Re: new here- (PATTY'S ORIGINAL INTRO AND QUESTION)

[Guest guest]

Below is Patty's question. Since Fish Oils did not resolve the apraxic issue,

and we just simply include more EFA's in our diet instead, I did not feel

qualified to answer this question.

I do have a question, though, ...Patty, does your son have fair skin, blonde

hair, or blue eyes. (You must wonder why I am asking!)

>

> hello all. found this group while reading The Late Talker, of course

>

> just read the nutritional supplements page and can't believe they didn't put

that at the BEGINNING of the book!

>

> My son is 2 1/2 now and almost 40 pounds. we came to his apraxic diagnosis

via his SLP a few weeks ago.

>

> He is visited by his SLP and ahis Ot once a week. (I personally think it

needs to be bumped up to twice a week at least, since he'll have to transfer out

of early intervention in 6 months when he's 3).

>

> He also just started getting visits from a behavioral therapist once every

other week. she is helping gabe deal with his anxiety which stems from his

frustration at not being understood - or getting his way. he is a very stubborn

child with two equally stubborn parents

>

> so, I am only giving one 1000mg fish oil tablet (nature made) a day because we

just started and i haven't been able to get to the pharmacy yet where the Nordic

Natural stuff is sold locally.

>

> all the anagrams and dosages per child per age are all quite confusing.

>

> any recommendations for my son. again, he's 2 1/2, weighs about 38 lbs. he

does this nasally language and is extrememly expressive. also very smart and

funny. don't know " HOW " apraxic he is.

>

> concerned mom

> " HOPE SPEAKS!! " ,

>

> Patty

>

[Guest guest]

Now I am wondering because my son does have fair skin, blonde hair and blue

eyes.....

[ ] Re: new here- (PATTY'S ORIGINAL INTRO AND

QUESTION)

Below is Patty's question. Since Fish Oils did not resolve the apraxic issue,

and we just simply include more EFA's in our diet instead, I did not feel

qualified to answer this question.

I do have a question, though, ...Patty, does your son have fair skin, blonde

hair, or blue eyes. (You must wonder why I am asking!)

>

> hello all. found this group while reading The Late Talker, of course

>

> just read the nutritional supplements page and can't believe they didn't put

that at the BEGINNING of the book!

>

> My son is 2 1/2 now and almost 40 pounds. we came to his apraxic diagnosis via

his SLP a few weeks ago.

>

> He is visited by his SLP and ahis Ot once a week. (I personally think it needs

to be bumped up to twice a week at least, since he'll have to transfer out of

early intervention in 6 months when he's 3).

>

> He also just started getting visits from a behavioral therapist once every

other week. she is helping gabe deal with his anxiety which stems from his

frustration at not being understood - or getting his way. he is a very stubborn

child with two equally stubborn parents

>

> so, I am only giving one 1000mg fish oil tablet (nature made) a day because we

just started and i haven't been able to get to the pharmacy yet where the Nordic

Natural stuff is sold locally.

>

> all the anagrams and dosages per child per age are all quite confusing.

>

> any recommendations for my son. again, he's 2 1/2, weighs about 38 lbs. he

does this nasally language and is extrememly expressive. also very smart and

funny. don't know " HOW " apraxic he is.

>

> concerned mom

> " HOPE SPEAKS!! " ,

>

> Patty

>

[Guest guest]

I have to say-- if questions have anything to do with Fish Oils-- I never

answer them, because we have NOT started them ourselves yet. There are

more health issues that are more prominent for our Apraxic son right now, so

the fish oils have to wait a bit til we get a handle on the other things.

Sorry-- but I just don't know enough about them to offer a reply.

I do want to say though-- Speech for a child with Apraxia-- in my honest

opinion, MUST be at least 3x a wk. But 1x a wk really won't do much at all,

and if you want to see better results, bump him up to 3x a wk or more.

becky

In a message dated 6/29/2009 12:31:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

agirlnamedsuess@... writes:

Below is Patty's question. Since Fish Oils did not resolve the apraxic

issue, and we just simply include more EFA's in our diet instead, I did not

feel qualified to answer this question.

I do have a question, though, ...Patty, does your son have fair skin,

blonde hair, or blue eyes. (You must wonder why I am asking!)

>

> hello all. found this group while reading The Late Talker, of course

>

> just read the nutritional supplements page and can't believe they didn't

put that at the BEGINNING of the book!

>

> My son is 2 1/2 now and almost 40 pounds. we came to his apraxic

diagnosis via his SLP a few weeks ago.

>

> He is visited by his SLP and ahis Ot once a week. (I personally think it

needs to be bumped up to twice a week at least, since he'll have to

transfer out of early intervention in 6 months when he's 3).

>

> He also just started getting visits from a behavioral therapist once

every other week. she is helping gabe deal with his anxiety which stems from

his frustration at not being understood - or getting his way. he is a very

stubborn child with two equally stubborn parents

>

> so, I am only giving one 1000mg fish oil tablet (nature made) a day

because we just started and i haven't been able to get to the pharmacy yet

where the Nordic Natural stuff is sold locally.

>

> all the anagrams and dosages per child per age are all quite confusing.

>

> any recommendations for my son. again, he's 2 1/2, weighs about 38 lbs.

he does this nasally language and is extrememly expressive. also very smart

and funny. don't know " HOW " apraxic he is.

>

> concerned mom

> " HOPE SPEAKS!! " ,

>

> Patty

>

**************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the

grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)

[Guest guest]

Speech with an apraxic child should be daily (7 times a week). No matter how

many times you see your speech therapist per week, you should be doing the

prescribed methods you see the speech therapist doing. Everyone should have a

home program. My son's speech therapist taught me what I need to know to do all

his speech therapy myself if I wanted to (or had to) in one or two sessions. Any

good speech therapist will show you what to do and explain it to you. (There are

a lot of poor ST's out there who do not elicit vocalizations on a one on one

basis. All my son does is vocalization practice when he goes to this speech

therapist.)

It is not hard if you have someone explain it to you. I hve had a lot of bad

speech therapists and only two real good ones. Speech therapy is about " speech " .

Watch what a " good " ST does and then apply it at home.

I think I went off on a tangent here, but " correct " speech practice AND finding

the underlying cause of the apraxia (and treating the cause, if possible) are

the two best things you can do for an apraxic child.

Everything else may be a total waste of time.

-- In , tbniesh@... wrote:

>

> I have to say-- if questions have anything to do with Fish Oils-- I never

> answer them, because we have NOT started them ourselves yet. There are

> more health issues that are more prominent for our Apraxic son right now, so

> the fish oils have to wait a bit til we get a handle on the other things.

> Sorry-- but I just don't know enough about them to offer a reply.

