Re: apraxia and learning disdabilities

[Guest guest]

Have you taken him to a Pediatric Neurologist or Developmental Pediatrician?

they might give you more answers about what to expect from his next couple years

of school more than more SLP's. but from 10 different SLP's and 10 different

doctors you will get 20 different opinions. But if your havent taken him to a

specialist in Neurology yet, it seems like time. what state do you live in? did

he get any early intervention services?

maureen

>

> Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this. thank you for thoughts. I

am getting a 2nd and 3rd opinion from trusted, experienced friends (speech

therapists and special ed. teacher) as well.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Marie and welcome!

I have the same questions as Maureen about the neuromedical exam. It's

extremely rare for a child to have apraxia and not have any of the " soft signs "

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

You already mention sensory -but many kids with apraxia that have other soft

signs can manage to blend in when younger -but as they grow older it becomes

more difficult so you want to know now if there are other therapies needed.

Before you start any kindergarten program as well -PLEASE read the following

study and use this to help you advocate to keep him in appropriate placement

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=115029735601 & topic=8863 as the goal really

isn't just making sure he is ready for kindergarten, but making sure your child

continues to thrive in the mainstream first grade on.

I am a huge believer in special needs preschools for apraxia, and a huge

believer in mainstream for them as that would be the least restrictive

environment for most- and too many fall through the cracks.

Have you read my book The Late Talker? If you go now to Google books you can

start reading some of it for free and I highly recommend that book as well as

there is an entire chapter in there on advocacy- as well as types of

professionals you may want to take your child to and what type of testing etc.

Many of our children are schooled in regular USA or other country mainstream

classrooms -unless you are in a state or area where the public school is horrid

for all children and all seek private schools -if you can afford that. Where do

you live? Oh and PS -your good friend the teacher -go give her a hug as she's

100% right!

After you read the " Reasons to Delay Kindergarten " here

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=115029735601 & topic=8863 please come back

and tell me what your thoughts are. And ask away with more questions!

=====

[Guest guest]

He will not necessarily " repeat " kindergarten. He will go to a transitional

class at his speech school- they will move on to kindergarten academics, but he

will still be in a very supportive classroom with ST, OT and special ed.

teacher. He will then move onto another school to do kindergarten the following

year-hopefully a more mainstream school. The switching out of such a supportive

classroom into a less supportive classroom will be a transition in itself, so we

are very in favor of doing a " transitional " class and then kindergarten after

b/c of the transition of environments. He is the youngest in his class this

year, and is always the youngest in extracurricular activities. I'm thrilled to

give him an extra year of language support in the classroom to catch him up in

that as he continues to excel academically. I'm also thrilled for him to

experience being the older, taller, little more advanced kid in class for once.

I went to a " transitional " class between kindergarten and 1st grade as a kid- my

mother said I thrived and loved it.

________________________________

From: kiddietalk <kiddietalk@...>

Sent: Sun, February 20, 2011 1:55:32 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: apraxia and learning disdabilities

Hi Marie and welcome!

I have the same questions as Maureen about the neuromedical exam. It's

extremely rare for a child to have apraxia and not have any of the " soft signs "

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

You already mention sensory -but many kids with apraxia that have other soft

signs can manage to blend in when younger -but as they grow older it becomes

more difficult so you want to know now if there are other therapies needed.

Before you start any kindergarten program as well -PLEASE read the following

study and use this to help you advocate to keep him in appropriate placement

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=115029735601 & topic=8863 as the goal really

isn't just making sure he is ready for kindergarten, but making sure your child

continues to thrive in the mainstream first grade on.

I am a huge believer in special needs preschools for apraxia, and a huge

believer in mainstream for them as that would be the least restrictive

environment for most- and too many fall through the cracks.

Have you read my book The Late Talker? If you go now to Google books you can

start reading some of it for free and I highly recommend that book as well as

there is an entire chapter in there on advocacy- as well as types of

professionals you may want to take your child to and what type of testing etc.

Many of our children are schooled in regular USA or other country mainstream

classrooms -unless you are in a state or area where the public school is horrid

for all children and all seek private schools -if you can afford that. Where do

you live? Oh and PS -your good friend the teacher -go give her a hug as she's

100% right!

After you read the " Reasons to Delay Kindergarten " here

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=115029735601 & topic=8863 please come back

and tell me what your thoughts are. And ask away with more questions!

=====

[Guest guest]

Hi Marie,

I really don't know the class or the town or the services offered. It may be a

wonderful option. In general again what we have found best here is special

needs PreK that is multisensory enriched- and honestly a good PreK does exactly

what you are saying this transitional class does -it prepares the child for

kindergarten. So it may be comparing an apple to an apple as it sounds kind of

like another year of PreK but they are just calling it something different??

