Re: Developmental dysphasia diagnosis???

[Guest guest]

Call and ask for a rectification of the diagnosis according to the SLps

diagnosis as he agreed when you left his office. He must have just forgotten by

the time he wrote up the report and the dysphasia is a more neurological

term--but does not explain his speech needs. If he says this will do---explain

that he has severe speech deficits and it is the apraxia diagnosis made by the

SLP--and to which he agreed that will get this child the much needed 1:1 3-5

sessions of speech with motor planning expert as recommended BY ASHA.

Like I said--he probably just made a mistake--but it is pretty scary for a

parent I know--when so much hinges on a workable diagnosis---one that insurance

will cover and the right treatments will be done. I would actually go further

than thsi since you plan to have him as your doc for the letter of medical

necessity. Send him the ASHA document and show him the recommended treatment as

well as the neurological definition----and HAVE HIM write BOTH--as in the ASHA

document--he can cut and paste---in his letter of medical necessity. Have the

SLP do the same--cut and paste from ASHA documents definition and

recommendations--in the speech eval report.

All doctors should do this for their patients--you regular pediatrician can

too--but if the neurologist does it it can carry more weight. Since he goofed up

he shoudl make up for it with this letter. if he doesn't---well you know not to

go to him ever again and tell all the parents you ever speak to about

him----That's about all we can do---but he really should if he's half

decent--even if in my experience--most pediatric neurologists know about apraxia

in kids about as much as they know about croquet---but that's' another

story---he owes you one and let's hope he'll come through..

All the best,

Elena

________________________________

From: <maryfmchugh@...>

Sent: Wed, March 3, 2010 7:35:36 PM

Subject: [ ] Developmental dysphasia diagnosis???

Hi,

My now 26 month old son saw a pediatric neurologist back in December to confirm

our our Early Intervention DI therapist's unofficial diagnosis of apraxia.

After evaluating our son, the pediatric neurologist confirmed he had apraxia.

He even recommended The Late Talker book, mentioned there was a website (how I

indirectly found this group), and when I asked about fish oils, he recommended

the Nordic Naturals. We finally got a copy of his evaluation this evening (10

weeks after our appointment!), and his evaluation indicates that my son has

evidence of Developmental Dysphasia, plus mild hypotonia. Developmental

Dyspahsia??? What is this??? My husband and I have done some searching, but we

can't find much information on this in the Internet. Additionally, I'm more

than a little concerned about the " developmental " description, particularly

since we already expect a battle with Horizon BC/BS to get coverage for speech

therapy. Anyone have any

experience with this diagnosis? What should be my next steps, beyond calling

and asking for a clarification?

Thanks!

-

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

[Guest guest]

Catching up on some posts----

What is the status with this neuro? Did you request clarification?

Dysphasia is the same as aphasia---resulting from a brain trauma; could

happen at birth, during delivery;

Dys= difficulty with

A= absence of

That is why you will see dyspraxia (difficulty with motor planning for

speech sounds) vs. apraxia (absence of speech sounds, more severe

difficulty)

In reality, the insurance is only interested in the ICD9 (diagnosis) code,

which is the same for a-vs. dys--- conditions.

Warmest wishes,

Barbara

Barbara A. , M.S., CCC-SLP

Executive Director/ Help Me Speak, LLC

<http://www.helpmespeak.com/> http://www.helpmespeak.com

(o) 410-442-9791 (f) 410-442-9783

2500 Wallington Way; Suite 103

Marriottsville, MD 21104

follow us on FaceBook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marriottsville-MD/Help-Me-Speak-LLC/1046288520

32

Call me with any questions about NutriiVeda! www.hms.myzrii.com

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 10:36 PM

Subject: [ ] Developmental dysphasia diagnosis???

Hi,

My now 26 month old son saw a pediatric neurologist back in December to

confirm our our Early Intervention DI therapist's unofficial diagnosis of

apraxia. After evaluating our son, the pediatric neurologist confirmed he

had apraxia. He even recommended The Late Talker book, mentioned there was a

website (how I indirectly found this group), and when I asked about fish

oils, he recommended the Nordic Naturals. We finally got a copy of his

evaluation this evening (10 weeks after our appointment!), and his

evaluation indicates that my son has evidence of Developmental Dysphasia,

plus mild hypotonia. Developmental Dyspahsia??? What is this??? My husband

and I have done some searching, but we can't find much information on this

in the Internet. Additionally, I'm more than a little concerned about the

" developmental " description, particularly since we already expect a battle

with Horizon BC/BS to get coverage for speech therapy. Anyone have any

experience with this diagnosis? What should be my next steps, beyond calling

and asking for a clarification?

Thanks!

-

[Guest guest]

Barbara,

Thank you for the details! I think I'm starting to understand why our PT

mentioned my son has suspected " motor " dyspraxia versus just saying dyspraxia.

As for the neuro, yep, I requested clarification. After several calls, I was

finally told that the developmental dysphasia was the same thing as apraxia. I

eventually got the doctor's report updated to reflect that - just in case I

needed it. I won't go into details, but our first neuro's office staff was such

a disaster, I was glad we had not cancelled an appointment with a second neuro

(who also agreed with the verbal apraxia diagnosis).

Since then, we've also had a speech eval (diagnosis verbal apraxia) and much to

my surprise got smooth and quick approval from Horizon BC/BS for speech twice a

week (1/2 hour). More to come in other posts...

Kind regards,

-

[Guest guest]

Apparently, that neuro's office is clueless because devel dysphasia is NOT the

same as apraxia. See my earlier post.

Warmest wishes,

Barbara A , M.S.,CCC-SLP

Executive Director,

Help Me Speak, LLC

www.helpmespeak.com

2500 Wallington Way

Suite 103

Marriottsville, MD 21104

Ask me about NutriiVeda!

On Jul 23, 2010, at 11:38 AM, " " <maryfmchugh@...> wrote:

> Barbara,

>

> Thank you for the details! I think I'm starting to understand why our PT

mentioned my son has suspected " motor " dyspraxia versus just saying dyspraxia.

>

> As for the neuro, yep, I requested clarification. After several calls, I was

finally told that the developmental dysphasia was the same thing as apraxia. I

eventually got the doctor's report updated to reflect that - just in case I

needed it. I won't go into details, but our first neuro's office staff was such

a disaster, I was glad we had not cancelled an appointment with a second neuro

(who also agreed with the verbal apraxia diagnosis).

>

> Since then, we've also had a speech eval (diagnosis verbal apraxia) and much

to my surprise got smooth and quick approval from Horizon BC/BS for speech twice

a week (1/2 hour). More to come in other posts...

>

> Kind regards,

>

> -

>

>