Re: Whoo Hoo! Done with Speech Therapy! :-)

June 11, 2010

Congrats Diane! I also have a daughter who is undiagnosed and almost 5. I

believe in my heart from everything I have read, she too is dyspraxic. Could

you tell me some of the things that you have done to help her? I would greatly

appreciate it!

Sincerely-

Meyer

[ ] Whoo Hoo! Done with Speech Therapy! :-)

Hi,

I just wanted to share a positive story. My 7 1/2 year daughter has been in

private speech therapy for 4 years for oral motor delay due to a tongue tie and

also dyspraxia that impacts her speech (she's not apraxic, but dyspraxic, which

she's also in OT for).

Got wonderful news today - her speech therapist told me her oral motor skills

have improved and she has strengthened all the muscles in her mouth she needs to

and so her rate and prosidy have improved as well.

SO, great news - she doesn't need speech therapy anymore! :-) We're finishing

up at the end of the month. What a wonderful, hardworking kid I have. We're

really proud of her, so just wanted to share.

Sometimes she stills struggles to say things quickly, and she still has

coordination issues, so OT continues, but I am feeling so good that one hurtle

is past. She has gained steadily at OT as well and is almost at age level in all

areas. Worth every penny.

It can happen, and they do get through. And I must admit, in terms of

supplements we have done fish oils and multivitamins, but didn't do the fish

oils more than 4-6 months and haven't been doing it lately. Thankfully through

hard work and ongoing development she has come a very long way.

One less copay/insurance battle - hooray! There's hope! :-)

Take Care,

Diane

June 11, 2010

Whoo hoo is right Diane!! It's always incredible to see the good work pay off.

What I would suggest as just a thought is to stop the weekly therapy and keep

the therapist at bay for 6 month visits. The reason for this what I found is

that at times as you get up in the school years and your daughter is just

starting -you need some of that extra support when they start getting into the

more complex speech needed for oral participation in social studies, science,

history etc. Keep in mind in those situations they will be using complex words,

some that they are only going to say once or twice in their life -in complex

sentences. Once there is a delay in speech -even if it's from an impairment -it

can create developmental lags...and from what I've seen in this group sometimes

at a later age the school pegs a child who has " overcome " a speech impairment as

having a learning disability or language/receptive issues.

I am telling you this as one who is on the other side- that shockingly you have

to keep your eyes open for ignorance because until there is more awareness and

research for the verbal disabled which we are hoping and starting to raise

monies for through pursuitofresearch.org - the ignorance is still in some cases

blatant. As long as you have a " hero " outside the school who is overseeing

things...even again if it's just that when needed or every 6 months type of

follow up- nobody will mess with you or your child. And..if they do you are

ready for them. BTW in the same light I kept a neuroMD on call- but in that

case only to see or consult with them as needed. In many cases however once a

year until out of the woods isn't a bad thing if you can swing it financially.

As one of the " big sisters " in the group -just want to give you a hive five,

give you the above " next step " advice and shout out CONGRATULATIONS WAY TO GO!!!

=====

June 12, 2010

Sound advice . Thanks for putting it out there that once in school, the

language area could be a whole other issue beyond the articulation/oral motor

side. Sound advice to keep the ST on hand for a set period of time once it has

been deemed that a child does not need ST any longer. Schools really can

overlook a truly needed area of help if parents do not stay diligent.

Congrats Diane!!! How thrilling it truly must be to know that your child is able

to communicate with you, that she no longer needs ST.

>

> Whoo hoo is right Diane!! It's always incredible to see the good work pay

off. What I would suggest as just a thought is to stop the weekly therapy and

keep the therapist at bay for 6 month visits. The reason for this what I found

is that at times as you get up in the school years and your daughter is just

starting -you need some of that extra support when they start getting into the

more complex speech needed for oral participation in social studies, science,

history etc. Keep in mind in those situations they will be using complex words,

some that they are only going to say once or twice in their life -in complex

sentences. Once there is a delay in speech -even if it's from an impairment -it

can create developmental lags...and from what I've seen in this group sometimes

at a later age the school pegs a child who has " overcome " a speech impairment as

having a learning disability or language/receptive issues.

>

> I am telling you this as one who is on the other side- that shockingly you

have to keep your eyes open for ignorance because until there is more awareness

and research for the verbal disabled which we are hoping and starting to raise

monies for through pursuitofresearch.org - the ignorance is still in some cases

blatant. As long as you have a " hero " outside the school who is overseeing

things...even again if it's just that when needed or every 6 months type of

follow up- nobody will mess with you or your child. And..if they do you are

ready for them. BTW in the same light I kept a neuroMD on call- but in that

case only to see or consult with them as needed. In many cases however once a

year until out of the woods isn't a bad thing if you can swing it financially.

>

> As one of the " big sisters " in the group -just want to give you a hive five,

give you the above " next step " advice and shout out CONGRATULATIONS WAY TO GO!!!

>

> =====

>

June 13, 2010

Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep in touch with them as needed. Thankfully,

if she keeps her mouth limber, she's good. Pronunciation isn't so much an issue

as rate and prosody, and that has steadily improved.

She's had the full battery of psychological testing for LD and she is dyslexic,

which apparently is common for dyspraxic kids (different verse of the same

song). We have been blessed with an AWESOME tutor at her school who practically

donates her time (certified in special ed). She has helped her SO MUCH. I love

her diagnostician too - she's been such a lifesafer.

The one thing I truely believe is that God has placed so many people in my path

at different times in my life, and when the time came that my daughter needed

their help, they were right there. Her first speech therapist happened to do

screenings at her preschool, and was the one who found the tongue-tie that her

pediatrician, dentist, and ENT missed up until that point (dentist made note of

it, but apparently sometimes kids have tight lingual franiums and it doesn't

impact their speech.). That speech therapist also suggested OT because she

picked up on the dyspraxia and got me in touch with a published expert in the

area who's pediatric OT practice specializes in dyspraxia and sensory processing

disorder. Now they are helping my son too (he has a subtler, milder kind of

dyspraxia/sensory issues, but he's starting to struggle some going into 5th

grade with things that he just never grew into doing so now he's catching up).

It's amazing how things get guided. I trust that whatever lays in my childrens'

paths, God will provide what they need.

My two favorite quotes:

We know not what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.

You can prepare your child for the path, but you can't lay the path for your

child. :-)

Y'all take care!

Diane

> >

> > Whoo hoo is right Diane!! It's always incredible to see the good work pay