Re: Help adding beginning sounds to words!

June 1, 2010

Thanks! That's a GREAT suggestion (working on the words that end in the

same consonant)! Now, if I can just get him to put 2 words together! You are

right, it's so frustrating and I feel bad for the poor lil guy! He thinks

he's doing so well and he is, but it still isn't right.

Thank you so much for the suggestions.

-Brittany

In a message dated 6/1/2010 6:03:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

debbieinpa2000@... writes:

One of the " hallmark signs " of apraxia is leaving off the initial

consonant of words. Often times when a child begins to put the initial

consonant on

the word, they will insert a vowels after the consonant, so you get

" buh-eye " or they will segment the initial consonant from the word, so you get

" c--at. " With practice, the child becomes more successful with the motor

movements and eventually the segmenting and inserting subsides. If he has the

sound in the final position of words, sometimes it may help to pair it with a

word that ends with the same consonant (dog go, up please, on nose, etc).

My daughter responds well to visual cues and touch cues (your therapist

should be able to help you with those).

It is wonderful that his vocabulary is growing. It is difficult to be

parent and therapist and if he is becoming frustrated that may be a sign to

ease up a bit for now. If sounds are easiest for him at the end of words right

now, you can also focus on expanding the number of final consonants in his

repertoire. For example, if he has final b and final m, you may want to

try working on final d and final t. Again, your therapist should be able to

help explain what sounds to target next.

Hang in there. I know it can be frustrating to watch the progress and wish

things were moving faster.

Best wishes,

Deb

(mom of four, one with apraxia and certified SLP)

_http://twitter.com/SpeechGadgetDeb_ (http://twitter.com/SpeechGadgetDeb)

_http://speechgadget.blogspot.com/_ (http://speechgadget.blogspot.com/)

--- In _ _

(mailto: ) , " Brit " <spinachbreath@...>

wrote:

>

> I need help! I'm new around here and figured that y'all might be able to

help me out (I'm sure you'll have some great suggestions). So, please bear

with me while I tell you my dilemma.

> My son is not quite 2 1/2, but has the diagnosis of apraxia. He receives

speech 3x a week, but we are having trouble. He is expanding his

vocabulary, but will not put the beginning sounds of words on (unless they

begin

with a vowel, like " out, " " in, " etc.). We were trying to get him to say things

like " bye " by telling him to make the B sounds, then the ending, but then

the word comes out " buh-eye, " which isn't right either. The speech

therapist said maybe trying to make him position his lips together and press

hard

to make the B sound before the word would be better, but he gets so mad at

us because HE thinks that he's doing a great job saying the word and he is

mad that we aren't happy with it. I understand his frustration because he

has come so far and is doing great....with the endings, at least. I don't know

how to get him to understand that we are proud of the endings he's

attemtping, but also to understand that he needs to ge t the beginnings of the

words too---and how to get him to put those beginnings on without them

sounding incorrect (like buh-eye).

> Any help or tips, or things that you've done to help your child(ren)

would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

>

June 1, 2010

One of the " hallmark signs " of apraxia is leaving off the initial consonant of

words. Often times when a child begins to put the initial consonant on the

word, they will insert a vowels after the consonant, so you get " buh-eye " or

they will segment the initial consonant from the word, so you get " c--at. " With

practice, the child becomes more successful with the motor movements and

eventually the segmenting and inserting subsides. If he has the sound in the

final position of words, sometimes it may help to pair it with a word that ends

with the same consonant (dog go, up please, on nose, etc). My daughter responds

well to visual cues and touch cues (your therapist should be able to help you

with those).

It is wonderful that his vocabulary is growing. It is difficult to be parent

and therapist and if he is becoming frustrated that may be a sign to ease up a

bit for now. If sounds are easiest for him at the end of words right now, you

can also focus on expanding the number of final consonants in his repertoire.

For example, if he has final b and final m, you may want to try working on final

d and final t. Again, your therapist should be able to help explain what sounds

to target next.

Hang in there. I know it can be frustrating to watch the progress and wish

things were moving faster.

Best wishes,

Deb

(mom of four, one with apraxia and certified SLP)

http://twitter.com/SpeechGadgetDeb

http://speechgadget.blogspot.com/

>

> I need help! I'm new around here and figured that y'all might be able to help

me out (I'm sure you'll have some great suggestions). So, please bear with me

while I tell you my dilemma.