Only you will know with observation if it's a good fit. I can tell you that if

you check our archives here or at Big Tent which document thousands upon

thousands of families and transitioning to kindergarten is a HUGE

topic...historically it has been found here -and research as I posted for you

backs up that if there is any delay in any area it's prudent to start mainstream

kindergarten at 6. And unless your child has issues above the typical apraxic

child -just about all here that start kindergarten at 6 thrive...and...just

about all that start kindergarten at 5 are in special needs classes and not

doing that great. I do know a handful of exceptions- as there are exceptions to

just about everything.

But again sounds like the program they are talking about is kind of like another

year of preschool...if you observe it and feel the placement and peers are

appropriate and there are good models for him then it sounds great.

Below is a message from one of the parents that started her child in

kindergarten at 5...it worked out in the end because she pulled him out!

Re: holding back kindergarden

This topic is near and dear to my heart because of '

experience. So forgive me if I come off strong. Forgive me for

retelling this story for those of you who have heard it a million

times.

At the beginning of this year, we were trying to figure out what to

do with ' placement. He has a late birthday. The school

assured me that kindergarten was the way to go since *cognitively*

he was ready. They assured me that the it was a Montessori-style

class so he wouldn't feel pushed, etc. Blah, Blah, blah!

A good family friend from Wisconsin (who has a special needs child

who is now 40, went back to school to be a school psychologist and

has been practicing as a school psych for years) sat on the phone

with me this past summer and told me that it was my decision but she

wanted to strongly encourage me to keep in preschool another

year. Especially for kids whose neurological systems are immature,

why not give them extra time to get up to speed on their social

skills, attention skills, endurance, etc. She made the mistake of

putting her son in kindergarten at 5 years of age because the school

said he was so tall that he really needed to be in kindergarten.

She followed the school's advice and has regretted it ever since.

Despite her advice, I gave into pressure from my husband and the

school who all assured me that needed to be challenged and

he would be bored repeating pre-K.

was put into a mainstream kindergarten class. He started

coming home depressed from school every day. He never wanted to talk

about his day. He had some friends at the beginning of the year but

the " friends " soon were saying mean things to him and he felt

socially isolated. He was so immature compared to them. Then the

situation exploded! I found out that (starting in late November) the

teacher was using an adaptive chair as a time out for my son's

refusal to complete fine motor tasks and for not staying seated. I

think the teacher had tried everything she could to get to

adapt to the kindergarten class and got frustrated. That is no

excuse for the abuse however. Yes, this teacher is an exception (at

least we hope!) but the point here is that my son wasn't ready to

function in a K classroom. It was a full-day program which makes a

big difference also I think. He got so tired by the afternoon.

During his 4 months in his K class, he hated life and really did not

learn anything. I thought it was just because he had learning

difficulties.

When we switched him to a mainstream Pre-K, he was like a new kid.

He loved school and had friends. The funny thing is that he learned

more in his first 4 weeks of pre-K than in his 4 months in

kindergarten. I think this is because he felt comfortable enough to

explore and learn there. He is now sight reading and starting to

decode words. he knows all his letter and corresponding letter

sounds. He knows all the continents and can tell you something

about each one. He is writing words and is starting to love to

write and draw. At our first parent-teacher conference with his pre-

K teacher, she talked about how he is one of her top students. She

can give him an assignment and walk away and he just does it. I

asked if had been upducted by aliens. If you compared

the progress notes from his Kindergarten teacher and the ones from

his pre-K teacher, you would think they were talking about different

children. It is just astonishing to see how differently

responded to the two environments.

I hate that had to go through what he did in order to get

back to preschool. However, I am grateful that it worked out the

way it did. He will be able to start kindergarten next year on top

of his game. He will already be reading and writing and will

socially be part of the group. He has always felt like he was behind

everyone else and he hates it. His deficits drive him to try harder

but he needs a comfortable environment to develop. He felt too self-

conscious on kindergarten because he felt like he did not fit in.

My advice is if there is even a grain of doubt, I would hold a child

back. The benefits of holding a child back could be numerous, the

draw backs...are there any? On the other hand the costs of starting

a child at age 5 can be great for a child who has an immature

neurological system anyway. In our case, the benefits of starting

at age 5 in kindergarten were none...it was disastrous!

Sorry this is so long and much of it is a repeat.