>

> I do want to say though-- Speech for a child with Apraxia-- in my honest

> opinion, MUST be at least 3x a wk. But 1x a wk really won't do much at all,

> and if you want to see better results, bump him up to 3x a wk or more.

>

>

> becky

>

>

> In a message dated 6/29/2009 12:31:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> agirlnamedsuess@... writes:

>

>

>

>

>

> Below is Patty's question. Since Fish Oils did not resolve the apraxic

> issue, and we just simply include more EFA's in our diet instead, I did not

> feel qualified to answer this question.

> I do have a question, though, ...Patty, does your son have fair skin,

> blonde hair, or blue eyes. (You must wonder why I am asking!)

>

> >

> > hello all. found this group while reading The Late Talker, of course

> >

> > just read the nutritional supplements page and can't believe they didn't

> put that at the BEGINNING of the book!

> >

> > My son is 2 1/2 now and almost 40 pounds. we came to his apraxic

> diagnosis via his SLP a few weeks ago.

> >

> > He is visited by his SLP and ahis Ot once a week. (I personally think it

> needs to be bumped up to twice a week at least, since he'll have to

> transfer out of early intervention in 6 months when he's 3).

> >

> > He also just started getting visits from a behavioral therapist once

> every other week. she is helping gabe deal with his anxiety which stems from

> his frustration at not being understood - or getting his way. he is a very

> stubborn child with two equally stubborn parents

> >

> > so, I am only giving one 1000mg fish oil tablet (nature made) a day

> because we just started and i haven't been able to get to the pharmacy yet

> where the Nordic Natural stuff is sold locally.

> >

> > all the anagrams and dosages per child per age are all quite confusing.

> >

> > any recommendations for my son. again, he's 2 1/2, weighs about 38 lbs.

> he does this nasally language and is extrememly expressive. also very smart

> and funny. don't know " HOW " apraxic he is.

> >

> > concerned mom

> > " HOPE SPEAKS!! " ,

> >

> > Patty

> >

>

>

>

>

>

> **************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the

> grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

While I agree with Sue and it's obvious that a speech disorder is about speech,

today we know that is a myth if you follow that to the T. In fact most of the

children today with speech impairments (not delays) have some sort of sensory

issues, low tone/weakness/hypotonia, and/or motor planning deficits in the body.

While in a perfect world we all try to secure daily or almost daily speech

therapy for our apraxic child especially when preschool if severe, it's not a

given that all will secure or even need daily speech therapy. Many in this

group have used the severity intervention matrix to help advocate for their

child which provides a basic guideline of which children would be entitled to 5

days a week of therapy (the other 2 for most you're on your own)

Severity Intervention Matrix

http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapymatrix.html

(most here with apraxic children secure 3-5 days in the IEP)