> My son is not quite 2 1/2, but has the diagnosis of apraxia. He receives

speech 3x a week, but we are having trouble. He is expanding his vocabulary, but

will not put the beginning sounds of words on (unless they begin with a vowel,

like " out, " " in, " etc.). We were trying to get him to say things like " bye " by

telling him to make the B sounds, then the ending, but then the word comes out

" buh-eye, " which isn't right either. The speech therapist said maybe trying to

make him position his lips together and press hard to make the B sound before

the word would be better, but he gets so mad at us because HE thinks that he's

doing a great job saying the word and he is mad that we aren't happy with it. I

understand his frustration because he has come so far and is doing great....with

the endings, at least. I don't know how to get him to understand that we are

proud of the endings he's attemtping, but also to understand that he needs to

get the beginnings of the words too---and how to get him to put those beginnings

on without them sounding incorrect (like buh-eye).

> Any help or tips, or things that you've done to help your child(ren) would be

greatly appreciated. Thanks!

>

June 1, 2010

Hi Brit!

Deb provided you some great basic advice but I have a few questions based on

what the SLP is asking you to do...what specific types of motor planning therapy

is your SLP providing in her practice? As Deb pointed out in basic there are

quite a few ways to help with motor planning -but then there are therapies that

have been accepted and are used by professionals, and things to carry over at

home by the care givers.

This sentence right here is a red light warning that something's not right in

therapyland

" The speech therapist said maybe trying to make him position his lips together

and press hard to make the B sound before the word would be better, but he gets

so mad at us because HE thinks that he's doing a great job saying the word "

Your child isn't even 2 and a half yet and the therapy that at this point should

be fun -is ALREADY stressing your little guy out. That is not cool because if

he is apraxic he's going to have a long road of therapy ahead (a shortcut would

be adding fish oils and nutriiveda http://www.pursuitofresearch.org had to throw

that in because yes it is accelerating progress and shocking most) Therapy for

a 2 year old should " look " like play -but there are reasons for each action -and

proven methods that don't stress out tiny little apraxic children!

It 'kind' of sounds like she is asking you to do some touch cue which is the

basis of PROMPT...but that doesn't appear to be appropriate for you to do with a

just diagnosed 2 year old. In addition, adding stress to a speech impaired

child can compound his speech issues -not to stress you out either. There are

simple solutions to this.

Let us know what state/country you are in and we'll see if others can provide

names of therapists that they love in that area. It's also highly recommended

that if apraxia is suspected that you should also have a neuromedical exam by

either a pediatric neurologist or developmental pediatrician to confirm or rule

out soft signs

Below is an archive on " late talker vs apraxia " which may help as a start.

link which has some basic Q and A on " late talker vs apraxia

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2003/apraxia-questions-and-answers

And this archive which covers new member basics (as it was written for someone

else not all may apply to you -but again I know that Barbara will be answering

you specifically and she is Prompt trained but is trained in other motor

planning methods as well including the Kaufman approach, oral motor. Have you

read The Late Talker book yet? Sounds like it would be perfect for you!

Re: Hi! New and wondering about apraxia.

Hi Mrs Laurie and welcome!

Your son sounds like he has some oral apraxia which would of course

need to be confirmed by professionals. If oral apraxia is present

together with your child's delay he should at least be diagnosed

as " suspected apraxia " and appropriate therapy should be provided.

He is entitled by federal law to a free and appropriate public

education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) which

means that if 5 days of one on one speech therapy is appropriate for

him then that's what he should receive. What type of speech therapy

is he receiving from the school right now when you say " some " ?

Below is a very long archive to help -please know that you don't have

to understand it all at once -we're here as a group to help!

Thanks for sharing. This group has from the start been a group

that's made up of parents and professionals who care for children

with many types of speech and/or language delays and/or disorders.

There are parents here for example with undiagnosed " late talkers "

and we just have not heard from them in awhile. It's actually a

really good thing when there is a mix of us to share because we all

learn from each other as many diagnoses can overlap -or down the road

we learn that our child does have co diagnosis.

While this group is open to parents of all children with

communication impairments -including hearing impaired, autistic etc.

it wasn't that all that posted recently had a child with autism, or

autism and apraxia -but because of society focus on autism -many here

started following an autism approach -including ABA in some cases!

That's understandable if the much more basic approach to apraxia -ST

and OT and EFAs were tried first and didn't work -but some were

trying that to start.

The overwhelming majority (if you check the archives) have success

with the basic approach to apraxia.

On the other hand- most of us are dealing with more than verbal

apraxia.we just don't know that when our child is 2 -and we learn

through professionals and observations as they continue to grow and

more and more is expected of them. This is also why it's important

to take your child for a neurodevelopmental medical exam when your

child is suspected of apraxia to confirm or rule out other diagnosis

such as sensory integration dysfunction etc. The earlier you know -

the sooner to start appropriate therapies to get them up to speed by

kindergarten.

