Do apraxic children understand?

[Guest guest]

My daughter just turned 3 and was diagnosed with apraxia at around 2 1/2.  She's

currently in speech 1x week for 50 minutes.  She's also in OT although I

personally feel she doesn't need it.  Insurance covers it, so I'm fine with it. 

 

Anyway, to my question for all you experts out there...do they understand or

hear that they are saying a word incorrectly?  For example, I get all forms of

pronunciation for the word mama...now, she can and has said mama correctly. 

Does she not hear that she is saying the word incorrectly?  When I tell her to

say mama, stressing the " m " sound, she will.  It's almost like she's taking the

(and I hate to say this) but the lazy way out, saying just whatever pops out

instead of the correct pronunciations.

 

Also, I've noticed a huge surge in her trying to speak, but hardly anything is

recognizable.  No multiple word sentences either, just one word sentences,

sometimes 2. 

 

Any help would be grateful.  Thanks.

[Guest guest]

, this is typical neurological motor planning disorder--namely apraxia. My

daughter was the same way and still is though her progress has been great since

appropriate speech 4-5 times a week with PROMPT and diet/supplements have been

implemented. She's almost 4 now and has come such a long way in just a few

months and making continuous progress. But it hasn't been easy and I feel all

of the above were needed in her case to make it click.

They may or may not be aware of their mistakes, some APD or language processing

issues are often in the mix and further complicates things. Fast Forward a

phonological training program has been known to help some with that aspect, but

it isn't cheap and it's probably a later approach to try. Motor planning is the

main thing preventing your child from consistently repeating or saying even the

words she knows and it's not that the child is lazy by any means. If you are

getting speech through the school district I'm sure they would love to suggest

that and get off the hook since speech for apraxic kids needs to be done very

differently and much more frequently than for regular artic problems. It's a

neurologically based disorder and the kids cannot motor plan. Read the

definition ASHA has and you will understand that what you are describing is

exactly that. They may learn to eventually write the words and still have word

retrieval problems in speech and not be able to

consistently and at will just blurt things out like the rest of us. It's

unfortunately a part of the package and why it takes 80% more speech therapy,

and the right kind to produce the same results that would be noted in a child

who only had severe articulation or phonological disorder that presented more or

less the same at first, but minus the inconsistency.

So these kids really have it rough. Their brain may know it, but they have a

hard time sequencing all the sounds, syllables to form words and then sentences

and consistency is the hallmark of apraxia. Good luck and please be sure your

child is getting appropriate therapy for her disorder. School districts very

often cannot offer that, they are not equipped, they don't really understand or

try and they don't usually have an SLP who is trained in motor planning

techniques even if they did have time to do 1:1 speech as often as apraxic kids

need it. It really requires extra effort from everyone, including the child to

beat this thing, but it is doable, we see resolved or getting there cases all

the time. Perseverance and appropriate therapy and other treatments if needed

are key. you're in the right place here. Read as much as you can and ask

questions.

all the best

-elena

<lisafoster7@...> wrote: My daughter just turned 3 and was

diagnosed with apraxia at around 2 1/2. She's currently in speech 1x week for

50 minutes. She's also in OT although I personally feel she doesn't need it.

Insurance covers it, so I'm fine with it.

Anyway, to my question for all you experts out there...do they understand or

hear that they are saying a word incorrectly? For example, I get all forms of

pronunciation for the word mama...now, she can and has said mama correctly.

Does she not hear that she is saying the word incorrectly? When I tell her to

say mama, stressing the " m " sound, she will. It's almost like she's taking the

(and I hate to say this) but the lazy way out, saying just whatever pops out

instead of the correct pronunciations.

Also, I've noticed a huge surge in her trying to speak, but hardly anything is

recognizable. No multiple word sentences either, just one word sentences,

sometimes 2.

Any help would be grateful. Thanks.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I was just asking my son's SLP about this yesterday. He is 3.4 and

only has a few words he uses consistently. He does, however, try to

tell big stories w/ lots of expression and intonation. The words

just come out something like " ca, ca, ca, ca, ta, ta.... " I have

asked a few of his therapists whether he hears what he's saying, but

have never received much of an answer. Yesterday, though, his SLP

was saying that adults who suffer from apraxia (via brain injury,

stroke...) try to communicate with incoherent sounds and become very

frustrated because they believe they are using regular language. I

guess, somehow, the brain is telling them they are hearing the words

correctly (???). So, perhaps the children with apraxia are not aware

that they are not using words. Perhaps if there was a way we could

get them to hear themselves (taping, etc.), it would assist in

teaching them. Then you have the whole self-esteem issue to deal

with because you don't want them to shut down if they realize they

are not speaking right. It's very interesting, and I'd like to know

if anyone else has more info on this.

Thanks,

Amy

>

> My daughter just turned 3 and was diagnosed with apraxia at around

2 1/2.  She's currently in speech 1x week for 50 minutes.  She's also

in OT although I personally feel she doesn't need it.  Insurance

covers it, so I'm fine with it. 

>  

> Anyway, to my question for all you experts out there...do they

understand or hear that they are saying a word incorrectly?  For

example, I get all forms of pronunciation for the word mama...now,

she can and has said mama correctly.  Does she not hear that she is

saying the word incorrectly?  When I tell her to say mama, stressing

the " m " sound, she will.  It's almost like she's taking the (and I

hate to say this) but the lazy way out, saying just whatever pops out

instead of the correct pronunciations.