Below is a basic archive to answer this question:

~~~~~~~~general info on IEPs

If you don't have a diagnosis , you really want to know the reason for

your child's delay in speech as there are quite a list of reasons. Who

evaluated your child thus far? What is your child's diagnosis? Have

you observed the therapy at school to see how knowledgeable the

therapist is about your child's condition? Do you believe you would be

able to tell the difference? Do you have any local support groups near

you to have someone who has been there before help you advocate? Since

school began are you noticing any improvements with the therapy? What

does the IEP goals have for 3 months -6 months. After 3 months of no

progress either the therapy, therapist or diagnosis should be examined

again as perhaps one of them isn't appropriate. It's a bit of a time

game in that your job is to help get her up to speed as quickly as

possible and not to keep her in a situation just because she's getting

the right amount of the wrong therapy -or the right amount of the

right therapy for the wrong condition or the right amount of the right

therapy with a therapist who isn't very good. Don't worry about

hurting anyone's feelings because in a year or so you may never see

the same school professionals again, you could move, but your daughter

is always.

In short to answer your question -many of the children in this group

had almost daily therapy between EI or school and private therapy

You need to know by a neurodevelopmental medical exam (pediatric

neurologist or neurodevelopmental pediatrician if apraxia is

suspected) if there are signs of sensory integration dysfunction or

hypotonia and/or motor planning issues so that you can secure

appropriate therapy for these co existing conditions as well in the

IEP. Of course in addition to the neuroMD exam it's best to secure an

outside the school SLP/ outside the school OT as well.

For example does your child right now have 1/1 therapy in his IEP and

if so how often? Here's a severity intervention matrix to help as well

as some reasons for 1/1 therapy

Importance of one on one therapy

http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapyintensity.html

Severity Intervention Matrix

http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapymatrix.html

Don't let them say there is a language/receptive delay until you have

an appropriate diagnosis since signs of a receptive delay may be due

to an impairment in speech and or motor, sensory or weakness issues.

What state are you in? Perhaps I or others can help you find a

competent neuromedical doctor. At this point it's not just the SLP or

OT who will be able to help you secure the appropriate therapies if it

is apraxia. It does not matter if nobody in the history of your town

ever received one on one -that just tells me that you don't have

advocates in your town. If your town's school is in the US than it

receives Federal monies and has to by law follow the Federal (not just

State or City) laws. The Federal Law is FAPE in the LRE or your child

is entitled to a free and appropriate public education in the least

restrictive environment and you'd be shocked how much is offered once

you learn how to advocate. Rule one never say " best " say " appropriate "

whenever you want to say best. Or " inappropriate " because the school

is not obligated by law to offer your child the best therapy and

placement -only what is appropriate. If they can not provide

appropriate placement and therapy in district than you can seek " out

of district placement " or to have an " expert " come in to train the

current staff and work with your son or to keep your child in district

for certain services and to pay for private therapy at home a few days

a week. If you don't ask you won't get any of that for your child as

I've never known for schools to just offer any of the above without

advocacy.

Have you read The Late Talker book? It's a good starting point book.

Also is your child in the early intervention program through the

school right now and if so how much speech and occupational therapy is

she receiving? To make sure it's appropriate speech and occupational

therapy again you need to have that appropriate diagnosis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OT is very important as well to most with apraxia -even without tone, motor

planning or sensory issues it's known that speech is stimulated by motion!

I also would be very careful about not underestimating therapies that compliment

speech therapy which would include many alternative therapies. Here's some info

on this from our Facebook CHERAB group

http://www.facebook.com/lisa.geng#/topic.php?uid=115029735601 & topic=7986

=====

[Guest guest]

Maybe it was a mistake in what you read in my post, but what I actually said

was, " Speech 'therapy' is about speech. " (I actually did not say, " speech

disorders are about speech. " I think everyone knows that already.)

Some speech therapists do not eploy the practice of one on one verbaliztions

during speech. They have no ehod. All they do is interact once in a while wihthe

child while the child plays.

>

> While I agree with Sue and it's obvious that a speech disorder is about

speech, today we know that is a myth if you follow that to the T. In fact most

of the children today with speech impairments (not delays) have some sort of

sensory issues, low tone/weakness/hypotonia, and/or motor planning deficits in

the body. While in a perfect world we all try to secure daily or almost daily

speech therapy for our apraxic child especially when preschool if severe, it's

not a given that all will secure or even need daily speech therapy. Many in

this group have used the severity intervention matrix to help advocate for their

child which provides a basic guideline of which children would be entitled to 5

days a week of therapy (the other 2 for most you're on your own)

> Severity Intervention Matrix

> http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapymatrix.html

> (most here with apraxic children secure 3-5 days in the IEP)

>

> Below is a basic archive to answer this question:

>

> ~~~~~~~~general info on IEPs

>

>

> If you don't have a diagnosis , you really want to know the reason for

> your child's delay in speech as there are quite a list of reasons. Who

> evaluated your child thus far? What is your child's diagnosis? Have

> you observed the therapy at school to see how knowledgeable the

> therapist is about your child's condition? Do you believe you would be

> able to tell the difference? Do you have any local support groups near

> you to have someone who has been there before help you advocate? Since

> school began are you noticing any improvements with the therapy? What

> does the IEP goals have for 3 months -6 months. After 3 months of no

> progress either the therapy, therapist or diagnosis should be examined

> again as perhaps one of them isn't appropriate. It's a bit of a time

> game in that your job is to help get her up to speed as quickly as

> possible and not to keep her in a situation just because she's getting

> the right amount of the wrong therapy -or the right amount of the

> right therapy for the wrong condition or the right amount of the right

> therapy with a therapist who isn't very good. Don't worry about

> hurting anyone's feelings because in a year or so you may never see

> the same school professionals again, you could move, but your daughter

> is always.

>

> In short to answer your question -many of the children in this group

> had almost daily therapy between EI or school and private therapy

>

> You need to know by a neurodevelopmental medical exam (pediatric

> neurologist or neurodevelopmental pediatrician if apraxia is

> suspected) if there are signs of sensory integration dysfunction or

> hypotonia and/or motor planning issues so that you can secure

> appropriate therapy for these co existing conditions as well in the

> IEP. Of course in addition to the neuroMD exam it's best to secure an

> outside the school SLP/ outside the school OT as well.

>

> For example does your child right now have 1/1 therapy in his IEP and

> if so how often? Here's a severity intervention matrix to help as well

> as some reasons for 1/1 therapy

> Importance of one on one therapy

> http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapyintensity.html

>

> Severity Intervention Matrix

> http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapymatrix.html

>

>

> Don't let them say there is a language/receptive delay until you have

> an appropriate diagnosis since signs of a receptive delay may be due

> to an impairment in speech and or motor, sensory or weakness issues.

>

> What state are you in? Perhaps I or others can help you find a

> competent neuromedical doctor. At this point it's not just the SLP or

> OT who will be able to help you secure the appropriate therapies if it

> is apraxia. It does not matter if nobody in the history of your town

> ever received one on one -that just tells me that you don't have

> advocates in your town. If your town's school is in the US than it