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

, " christinerome "

<christinerome@y...> wrote:

> hi everone,

>

> I'm very confused about the holding back kindergarden. Its not

hard

> to confuse me...lol.

> is it that you keep the child in preschool another year or that

the

> child goes to kindergarden and then repeats it?

> My son's b-day is March so when he attends kindergarden he will be

5

> years 6 months. would i start him in kindergarden on time?

> I'm very concerned because of the social aspect of holding him

back?

> I read the articles posted here about kindergarden and like I said

> I'm confused.

> My client who has PDD>NOS, (also was diagnosed with apraxia but

> doing great) is going to repeat kindergarden also. He is starting

> kindergarden in sept with a shadow, his mom wants to repeat

> kindergarden without the shadow next year is this wrong?

>

> thanks

> chris

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

=====

[Guest guest]

This is going to sound out in left field, but have you thought about

homeschooling him? I already homeschool my daughter age 11 (who is dyslexic btw

and has sensory issues and low tone), so it has been natural to roll right in my

son age 2 1/2 with his apraxia. I love having the extra time to work with him

one-on-one, and I feel very confident that any LD issues he may have we can deal

with, as we've already btdt with my daughter. It's just something to consider.

Someone mentioned singing. We were singing just today! I try to give my

daughter an hour of independent work a day so that I can have extra time to work

just with my son. We'll do follow-up activities to reinforce what he has been

doing in PROMPT speech therapy, then we might sing or watch a Signing Time

video. Being with him all day allows me to ensure he gets lots of practice to

reinforce what we're working on.

I highly recommend PROMPT to you btw. When we started last fall, my son had two

sounds and one word. He now can easily initiate single words (me, more, up, his

sister's name, etc.) and can say two word phrases with assistance. We tried

fish oil but for now are sticking with flax. For us, PROMPT is the miracle.

Oh, you're original question was about LD's. I have no clue if my son will turn

out to be dyslexic. My daughter is, and it appears to be genetic. She also

happens to be gifted, which makes her 2E, twice exceptional. (google stealth

dyslexia) At this point my son gives no indication of cognitive deficits or

delays.

Best wishes,

[Guest guest]

Hi -

I just read your post that described " Home schooling " . I have met other parents

through various Net Groups who also believe in this Concept. I have asked this

same question to others... and I always get no response... or angry responses.

I am not trying to " be a jerk " ... I simply, have a desire to ask how home

schooling can benefit a child. My Son is almost age 4... he has a diagnosis of

Moderate Apraxia... he also has hypotonia...and has worn various forms of DAFO

type leg braces since age 2. He also has massive sensory issues.... meal times

have always been difficult..... We are in the process of a battle with the

Insurance Company to simply, obtain " Feeding Therapy " .

I am against the concept of " Home Schooling " .... only because I feel that this

would cause my Son to have more difficulties as an adult (in regard to

socialization skills). I also feel that with his Diagnosis of " Moderate

Apraxia " , he needs intensive Therapy, plus " speech practice with trusted peers " .

I feel that if I home schooled him, he would be in a provervbvial " safety

bubble " for years... and he would not be able to develop the skills that he

needs to function as an independant adult.

Any input re the " Home Schooling " concept ..... and relevant links to more info

would be appreciated.

[ ] Re: apraxia and learning disdabilities

This is going to sound out in left field, but have you thought about

homeschooling him? I already homeschool my daughter age 11 (who is dyslexic btw

and has sensory issues and low tone), so it has been natural to roll right in my

son age 2 1/2 with his apraxia. I love having the extra time to work with him

one-on-one, and I feel very confident that any LD issues he may have we can deal

with, as we've already btdt with my daughter. It's just something to consider.

Someone mentioned singing. We were singing just today! I try to give my daughter

an hour of independent work a day so that I can have extra time to work just

with my son. We'll do follow-up activities to reinforce what he has been doing

in PROMPT speech therapy, then we might sing or watch a Signing Time video.

Being with him all day allows me to ensure he gets lots of practice to reinforce

what we're working on.

I highly recommend PROMPT to you btw. When we started last fall, my son had two

sounds and one word. He now can easily initiate single words (me, more, up, his

sister's name, etc.) and can say two word phrases with assistance. We tried fish

oil but for now are sticking with flax. For us, PROMPT is the miracle.

Oh, you're original question was about LD's. I have no clue if my son will turn

out to be dyslexic. My daughter is, and it appears to be genetic. She also

happens to be gifted, which makes her 2E, twice exceptional. (google stealth

dyslexia) At this point my son gives no indication of cognitive deficits or

delays.