>  

> Also, I've noticed a huge surge in her trying to speak, but hardly

anything is recognizable.  No multiple word sentences either, just

one word sentences, sometimes 2. 

>  

> Any help would be grateful.  Thanks.

>

>

[Guest guest]

From all that I understand about Apraxia so far, *NO* they do not understand

that the incorrect sound is coming out. They say the word and it is correct

for them, and they think they are saying it right.

Now-- keep in mind that my son is just turned 4, so I'm not sure if it's

different for OLDER Apraxics/Dyspraxics-- but for the little/younger ones, they

really believe that when they say

" mama " and it comes out " nana " that they are, indeed, saying MAMA

What we've been doing with my son to help him " hear " the difference is to

try to get him to do cues that will help him remember certain sounds . So far

we've had great results with that, but other times we'll still get those (many)

words which are said incorrectly and he will look confused and say " Thas wha

I said "

and we will say something to the effect that OUR EARS aren't hearing his

words correctly, here's how my lips will say the words, can you try to say it

like my lips do? etc

But I will always tell him that MY EARS can't hear his words correctly,

because I don't want him, at this age and this stage of the Apraxia journey, to

get discouraged to where he no longer WANTS to communicate with us and where he

just gives up altogether.

Becky

In a message dated 6/25/2008 10:40:09 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

lisafoster7@... writes:

Anyway, to my question for all you experts out there...do they understand or

hear that they are saying a word incorrectly? For example, I get all forms

of pronunciation for the word mama...now, she can and has said mama

correctly. Does she not hear that she is saying the word incorrectly? When I

tell

her to say mama, stressing the " m " sound, she will. It's almost like she's

taking the (and I hate to say this) but the lazy way out, saying just whatever

pops out instead of the correct pronunciations.

**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

fuel-efficient used cars.

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[Guest guest]

This is very normal. The more " utterances " they are trying to get out-- the

more jumbled that it will most likely sound. There is just so much going on

in their brains that the more they TRY sometimes the less they are able, and

the more they DO, the less they are intelligible.

Asa has had a HUGE influx of words for the last 5 mos or so. We are all

astounded at his progress when he's doing his formal speech therapy. He's almost

at the most difficult levels of the Kaufman cards and has perfect

intelligibility.

BUTTTTTT and this is a huge butt here--- with every day, spontaneous

speech, we weren't hearing intelligibility and it was getting extremely

frustrating. Not only for us, but for HIM as well.

It's coming though, and has already improved, and it will continue to

improve with time and practice.

The huge thing to remember is to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Just infuse

her life with speech and with words all around her. At any opportunity, get her

talking and repeating the words after you. Praise her EFFORTS, not the

results, because you won't always get the results you want, but praise her for

trying.

She'll get better and better-

becky

In a message dated 6/25/2008 10:40:09 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

lisafoster7@... writes:

Also, I've noticed a huge surge in her trying to speak, but hardly anything

is recognizable. No multiple word sentences either, just one word

sentences, sometimes 2.

**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

fuel-efficient used cars.

(http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

[Guest guest]

Geeze Becky, I sure wish I knew this a year ago:)

>

> This is very normal. The more " utterances " they are trying to get

out-- the

> more jumbled that it will most likely sound. There is just so much

going on

> in their brains that the more they TRY sometimes the less they are

able, and

> the more they DO, the less they are intelligible.

>

> Asa has had a HUGE influx of words for the last 5 mos or so. We are

all

> astounded at his progress when he's doing his formal speech

therapy. He's almost

> at the most difficult levels of the Kaufman cards and has perfect

> intelligibility.

> BUTTTTTT and this is a huge butt here--- with every day,

spontaneous

> speech, we weren't hearing intelligibility and it was getting

extremely

> frustrating. Not only for us, but for HIM as well.

> It's coming though, and has already improved, and it will continue

to

> improve with time and practice.

>

> The huge thing to remember is to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Just

infuse

> her life with speech and with words all around her. At any

opportunity, get her

> talking and repeating the words after you. Praise her EFFORTS, not

the

> results, because you won't always get the results you want, but

praise her for

> trying.

> She'll get better and better-

>

>

> becky

>

>

> In a message dated 6/25/2008 10:40:09 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> lisafoster7@... writes:

>

> Also, I've noticed a huge surge in her trying to speak, but hardly

anything

> is recognizable. No multiple word sentences either, just one

word

> sentences, sometimes 2.

>

>

>

>

>

> **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

> fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?

ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

LOL

In a message dated 7/5/2008 4:30:32 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

lizlaw@... writes:

Geeze Becky, I sure wish I knew this a year ago:)

**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

fuel-efficient used cars.

(http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

[Guest guest]

Tanner knows for sure if he's not saying something correctly. This

is something Tanner and I have talked about. He knows all the motor

planning tricks to help him say things correctly and it's pretty rare

at this point for him to mess up in public -but it does happen once

in awhile and he'll try to cover it. It probably is hard to know for

sure with a younger child -but Tanner's 12 now. Give it time.

It's frustrating not to be understood. Isn't it a relief when you

go to the dentist and you know you can't talk with that junk in your

mouth and you say " ah er " (that hurts!) and the dentist understands?!

Rule of thumb is give them the benefit of the doubt. I always gave

that to Tanner even when the professionals didn't. Imagine if I

didn't? Imagine if our dentists didn't give that to us!

=====