> receives Federal monies and has to by law follow the Federal (not just

> State or City) laws. The Federal Law is FAPE in the LRE or your child

> is entitled to a free and appropriate public education in the least

> restrictive environment and you'd be shocked how much is offered once

> you learn how to advocate. Rule one never say " best " say " appropriate "

> whenever you want to say best. Or " inappropriate " because the school

> is not obligated by law to offer your child the best therapy and

> placement -only what is appropriate. If they can not provide

> appropriate placement and therapy in district than you can seek " out

> of district placement " or to have an " expert " come in to train the

> current staff and work with your son or to keep your child in district

> for certain services and to pay for private therapy at home a few days

> a week. If you don't ask you won't get any of that for your child as

> I've never known for schools to just offer any of the above without

> advocacy.

>

> Have you read The Late Talker book? It's a good starting point book.

> Also is your child in the early intervention program through the

> school right now and if so how much speech and occupational therapy is

> she receiving? To make sure it's appropriate speech and occupational

> therapy again you need to have that appropriate diagnosis.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> OT is very important as well to most with apraxia -even without tone, motor

planning or sensory issues it's known that speech is stimulated by motion!

>

> I also would be very careful about not underestimating therapies that

compliment speech therapy which would include many alternative therapies.

Here's some info on this from our Facebook CHERAB group

> http://www.facebook.com/lisa.geng#/topic.php?uid=115029735601 & topic=7986

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

That is so, so, so very incorrect!! Please dont group all SLP's together based

on your experience! My dd has had nothing less than 1/1 therapy and no one sat

by while she played!!!!!

This was true during EI, 3 yrs of preschool and now K,1st and 2nd grade! they've

worked very close with her which is why she is now talking!!

>

>> Some speech therapists do not eploy the practice of one on one verbaliztions

during speech. They have no ehod. All they do is interact once in a while wihthe

child while the child plays.

>

[Guest guest]

Hey Patty. I have a little girl who just turned 3. She also has hypotnia. We

have her in s/t 5xs a week, o/t 3xs a week, p/t 2xs a week, hippa therapy 1x per

week and shee sees a myofunctional specialist 1x a week for oral motor work.(On

mothers day my 5 year old had to fill out a info sheet about me, Whats my

favorite food, color, ect. ect. When it asked what was your moms job she wrote

to bring and do therapy with my baby sister.) She also goes to typical daycare 2

full days and 1 half day. We also do My Gym classes on Saturdays and lots of

swimming whenever we can fit it in. She takes Nordic Naturals (Pro Efa) or

Nordic Naturals (Omega 369)- which is the same thing - 2 pills per day and one

Nordic Natural (Pro Epa) 1 pill per day. I believe in very aggressive therapy as

early as possible. I have basically quit my job and made my daughter my full

time job. My daughter has made great progress with her hypotonia, she can

walk,jump, climb, run, dance, and do stairs with assistance. Her apraxia has

been also moving along - slow but steady- She can say probably 25-35

understandable words and many approximations that only her therapists or myself

understand. Just the other day one of her o/t commented on how nice it was that

they have complete conversations during her sessions. In fact lots of her

therapist have commented on her talking. When people meet my daughter, they

don't even know she has any disabilities. I do realize this is because she is so

young and some typical 3 year olds don't talk well either. My best advice would

be to get as much therapy as possible with therapists that are trained and have

had great success with apraxic kids. I have fired many therapists (don't forget

they work for you, you make their pay day possible) For my daughter we have

found prompt, kaufman program, heavy oral motor plan, and lots of new games to

keep her interested has worked for us. We are going to do an intensive with

Kaufman in Sept. and from what I've been told she will tape her sessions

so you can bring it back to show your therapists. This will be good because my

daughter is going to start pre-school this August through our district and I

don't feel that the s/t they have are trained to work with apraxic kids.

Hopefully the videos of 's sessions will help. Good Luck to you. Your son

is young so be as aggresive as possible and remember to work with him at home

even if it's just a few minutes a day.

-------------- Original message from " " <agirlnamedsuess@...>:

--------------

Speech with an apraxic child should be daily (7 times a week). No matter how

many times you see your speech therapist per week, you should be doing the

prescribed methods you see the speech therapist doing. Everyone should have a

home program. My son's speech therapist taught me what I need to know to do all

his speech therapy myself if I wanted to (or had to) in one or two sessions. Any

good speech therapist will show you what to do and explain it to you. (There are

a lot of poor ST's out there who do not elicit vocalizations on a one on one

basis. All my son does is vocalization practice when he goes to this speech

therapist.)

It is not hard if you have someone explain it to you. I hve had a lot of bad

speech therapists and only two real good ones. Speech therapy is about " speech " .

Watch what a " good " ST does and then apply it at home.

I think I went off on a tangent here, but " correct " speech practice AND finding

the underlying cause of the apraxia (and treating the cause, if possible) are

the two best things you can do for an apraxic child.

Everything else may be a total waste of time.

-- In , tbniesh@... wrote:

>

> I have to say-- if questions have anything to do with Fish Oils-- I never

> answer them, because we have NOT started them ourselves yet. There are

> more health issues that are more prominent for our Apraxic son right now, so

> the fish oils have to wait a bit til we get a handle on the other things.

> Sorry-- but I just don't know enough about them to offer a reply.

>

> I do want to say though-- Speech for a child with Apraxia-- in my honest

> opinion, MUST be at least 3x a wk. But 1x a wk really won't do much at all,

> and if you want to see better results, bump him up to 3x a wk or more.

>

>

> becky

>

>

> In a message dated 6/29/2009 12:31:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> agirlnamedsuess@... writes:

>

>

>

>

>

> Below is Patty's question. Since Fish Oils did not resolve the apraxic

> issue, and we just simply include more EFA's in our diet instead, I did not

> feel qualified to answer this question.

> I do have a question, though, ...Patty, does your son have fair skin,

> blonde hair, or blue eyes. (You must wonder why I am asking!)

>

> >

> > hello all. found this group while reading The Late Talker, of course

> >

> > just read the nutritional supplements page and can't believe they didn't

> put that at the BEGINNING of the book!

> >

> > My son is 2 1/2 now and almost 40 pounds. we came to his apraxic

> diagnosis via his SLP a few weeks ago.

> >

> > He is visited by his SLP and ahis Ot once a week. (I personally think it

> needs to be bumped up to twice a week at least, since he'll have to

> transfer out of early intervention in 6 months when he's 3).

> >

> > He also just started getting visits from a behavioral therapist once

> every other week. she is helping gabe deal with his anxiety which stems from

> his frustration at not being understood - or getting his way. he is a very

> stubborn child with two equally stubborn parents

> >

> > so, I am only giving one 1000mg fish oil tablet (nature made) a day

> because we just started and i haven't been able to get to the pharmacy yet

> where the Nordic Natural stuff is sold locally.

> >

> > all the anagrams and dosages per child per age are all quite confusing.

> >

> > any recommendations for my son. again, he's 2 1/2, weighs about 38 lbs.

> he does this nasally language and is extrememly expressive. also very smart

> and funny. don't know " HOW " apraxic he is.

> >

> > concerned mom

> > " HOPE SPEAKS!! " ,

> >

> > Patty

> >

>

>

>

>

>

> **************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the

> grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My son's speech therapists at school have been worthless (cruel but true). They

know nothing about apraxia. One even told me that if she hears a sound it is in

his inventory so she won't work on it anymore. So even though he would say,

" dye dye " for bye and most other words that would start with a " B " , she did not

need to work on the " b " sound because he would say " bu bu bu " as a stim so could