Best wishes,

[Guest guest]

After I archived the message below from the parent that started her son in

kindergarten at 5..something didn't hit me right so I searched the archives (and

thank goodness for them as they are probably one of the best resources for

anyone wanting to get theories for apraxia research as you do see patterns over

the years)

What stood out to me was the dramatic change that was credited 100% to the

change in classroom placement -message after message. Don't get me wrong -I

know that a change in placement can bring about positive changes, but she

pointed out dramatic surges in academics amongst other areas. I knew this was

prior to NV being around -so I searched to see if fish oils had anything to do

with this. If you check the archives I call fish oils the Rodney Dangerfield of

therapy -he could have been the spokesperson for essential nutrition therapy

which has SUCH a great lack of respect. This is why I LOVE the message that

Anni just wrote which she gave me permission to put up on our sites (from

apraxia.org) http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=115029735601 & topic=15713

-because like many she spent thousands on other therapies and Anni told me she

" wasted a year " after spending all that money...because what worked best was

NV....something that costs from 40 bucks a month to at most 40 bucks a week.

Like fish oils when things are so easy they tend to be underestimated. So was

her son on fish oils too?

Thankfully we have an advanced search option here and at BigTent that makes

searching quick and easy -so I searched back further than the message I

originally put below...and in message after message after message where the same

parent credits the change in placement to her son's surges 100%...in one

message....in one sentence the truth comes out and she writes

" Right before Christmas the foul play came to light and I switched him to a

mainstream Pre-K class. I was so worried that he would be a behavioral problem

and just rebel. Instead he had in incredible developmental surge in just about

every area. ( I doubled my son's EFA dosage around Thanksgiving. Honestly I feel

it was a combo of the EFA increase but also being in a safe environment with a

teacher who had high expectations for my son.) "

Agree- the safe new environment would 'eventually' bring a better

outcome...'eventually' being the key word, and not necessarily a different child

in regards to academics that quickly. Historically fish oils -or the essential

fatty acids are greatly underestimated, and all I can say is THANK GOODNESS that

NV is formulated and endorsed by a team of world renowned medical doctors

http://pursuitofresearch.org/endorsed-by-the-chopra-center/ and the company is

run by a multi-billionaire Bill Farley- because I know unlike fish oils we won't

have to raise monies for research (which is why we even first started with NV-

the fact it too was therapeutic in probably more dramatic ways even then the

essential fatty acids was God's sense of humor!) and it won't take a decade as

it is for fish oils and as it did for Lorenzo's Oil to be validated.

The other thing...I know that whenever I see a message with a parent that is

asking what to do about kindergarten I jump in. Because I too am a parent that

started my oldest ADHD son Dakota at 5 not knowing. As I have written many

times he was too bright to be held back -and he didn't want to be because he

became really good friends with all of his classmates- but he was yelled at SO

much -TOO much for his " immature " behavior...and I found out later that in the

town I had just moved to which is a fairly affluent town just outside NYC that

most of the highly educated parents DON'T even start their normal children in

kindergarten until 6 for academic and (especially for boys) athletic reasons.

Not that my son Dakota wasn't ADHD but placing him with children that were

developmentally a year to almost two years older was a HUGE mistake that as the

parent below writes about her friend who is a school psychologist she still

regrets. (Dakota's birthday is July 30th so he was a baby 5 starting

kindergarten)

So I have those messages below as well. The point is I can share the

information of not just my opinion but what has worked for most. In again just

about all cases where the child doesn't start kindergarten until 6 they are

started in mainstream classes and do great, and when started at 5 it's typically

in a self contained placement and they continue on that path throughout the

school career.

I've said many times if you believe your child belongs in the mainstream...or if

you believe your child belongs in special needs classes because he wouldn't be

able to make it in the mainstream -you are correct. Read up on Dr.

Rosenthal's well documented, well respected proven over and over again research

on this.

So looking at the title -no apraxia and learning disabilities do not go hand in

hand- and most are mainstreamed -but check out the placement offered and make

sure it's appropriate. I advise PreK until 6 for all with any delay in any

area- even maturity! And...don't underestimate the essential fatty and amino

acids and other essential nutrition for changing a delayed child to one that is

thriving in academics. We see that time after time for both fish oils and now

for just over a year even more so for NV.

http://pursuitofresearch.org/products/nutriiveda/nutriiveda-testimonials/

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

great progress at school - 5 year old

I just got back from a conference with my 5 year old son's teacher. He is

in a mainstream Pre-K class with 20 kids and two teachers. All I can say is

WOW. I knew he was enjoying school and I could tell he was learning by what

he said when he came home each day but the teacher really went into detail.