Don't let it overwhelm you -perhaps we aren't meant to know more

than what we have to know at each stage. We'll be here to help along

the way. It's OK to have any type of emotion when we find out our

child has more than a simple delay -or " more " than " just " verbal

apraxia. And it's OK to be completely overwhelmed and saddened to

find out your child has apraxia. And as I was one of those parents

it's never " just " apraxia when you find out!!!

It's OK to be upset " just " because your child is a " late talker " too!

Please know that I too believed Tanner to just have apraxia and have

my first message posted to a grouplist about that below.but down the

road found out he had a few other things we needed to help him

address. The incredible news is that the majority of our children if

you check history are up to speed to be mainstreamed by kindergarten-

and of course many have learned with communication impaired children

that it's best to start kindergarten at 6 vs. 5 to give them that one

extra year of therapy and developmental time.

If you have questions after reading the following please share them.

This group has always been a wealth of information for all of us, no

matter how long we've been here.

Below is a new member archived message to hopefully answer more of

your questions for now (did you read The Late Talker yet?) For updated

information on fish oils and vitamin E and more - please visit the

links section here

/links

What type of apraxic like speech behaviors are you seeing that makes

you and the SLP suspect your child has apraxia vs. a simple delay in

speech? Is your child talking at all yet? At your child's age -

without speech, it's difficult to diagnose verbal apraxia -they

could " suspect " verbal apraxia and begin treatment just in case,

which wouldn't hurt your child if he ended up just having a simple

delay. Just a few questions before we could provide more accurate

answers:

Does your child have signs of oral apraxia? (for example, can he on

command smile, imitate funny faces, blow bubbles...if you put peanut

butter anywhere around his mouth can he lick it off no matter where

it is?)

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2006/possible-oral-apraxia-or-oral-motor-warning\

-signs

Does your child have any neurological " soft signs " such as hypotonia

or sensory integration dysfunction?

http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2003/soft-signs-of-apraxia

Who else evaluated your child? Was it only the SLP through your

town school or was he also in Early Intervention through the state?

(birth to three) Was he evaluated by both a speech pathologist as

well as an occupational therapist? Was/were they knowledgeable

about apraxia? (If your child wasn't diagnosed by an occupational

therapist as well and professionals suspect apraxia -I highly

recommend you request that too either through both the school as

well as private through insurance for many reasons)

To answer any questions you may have about taking your child to see a

neurodevelopmental MD if he has not yet been to one and apraxia is

suspected... in one word - " Yes!!! " I would have your child diagnosed

(private) by a neurodevelopmental medical doctor (developmental

pediatrician or pediatric neurologist) who is knowledgeable about

apraxia and other neurologically based multi-faceted communication

impairments for numerous reasons. Reasons include (but not limited

to)

*having a " hero " on the outside of the school who can assist in a

therapeutic plan and oversee your child's development over the years

*advocacy support with the insurance company

* ruling out or confirming any neurological soft signs or any other

reasons for the delay in speech

*help those that ask " why isn't he talking yet " understand this is a

medical condition -and has nothing to do with your child's cognitive

ability. (if in your child's case it doesn't. Apraxia in itself

does not affect a child's cognitive ability -and speaking early or

late is no indication of a child's intelligence. Also contrary to

popular belief -most who have speech impairments have average to

above average intelligence)

Here's an article written by Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician Dr.

Marilyn Agin that was featured as a cover article in Contemporary

Pediatrics -a trade magazine for hundreds of thousands of pediatric

medical professionals across the US. (I wrote the parent guide)

" The " late talker " -when silence isn't golden

Not all children with delayed speech are " little Einsteins " or garden

variety " late bloomers. " Some have a speech-language disorder that

will persist unless warning signs are recognized and intervention

comes early. Includes a Guide for Parents. "

Podcast interview with Dr. Marilyn Agin from Contemporary Pediatrics

http://contemporarypediatrics.modernmedicine.com/radio_peds4

Actual article (where you can read it for free)

http://opsc.mediwire.com/main/Default.aspx?P=Content & ArticleID=132720

There are also many activities parents can do at home with their

child to promote the development of speech. These are detailed in the Guide

for Parents

http://contemporarypediatrics.modernmedicine.com/contpeds/data/articlestandard//\

contpeds/492004/136315/article.pdf

This guide was written by

June 1, 2010

Hello!