make the sound. The fact that when you would say, say 'bu bu bu' back to him he

would try to repeat it thinking about it and say 'du du du' did not concern her.

I actually tried to fight the district to get him a speech therapist that had

experience treating children with apraxia and was trained in the tecnhiques such

as Kaufman and PROMPT, but they said they don't need to because there are no

specialties/certs for apraxia. Then they told me the line every parent loves to

hear ... they only have to provide what is appropriate, not what is best. If I

want best, go pay for it privately.

Is there something I can do to get him better therapy at school? At times I

feel like I know more than the therapists there.

Michele

>

> While I agree with Sue and it's obvious that a speech disorder is about

speech, today we know that is a myth if you follow that to the T. In fact most

of the children today with speech impairments (not delays) have some sort of

sensory issues, low tone/weakness/hypotonia, and/or motor planning deficits in

the body. While in a perfect world we all try to secure daily or almost daily

speech therapy for our apraxic child especially when preschool if severe, it's

not a given that all will secure or even need daily speech therapy. Many in

this group have used the severity intervention matrix to help advocate for their

child which provides a basic guideline of which children would be entitled to 5

days a week of therapy (the other 2 for most you're on your own)

> Severity Intervention Matrix

> http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapymatrix.html

> (most here with apraxic children secure 3-5 days in the IEP)

>

> Below is a basic archive to answer this question:

>

> ~~~~~~~~general info on IEPs

>

>

> If you don't have a diagnosis , you really want to know the reason for

> your child's delay in speech as there are quite a list of reasons. Who

> evaluated your child thus far? What is your child's diagnosis? Have

> you observed the therapy at school to see how knowledgeable the

> therapist is about your child's condition? Do you believe you would be

> able to tell the difference? Do you have any local support groups near

> you to have someone who has been there before help you advocate? Since

> school began are you noticing any improvements with the therapy? What

> does the IEP goals have for 3 months -6 months. After 3 months of no

> progress either the therapy, therapist or diagnosis should be examined

> again as perhaps one of them isn't appropriate. It's a bit of a time

> game in that your job is to help get her up to speed as quickly as

> possible and not to keep her in a situation just because she's getting

> the right amount of the wrong therapy -or the right amount of the

> right therapy for the wrong condition or the right amount of the right

> therapy with a therapist who isn't very good. Don't worry about

> hurting anyone's feelings because in a year or so you may never see

> the same school professionals again, you could move, but your daughter

> is always.

>

> In short to answer your question -many of the children in this group

> had almost daily therapy between EI or school and private therapy

>

> You need to know by a neurodevelopmental medical exam (pediatric

> neurologist or neurodevelopmental pediatrician if apraxia is

> suspected) if there are signs of sensory integration dysfunction or

> hypotonia and/or motor planning issues so that you can secure

> appropriate therapy for these co existing conditions as well in the

> IEP. Of course in addition to the neuroMD exam it's best to secure an

> outside the school SLP/ outside the school OT as well.

>

> For example does your child right now have 1/1 therapy in his IEP and

> if so how often? Here's a severity intervention matrix to help as well

> as some reasons for 1/1 therapy

> Importance of one on one therapy

> http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapyintensity.html

>

> Severity Intervention Matrix

> http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapymatrix.html

>

>

> Don't let them say there is a language/receptive delay until you have

> an appropriate diagnosis since signs of a receptive delay may be due

> to an impairment in speech and or motor, sensory or weakness issues.

>

> What state are you in? Perhaps I or others can help you find a

> competent neuromedical doctor. At this point it's not just the SLP or

> OT who will be able to help you secure the appropriate therapies if it

> is apraxia. It does not matter if nobody in the history of your town

> ever received one on one -that just tells me that you don't have

> advocates in your town. If your town's school is in the US than it

> receives Federal monies and has to by law follow the Federal (not just

> State or City) laws. The Federal Law is FAPE in the LRE or your child

> is entitled to a free and appropriate public education in the least

> restrictive environment and you'd be shocked how much is offered once

> you learn how to advocate. Rule one never say " best " say " appropriate "

> whenever you want to say best. Or " inappropriate " because the school

> is not obligated by law to offer your child the best therapy and

> placement -only what is appropriate. If they can not provide

> appropriate placement and therapy in district than you can seek " out

> of district placement " or to have an " expert " come in to train the

> current staff and work with your son or to keep your child in district

> for certain services and to pay for private therapy at home a few days

> a week. If you don't ask you won't get any of that for your child as

> I've never known for schools to just offer any of the above without

> advocacy.

>

> Have you read The Late Talker book? It's a good starting point book.

> Also is your child in the early intervention program through the

> school right now and if so how much speech and occupational therapy is

> she receiving? To make sure it's appropriate speech and occupational

> therapy again you need to have that appropriate diagnosis.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> OT is very important as well to most with apraxia -even without tone, motor

planning or sensory issues it's known that speech is stimulated by motion!

>

> I also would be very careful about not underestimating therapies that

compliment speech therapy which would include many alternative therapies.

Here's some info on this from our Facebook CHERAB group

> http://www.facebook.com/lisa.geng#/topic.php?uid=115029735601 & topic=7986

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

susan- he is actually all three like me: fair-skinned (IRISH-GERMAN), blue eyes

and blonde hair - and yes- quite curious as to why you were asking. i can't

wait to see what this tells you!

how long have you been doing all of your research? you should qrite a book, my

friend!

[Guest guest]

first let me say, that for the record, I wasn't out to hurt with my message, i'm

not much of a sugar-coater, is all...it's the irish in me.

what a wealth of information and list of questions! i completely agree that

speech therapy should be everyday. i implement the " homework " our OT and SLP

give us. I just found out that I have to choose btw a music tx and a behavioral

tx. *gush* my son is very musical. knows all the " words " to the songs on the

the Tank Engine, Bear In The Big Blue House and Huge Trucks CD's we play

in the car. he knows every beat. I think he's even memorized the

episodes b/c he " talks " right along with the show's characters. There is no

doubt he's bright...which just makes it all that more frustrating that he's not

talking.

thanks to everyone for their experience and insight!

[Guest guest]

Sadly enough, there are not any apraxia-trained specialists in any school

system. The reason is the schools do not pay them what they are worth. It costs

a lot of money to be appropriately trained.

The good therapits are out there making $$$ in their own practice, and who can

blame them?

You know I keep hearing that same statement, as long as it is a licensed SLP.

But the truth is that the speech is drastically inappropriate because children

with apraxia have problems in te brain with motor planning and once you

implement (or settle for) an incorrect motor plan, you have done more harm than

good. With that said, it is better not to have a ST if they are going to

implement " bad " motor planning becase you are no better off than you were to

start with.

" B " s and " D " s are common easy sunds and like with my son, he will revert a " M "

sound to a " B " sound everytime if you let him. If I settle for this, I am

implementing/ok'ing the bad motor planning that exists.

I am thinking you should perhaps call an IEP meeting and specifically say that

this should not be done, after of course telling the untrained SLP why tis is a

bad idea. Spell it out and drag the IEP out for hours until they give in, no one

can leave the meeting without the ok of you) or go to due process if they won't

add your wishes. Then follow up with a surprise visit. You will know without

