had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Nadine,

Anyone in Philly you'd recommend. We have flat sides.

>

> Flattening of the sides of the head or in the back is a dysmorphic

> feature, possibly indicative of a genetic syndrome. Apraxia is a

> symptom of some syndromes. You should likley consult with a

geneticist

> if you have not already.

>

> Hope this helps.

> Nadine

>

[Guest guest]

My son's geneticist said my son has a " flat nasal bridge " which just

looked like your standard baby nose to me. He also looked at my son's

teeth which apparently met with his approval.

> >

> > Hello everyone,

> > Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may

have

> > had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

> >

>

[Guest guest]

The birth process can be quite traumatic, especially if the mothers

pelvis was subluxed at the time or that the uterus was apolar, thus

contracting in an untimely fashion. Passage of the fetus through the

birth canal, especially with 'help' like forceps can easily distort the

cranial cavity/ & or neck, causing craniopathies and/or torticollis.

Neonates who have been thusly affected usually appear in a 'fencer's

posture'. Their newborn pictures usually show them with fists held

tightly, one slightly higher than the other. Facial features appear

asymmetrical and head tilt remains static, often for years--if

untreated.

There are a rare few specialists who can help remodel the fontanelles

and the roof of the mouth (which addresses speech and drooling). The

most highly trained are called Craniopathists. These are chiropractors

with a 5-year post doctoral certification. Others are certified in

pediatrics and often are skilled with these maneuvres, I have seen

fabulous results by them considering structure and function are so

intimately related.

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[Guest guest]

I think a flat nasal bridge can also cause an appearance of epicanthal

folds......and that's what I'm leaning toward being the reason for my

son's " epicanthal folds " .

Isn't it amazing what geneticists pick up on? In fact, after reading

the report my husband said " I'm pretty sure I never want a geneticist

scrutinizing all my body parts " . Evidently, my son also has

" tapered fingers " and I have no earthly idea what that means!!

I wonder if they keep track of all that stuff to try to notice

patterns in kids and hopefully identify new syndromes eventually.

Maybe we should keep a database somewhere listing all these subtle

physical characteristics and maybe *WE* could see a pattern?

Bridget

> > >

> > > Hello everyone,

> > > Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may

> have

> > > had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

No, the geneticist didn't mention any concerns going forward. It was

the first thing she picked up on, though. Were you aware of the early

fusion? I feel confident that our ped would have picked up on an

early fusion, so I don't know what's to blame for my son's head shape.

I sort of blame it on his sleeping position. He's always been a

stomach-sleeper and loves to suck him thumb. His mattress is very

firm and he still won't use a pillow--so I thought maybe that caused

the side flattening. Not sure why he has a little bump in the back,

though.

What a wonderful story about the little boy with downs. I know that's

not a concern for us. He's had pretty thorough genetic testing and

screening for mitochondrial disorders. He's just a mystery---like a

vast majority of our kids!

Bridget

> > >

> > > Hello everyone,

> > > Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that may

> have

> > > had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Fusion was caught and looked at. The neuro did not know speech stuff.

For us the stuff is likely fluoride.

Belly sleeping may be gut disturnance sign. Thumb sucking is

comfort, from headache? My daughter does it for relief and now needs

a palate expander. She is NT but I have heard of speech kids

blossoming on those...metal kids I think.

> > > >

> > > > Hello everyone,

> > > > Just curious, does anyone else have a child with apraxia that

may

> > have

> > > > had some misshapen to their head as a newborn?

> > > >

> > >

> >

>