I don't know what the things she's doing are called....I know that she

mentioned PROMPT before and I know that she uses portions of the Kaufman

method as well...and 95% of what she does is play based therapy, but

occasionally she breaks out some non play based stuff and said that when he

turns

three and goes to the school (as well as when he goes to " normal " preschool

next year), they are going to want him to sit still and do some therapy (or

just normal activities) at the table (which he is very uncapable of at this

time, so it's also working on his attention span and ability to cooperate,

not just his speech)...and I understand that and his OT is also working with

him on attention span, so I don't necessarily disagree with it and he does

respond to flash cards and stuff and even does them on his own (goes and

gets them and sits down with them at times). We receive services through our

EI program here and we have been for not quite a year (we received speech

before the apraxia diagnosis, which happened right after he turned 2). Our

therapist hasn't worked with a lot of kids with apraxia and so she's

learning too and we really like her and she's so devoted to finding out ways to

help an apraxic child and is willing to admit when she doesn't know (and then

go and do research to figure it out), but she has worked with lots of kids

that are under age 3, so she does understand little minds. Can you give me

an example(s) of something that is play based that would help him add the

beginning sounds?? She called me a bit ago and said that she has been

researching methods to help him and talked to another SLP friend and has some

ideas, but we will talk about them in the morning when she comes...so maybe

she already has something, I don't know. We are going to be adding fish oils

soon---I am waiting until after his yearly eval next week...just in case

(fingers crossed) he makes some drastic improvements (though she's assured

me that even if he does, he'll still qualify, but I don't want to mess with

anything that will affect his services before then!).

He was evaluated by a separate SLP after our own suspected apraxia and got

the diagnosis from her--we will go to the ped. neurologist closer to his 3

year birthday. I have actually read The Late Talker (how I found this page)

and everything seems to fit...I have no doubt in my mind that he is

apraxic. I also read the links that you provided and most of it fits right on.

It

actually made me realize why his OT does a lot of the things she does and

made me realize that he's behind in areas I've never realized and they have

to do with his apraxia rather than the fine motor delay he has--you learn

something new every day!

Oh, and we live in Fort Wayne, IN...you had asked that.

I know that most of you have been there, done that, so it's great to get to

talk to some of you and get advice and suggestions.

Thanks!

-Brittany

In a message dated 6/1/2010 6:32:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

kiddietalk@... writes:

Hi Brit!

Deb provided you some great basic advice but I have a few questions based

on what the SLP is asking you to do...what specific types of motor planning

therapy is your SLP providing in her practice? As Deb pointed out in basic

there are quite a few ways to help with motor planning -but then there are

therapies that have been accepted and are used by professionals, and

things to carry over at home by the care givers.

This sentence right here is a red light warning that something's not right

in therapyland

" The speech therapist said maybe trying to make him position his lips

together and press hard to make the B sound before the word would be better,

but he gets so mad at us because HE thinks that he's doing a great job saying

the word "

Your child isn't even 2 and a half yet and the therapy that at this point

should be fun -is ALREADY stressing your little guy out. That is not cool

because if he is apraxic he's going to have a long road of therapy ahead (a

shortcut would be adding fish oils and nutriiveda

_http://www.pursuitofresearch.org_ (http://www.pursuitofresearch.org/) had to

throw that in because

yes it is accelerating progress and shocking most) Therapy for a 2 year old

should " look " like play -but there are reasons for each action -and proven

methods that don't stress out tiny little apraxic children!

It 'kind' of sounds like she is asking you to do some touch cue which is

the basis of PROMPT...but that doesn't appear to be appropriate for you to

do with a just diagnosed 2 year old. In addition, adding stress to a speech

impaired child can compound his speech issues -not to stress you out

either. There are simple solutions to this.

Let us know what state/country you are in and we'll see if others can

provide names of therapists that they love in that area. It's also highly

recommended that if apraxia is suspected that you should also have a

neuromedical exam by either a pediatric neurologist or developmental

pediatrician to

confirm or rule out soft signs

Below is an archive on " late talker vs apraxia " which may help as a start.

link which has some basic Q and A on " late talker vs apraxia

_http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2003/apraxia-questions-and-answers_

(http://www.cherabfoundation.org/2003/apraxia-questions-and-answers)

And this archive which covers new member basics (as it was written for

someone else not all may apply to you -but again I know that Barbara will be

answering you specifically and she is Prompt trained but is trained in other

motor planning methods as well including the Kaufman approach, oral motor.

Have you read The Late Talker book yet? Sounds like it would be perfect

for you!