even visiting if your child's speech is improving, staying the same, or getting

worse in 2 months time.

It is just so sad. It ought to be illegal to give the wrong care. Hmmm...I guess

I actually thought it was. Just hard to prove in court I guess.

[Guest guest]

Yes there are!! My dd has had an Apraxia Trained SLP for the past three years in

my own school district. She started K with less than 5 words and by Christmas of

that year--she was saying two-word sentences!! A huge accomplishment and a

testament that there are some SD that have Apraxia-trained SLP. She's been using

Kaufman since the very first day! She has had 1/1 3x/week therapy since day

1.For this coming school year- 3rd grade-they added a 4th " Group " which they said

will consist of 2 children! She's a very, social child and they said the " group "

of 2 kids will be good for her! She also won a Speech award from her SLP for the

Most-Improved Speech over the school year. Sounds like someone knows what

they're doing!!

All I ask is that you stop making blanket statements about the services that are

available out there, because of what you have experienced!! If I recall your

child isnt in the school district yet-he's just preschool age??? we all know

what happens when we assume!! I have not had the same troubles with SLP that you

refer to--so dont tell us that we are all in such a sad state.Its very

misleading and un-encouraging to the parents just starting on this journey-like

you.

My dd was dx with Apraxia at 4yrs old, while in her full-day special needs ps.

As soon as we knew what it was--her SLP at preschool signed up for an Apraxia

course and came back from it very excited at all the new books she got from the

course! That SLP is still in that preschool- we visited last week! So I know

that now--any kids in that special needs preschool with Apraxia are getting the

help they need as soon as they come in the door! My SD also bought her an AAC

device immediately after the Ped Neuro who dx her suggested that they better get

her some alternate form of communication until her Apraxia could be properly

dealt with.

>

> Sadly enough, there are not any apraxia-trained specialists in any school

system. The reason is the schools do not pay them what they are worth.

[Guest guest]

My son was in a special needs preschool with the diagnosis of apraxia but the

speech therapists he had were not as motivated I guess as yours was. Consider

yourself fortunate. I wonder if your experience is the exception or the rule

though.

I always say the only thing worse than no therapy is bad therapy. So I actually

requested the therapist not work on articulation if all she was going to do is

say the word slowly and have him keep repeating it back to her incorrectly over

and over and over. So here he has this HUGE need and it is not being addressed

by the school. I see this as a failure, at least in our case. And I am

actually a special education teacher ... taught for almost ten years and have a

masters in special education ... so I can assure you I am not anti-establishment

when it comes to the schools. But I am disappointed by what I have experienced

sitting on the other side of the table in my son's case.

Michele

> >

> > Sadly enough, there are not any apraxia-trained specialists in any school

system. The reason is the schools do not pay them what they are worth.

>

[Guest guest]

,

You wrote:  " sadly enough, there are not any apraxia-trained specialists in

any school system "

this is very untrue and unfair to all the wonderful SLP's out there.  We've been

at this for a very long time and yes, we've seen some slp's who don't fit the

bill,

but one of our first when we entered the school system was a VERY dedicated,

trained, wonderful therapist who did marvelous things with our son who had NO

words upon entering school.

Our slp that we pay for privately co-ordinates with the slp at school, so that

we

are on the same page as a group when it comes to helping my son.  I have never

had a problem questioning any therapist when it comes to the best way to teach

my son to talk. 

It's not easy, but with perserverance and a gentle but firm manner parents can

be a great advocate for their children.  I never thought i'd have to do this as

a mother,

but my son is worth every stressful encounter with nay-sayer school boards as

well

as doctors who don't want to be pro-active along with me.

To all the parents out there who are just starting your journey, question

everyone

and everything.  It isn't all negative out there.  Mommy-gut and logic are on

your

side.  That's why this group is here.....to help each other get through a

journey we

never wanted to be on.

sandy

mom to Chris(9 years old)

________________________________

From: <agirlnamedsuess@...>

Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 9:15:23 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: new here- (PATTY'S ORIGINAL INTRO AND

QUESTION)

Sadly enough, there are not any apraxia-trained specialists in any school

system. The reason is the schools do not pay them what they are worth. It costs

a lot of money to be appropriately trained.

The good therapits are out there making $$$ in their own practice, and who can

blame them?

You know I keep hearing that same statement, as long as it is a licensed SLP.

But the truth is that the speech is drastically inappropriate because children

with apraxia have problems in te brain with motor planning and once you

implement (or settle for) an incorrect motor plan, you have done more harm than

good. With that said, it is better not to have a ST if they are going to

implement " bad " motor planning becase you are no better off than you were to

start with.

" B " s and " D " s are common easy sunds and like with my son, he will revert a " M "

sound to a " B " sound everytime if you let him. If I settle for this, I am

implementing/ ok'ing the bad motor planning that exists.

I am thinking you should perhaps call an IEP meeting and specifically say that

this should not be done, after of course telling the untrained SLP why tis is a

bad idea. Spell it out and drag the IEP out for hours until they give in, no one

can leave the meeting without the ok of you) or go to due process if they won't

add your wishes. Then follow up with a surprise visit. You will know without

even visiting if your child's speech is improving, staying the same, or getting

worse in 2 months time.

It is just so sad. It ought to be illegal to give the wrong care. Hmmm...I guess

I actually thought it was. Just hard to prove in court I guess.

__________________________________________________________________

Get the name you've always wanted @ymail.com or @rocketmail.com! Go to

http://ca.promos./jacko/

[Guest guest]

hi Tara (and all readers of this email),

i agree with you that a mom would pretty much have to quit her job to focus FT

on her apraxic (and other needs) child to take him/her to therapy sessions 5

days a week. i can't afford to quit my job yet.

my son is just 3, but i need to find an SLP or doctor who will diagnose him with

apraxia (he only has 6 words).

**any advice there?

he just finished 10 months of 1x/week ST through California's Early Start

program and he has made very little (zero) speech growth. i wasn't impressed

since there was no specific treatment method like PROMPT/Kaufmann/etc). the

SLP's explanation was that my child was under 3 and too young for her to be

manipulating his mouth....

i recently took him for a private eval to hopefully get pre-auth through my

insurance. the SLP already told me that she cannot diagnose him apraxia since he

isn't really talking. my poor son doesn't even know how to stick out his tongue

to lick ice cream off a cone!

so i just have to ask;-) :

1)

are you paying for all of these intensive multiple-day therapies (especially

Speech and OT) out of pocket?

2)

is your insurance paying/reimbursing for them?

if through insurance, what is your *secret* in streamlining the paperwork trail

(from doctors, neuroMDs, developmental pediatricians, etc) to get the insurance

company to pay for these costly therapies.

thanks for reading & responding.

> > >

> > > hello all. found this group while reading The Late Talker, of course

> > >

> > > just read the nutritional supplements page and can't believe they didn't

> > put that at the BEGINNING of the book!

> > >

> > > My son is 2 1/2 now and almost 40 pounds. we came to his apraxic

> > diagnosis via his SLP a few weeks ago.

> > >

> > > He is visited by his SLP and ahis Ot once a week. (I personally think it

> > needs to be bumped up to twice a week at least, since he'll have to

> > transfer out of early intervention in 6 months when he's 3).

> > >

> > > He also just started getting visits from a behavioral therapist once

> > every other week. she is helping gabe deal with his anxiety which stems from

> > his frustration at not being understood - or getting his way. he is a very

> > stubborn child with two equally stubborn parents

> > >

> > > so, I am only giving one 1000mg fish oil tablet (nature made) a day

> > because we just started and i haven't been able to get to the pharmacy yet

> > where the Nordic Natural stuff is sold locally.

> > >

> > > all the anagrams and dosages per child per age are all quite confusing.

> > >

> > > any recommendations for my son. again, he's 2 1/2, weighs about 38 lbs.

> > he does this nasally language and is extrememly expressive. also very smart

> > and funny. don't know " HOW " apraxic he is.

> > >

> > > concerned mom

> > > " HOPE SPEAKS!! " ,

> > >

> > > Patty

> > >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > **************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the

> > grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Other than Kaufman, what other methods does your SLP know?

I am glad your daughter is doing so well.

My son is 6, was in public school, but withdrawn primarily for abuse and kept

out secondarily for an immune system issue (repeated repiratory infections in a

germ-based envionment).

My mother and aunt have been school teachers from elemetary to college level and

all in between for eons of years; thus,I am extremely familiar with the school

systems.

I have been on this journey for 6 years (almost).

Pardon me for saying so, but in reading your posts, you seem a bit ready to jump

on people...like a defensive mode or something; a lot o what is posted seems to

be taken to the extreme and strongly with you.

However, with all that said, and accompanying your response of an apparently

well-trained apraxia therapist equates to one who uses the Kaufman Method, I

will repeat my statement that there are not any well-trained apraxia specialists

in any public school system.

In my opinion, and probably the opinion of those few who are well-trained in

treating the full-picture of apraxia as well, ther are multiple modalities used

to treat apraxia. No one method is effective and well-suited for every

individual with verbal apraxia.

Many modalities are utilized including (but not limited to) the following:

(There are others depending on whether or not the child has other forms of

apraxia in addition to verbal apraxia. Apraxia is not limited to verbal.)

>>Phonemic and articulation approaches (teaching your child how to make the

sounds & combine sounds into syllables)

(Phonetic Placement Method)

>>Oral motor approaches (practicing the movements for speech sounds)(Beckman

Oral-Motor, Sammy Speakwell, etc...)

>> Cuing approaches (PROMPT or physical cues, Visual cues/cued speech, and

visual tactile cues)

>>Melodic Intonation Therapy (prosodic approach)

>>Augmentive Communication Devices (for the severely impaired)

>>Multimodal or Total Communication approaches (using word in addition to signs

or cues to teach speech and language.)

>>Sensory Modalities

Repetition tasks/Re-training the brain (Oral motor programming again)

>>VitalStem Therapy (although currently approved for dysphagia only, it is a

TENS type method)

>>Kaufman Method (shaping approach to decostruct and construct words)

There are others, but this is a start.

> >

> > Sadly enough, there are not any apraxia-trained specialists in any school

system. The reason is the schools do not pay them what they are worth.

>

[Guest guest]

I'm only defending the SD SLP's who DO help kids with Apraxia. And your opinion

that they are not out there is just that, one mothers opinion, in one school

district, in one state in this whole entire country!!

a system that you have chosen not to be a part of anymore. Seems a little biased

because you had a bad experience.I'm sorry your district has failed your son

but where I live--that has not happened. maybe you should consider moving to

where parents have good experiences with their schools.

That does not mean that there is no one out there who can help our kids without

going to private therapy!!!! Have you spoken to my SD SLP? Do you know HER

qualifications? Do you know every single method she uses with every child in my

district? I dont--because of HEPA laws---she will only discuss my child with me

and wouldnt tell me if I asked her what she uses with the other children in the

school!

If you have data to back up your opinion--it should accompany your post.

>

there are not any well-trained apraxia specialists in any public school system.

> In my opinion, and probably the opinion of those few who are well-trained in

treating the full-picture of apraxia as well, ther are multiple modalities used

to treat apraxia. No one method is effective and well-suited for every

individual with verbal apraxia.

[Guest guest]

Sandy, I never said there weren't any good SLP's at school, but due to lack of

respnse from Maureen after indicating what my perception of a " well-trained

apraxia SLP " is, then I guess her's does not fit the bill.

If someone has all the training I mentioned, which would constitute being very

educated and well-versed in apraxia, then why wouldn't they be making 3 times as

much money working on their own?

There is sch a need for SLP, well-trained in apraxia at that, that thy would

have no trouble getting business.

Again, your (and Maureen's) opinion on what an expert in apraxia is may be lower

in expectations than what my opinion of an expert in apraxia is.

I already did my homework on this one. nd although the SLP at your school (or

Maureen's) might be an excellent SLP and work really hard with her students, my

comment stands.

[Guest guest]

> he just finished 10 months of 1x/week ST through California's Early Start

> program and he has made very little (zero) speech growth. i wasn't impressed

> since there was no specific treatment method like PROMPT/Kaufmann/etc). the

> SLP's explanation was that my child was under 3 and too young for her to be

> manipulating his mouth....

My daugther won't be 3 until August and she started working with my

son's Prompt therapist in June. Prior to that she had some Prompt

from her EI therapist, but not much actual Prompting. She is not

apraxic, but my son is and had he been diagnosed earlier I see no

reason why he couldn't have had similar therapy at that age.

> 1)

> are you paying for all of these intensive multiple-day therapies (especially

> Speech and OT) out of pocket?

> 2)

> is your insurance paying/reimbursing for them?

For my son we got therapies through EI. In hindsight some of those

actually harmed him because they were inappropriate. Those ended at

3.11 yrs. Where we lived they transitioned when the school year AFTER

your child turns 3 started and he has a Sept bday. At that point what

the schools were offering was completely inadequate and we pursued

private therapies. He started Prompt and our insurance covered the

first $2500 which he blew through quickly. After that we discovered

the Medicaid income levels had been raised in our state and Medicaid

picked up everything that our private insurance didn't pick up. He

still received token and useless speech at school. I'm not saying

every school was that way, but ours was.

When we moved to another state and he was in K he received 2 half hour

of small group (2 kids) therapy. This therapist knew her stuff and he

made some progress. Not as much as he did in Prompt, but it wasn't

useless or worse harmful. He's been with a Prompt therapist up here

since June '08. Our insurance covers 30 visits a year due to medical

necessity. He has a history of head trauma. We can't show that it

did anything to cause his issues, but they can't prove it didn't.

My daughter has as severe artic issue. We suspected apraxia (in part

due to no consonant sounds until after 18 mo) but after she started

speaking it became clear that her errors are consistent. She has been

getting 1 hour of speech through EI. will be getting 30 minutes of

speech in pre-k. She will be in the classroom only 5 hours a week.

She also will get 30 visits covered through insurance at a private

SLP. Our insurance covers 30 visits of combined OT/PT/ST per calendar

year for children under age 5 no questions asked. I didn't have to

prove medical necessity for her which would have been harder.

>

> if through insurance, what is your *secret* in streamlining the paperwork

> trail (from doctors, neuroMDs, developmental pediatricians, etc) to get the

> insurance company to pay for these costly therapies.

There is no secret, just be as well organized as possible and try to

get your pediatrician on your side. My son's doctor was the most

indispensable resource we had for insurance and she argued with them

like a pro! If you can find an insurance code that gets covered make

sure you use that and put it first. In my sons' case that was the

skull fracture code. It's also been our experience that OT codes for

" dyspraxia/coordination disorder " will get coverage when speech codes

won't.

Miche

[Guest guest]

Because I have no reason in this world why I need to justify to YOU what the

qualifications are of my SD SLP!! Its not worth my time.

Your son is but six years old and you have decided that YOU and you alone- set

the standard for a GOOD SLP...and by your standards-no one is good enough if

they lower themselves enough to want to work with children in a school district?

What a poor, outlook on the world you have.

your perception is not an opinion I value--sorry!

>

> Sandy, I never said there weren't any good SLP's at school, but due to lack of

respnse from Maureen after indicating what my perception of a " well-trained

apraxia SLP " is, then I guess her's does not fit the bill.

> If someone has all the training I mentioned, which would constitute being very

educated and well-versed in apraxia, then why wouldn't they be making 3 times as

much money working on their own?

>

[Guest guest]

I believe a few of us who probably have been down this road a bit longer

than you responded to the following message because while some of what you say

holds truth -not all of it does. I'll just leave the parts of what you say that

probably are not true ever:

" Speech with an apraxic child should be daily (7 times a week) "

" My son's speech therapist taught me what I need to know to do all

his speech therapy myself if I wanted to (or had to) in one or two sessions. "

" It is not hard if you have someone explain it to you. "

" Speech therapy is about " speech " . "

As I answered you prior -it's not blanket that speech therapy with an apraxic

child has to be 7 times a week and since I went into detail prior I won't again.

I didn't get into it prior (but since you answered me and defended what you

wrote I'll get into it now) No I highly doubt that with one or two sessions of

watching an SLP (even one or two years I'll dare to say) -even if you watched an

expert that you could provide all of your child's therapy yourself. In fact if

you ask any SLP in this group who is parent to an apraxic child -if they don't

specialize in apraxia and if the child is apraxic they seek out an SLP with

experience in motor planning disorders. It's one thing if you 'have' to be your

child's SLP because you have no money -no IEP -live in some obscure area of a

country outside of the USA -and we've heard about that in this group...but if

you are saying you are in the US..and you actually really believe what you wrote

-that's just scary.

Even once therapy is explained to you it can be quite hard as there are so many

methods and you have to keep so many things in mind including posture, breath

control, and with apraxia making sure you work on the motor memory

correctly...which leads us to the last point...

Speech therapy is in theory about speech -but in reality encompasses the whole

body. In fact the way I spot a bad SLP? Someone who believes that speech

therapy (especially for an apraxic child who probably has breath control issues

and or weakness, sensory and motor planning issues of the body) is just about

speech! My son Tanner first had to learn (through his SLP) how to blow and move

his tongue and mouth, how to breath, how to sit properly, chew.

You'll learn -we all learn.

=====

[Guest guest]

I'm not sure where YOU'RE located, but I know of an AMAZING SLP who works

for the public school systems

She just happens to have well over 30 yrs experience as an SLP-- and she's

one of the best specialists in the Apraxia field. She also just happens to

be the President of the New Jersey ASHA chapter. (That would be the

national organization that specializes in speech-- so this " title " is quite

impressive).

What is my point--?? You're wrong-- very , very wrong indeed. There ARE

qualified SLPs who are Apraxia specialists who work in the public school

systems--- but they just might not be in YOUR school system.

I am blessed to have found this woman who not only works with children in

the public schoool sector, but she also has a private sector as well-- and

I am more than blessed to have her working with my son. She was the first

one I found to help Asa, and now she'll be adding my 3 yr old to the speech

therapy as well.

Becky

In a message dated 7/4/2009 1:18:33 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

mosense@... writes:

I will repeat my statement that there are not any well-trained apraxia

specialists

in any public school system.

**************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the

grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)

[Guest guest]

Well-- here's my thought on this-- 1x a wk is NOT enough ST for an Apraxic

child--and they need constant repetition of things in order to really do

well.

Again-- this is my opinion-- but it's also from what I've seen.

I would also disagree that a child your son's age is too young for PROMPT.

It is more likely that the SLP didn't do it properly-- or really-- when I

think about it-- having ST only 1x a week-- no matter WHAT method they do

to help the child-- I personally don't believe that you'll see much with

results. but either way-- a 3 yr old isn't too young to be doing PROMPT and

having their mouth manipulated. I actually think that age does very WELL

with PROMPT because they have someone showing them physically how their

mouths should go.

My JUST turned 3 yr old is doing PROMPT with his SLPs and he started before

he was 3, and it's been working beautifully for him

It could also just be the child??

Bek

In a message dated 7/3/2009 5:34:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

miche37@... writes:

he just finished 10 months of 1x/week ST through California's Early Start

> program and he has made very little (zero) speech growth. i wasn't

impressed

> since there was no specific treatment method like PROMPT/Kaufmann/ since

th

> SLP's explanation was that my child was under 3 and too young for her to

be

> manipulating his mouth....

**************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the

grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)

[Guest guest]

I have actually been down the road long enough to know " fish oil " is not the

sole answer.

With that said, I do " have " to do the other five days of my son's speech therapy

and I have had to be the one to get the information and to provide it most of

his life. Given my knowledge base and intelligence, the SLP " taught " me what I

needed to do of which I did not already know (knew of the methods, but unable

toobtain the information without being a SLP). I did not just " watch " her.

ROTFL. I learn something new all the time; smart people learn everyday, and do

not just stagnate. Together, we figure out what works the best and we employ it.

I do not spend too much time on things that do not work. It is called

intelligent decision making.

I would have to say that I know my stuff, given the dramatic, ongoing

improvements in my son. That is not arrogance, but it is confidence.

I could sit around and waste precious time by being ignorant, which I am not, or

I could continue to employ the " methods " currently known to successfully treat

apraxia, which I do.

If you or anyone else here believes that speech therapy is not a 24/7 thing

(with a parent, speech therapist, or both in most cases), then it is you

(collectively) who I feel sorry for. One cannot take a child to speech therapy

1,2, or 3 days a week for 30 minutes a session, do nothing at home on the rest

of the days and times, and expect your child to speak. (Not with true apraxia.)

Speech therapy is about speech. Apraxia is about motor programming for the

speech because the motor program to sequence and execute is damaged. It is a

neurological problem in the brain that fish oil alone will not fix. Unless the

root cause is determined and resolved, like with any neurological impairment,

the child with apraxia will continue to deteriorate (neurologically).

I have listened on many groups about the different children with apraxia, what

they are deficient in, what tests have been done, what conclusions have been

drawn from those tests, what methods different ones are using to attempt to

correct th apraxia and so forth. I have heard the frustrations and the

successes. I have quickly seen the commonalities and quickly seen the various

differences.

Nonetheless, all of the children had something (other than apraxia) in

common...only one thing. Once I figured that out, it was quite simple to

determine which direction I needed to go in order to prevent further

neurological damage. I am on that route now. One of my children may have

permanent irreversible damage, but the other has a great fighting chance. I do

know the damage can be halted, but I am not sure about compleely repaired. Don't

get me me wrong, I said " may " , as nothing is ever impossible. The funny thing I

discovered was that all the results,, all the dietary supplements, and all the

symptoms " DO " correlate. The fish oils, the other supplements for nutritional

deficiencies, the MRI results (the ones that did not show anything and the ones

that did), and the laboratory tests all point to one thing. It

is so sad that perhaps many doctors and others are overlooking something so

simple, but maybe not so simply resolved.

Considering a select " few " posts, including yours, I gather that you do not

trust the information I provide to you here on this group forum; therefore, I

bid you all luck in finding the common denominator (for your childen's sakes),as

there is a common denominator.