She said he is one of the smartest kids in her class, works well

independently and challenges himself. She said he explores new activities

and shows a lot of self-confidence. She said he is one of those students

that she gives a task to and doesn't have to worry about. He just does it!

Just some background, my son was one of those kids who did not even make any

sounds until he was 3 1/2. He used to just run around the house aimlessly

and not explore anything in his environment. He had no attention span

whatsoever! His speech and language exploded after starting EFAs. We

always felt he was bright because he could manipulate a situation very well

to his advantage. He was diagnosed with a receptive delay when he was in

early intervention. He attended two years of disabled preschool.

My son started the year in a mainstream Kindergarten class.

Long-story-short things got so out of hand that the teacher was strapping my

son to a chair for refusing to do fine motor tasks and for running around

the room. He wasn't ready for kindergarten and the teacher got totally

frustrated. Unfortunately she resorted to some illegal and unethical ways

of dealing with her own frustration. It was an awful experience for me and

I am sure it was a horrific experience for my son.

Right before Christmas the foul play came to light and I switched him to a

mainstream Pre-K class. I was so worried that he would be a behavioral

problem and just rebel. Instead he had in incredible developmental surge in

just about every area. ( I doubled my son's EFA dosage around

Thanksgiving. Honestly I feel it was a combo of the EFA increase but also

being in a safe environment with a teacher who had high expectations for my

son.)

When I asked the teacher what she felt my son's biggest hurdle might be next

year, she said that he has to have a teacher who challenges him and has high

expectations. She said that at the beginning my son would try to act like he

couldn't do things. He would cry and say he couldn't do it. He wanted her

to have low expectations so that he wouldn't have to do things. she waited

out the crying and encouraged my son to *try* without belittling him.

Now he is top in his class and just blowing us all away. I can't wait to

email his old preschool teacher back in Illinois (where he attended two

years of disabled pre-K). I might have to photo copy his report card because

she won't believe me!!!!

Thanks for letting me celebrate on this list. I feel like this is the

happiest day of my life...even better than when my son started making

sounds. I never thought I would top that day!

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

RE: [ ] Best chance age to start kindergarten ...for 'most'

speech impaired

wrote:

<<Academics and social are not the only issues to consider -maturity

and self esteem -are very important too. And that is just

for " normal " kids.>>

Parents, this point can not be over-stated. My son is probably one of the

worst case scenarios of

a child that was a victim of starting kindergarten too early.

At the beginning of the year, we moved from out of state and I talked back

and forth with the school

(all friendly conversations) about placement. I leaned towards preschool

but they pushed hard for

kindergarten for a list of reasons that I won't waste space with.

Nonetheless, I decided that maybe they knew what they

were talking about.

My son wasn't happy. He was getting frustrated with the work in the class

(lots of worksheets) and homework was terrible.

There was lots of bribery to get it done. Behavior started to come out

(non-compliance and being silly during class lessons)

and we were meeting with the school about every other week over services,

behavior, etc.

A few weeks ago I finally put the pieces of the puzzle together that he was

being strapped to a chair and a wooden tray was slid on

for not completing fine motor tasks and for running around the room. This

was one of many things that the teacher was doing to torment

my son. Both my son and the teacher became VERY frustrated and it ended in

disaster. Luckily we caught it, and I put my son back in

mainstream pre-K where he is doing fine. (He has only had two weeks there

so he is still adjusting and having issues in general from

his torment inflicted by the last teacher.)

So our story is one where my son truly should have been held back. The

teacher took out her frustration on my son. This all started about one week

after my son's dad left for a 4 month military deployment. I can't imagine

the stress that my son was under during this time. This went on for a few

weeks while I

was still in the dark about what was going on.

I am going to update the list about our case when the dust settles. But for

those of you considering what to do next year for your kids who are eligible

age-wise for

kindergarten, please consider my son's story. He is a docile smart child

who wasn't ready emotionally or socially for the challenges of kindergarten.

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

RE: [ ] Starting Kindergarten vs. Waiting

This is kind of a sore topic with me. Here is our story:

My son turned 5 years old at the beginning of September, just making the

cut-off for kindergarten. We had just moved to a new state and we talked

with school admin/teachers about our decision of whether to have our son do

an extra year in pre-k or go on to kindergarten. My husband and the school

staff felt strongly that my son should go into mainstream K. I kind of felt

like he needed an extra year to develop neurologically before going into

kindergarten. Well, I think I was right.

He is in mainstream K and doing okay but there are behavioral problems,

mainly in the specials classes (music, art, library, etc). These teachers

see my son and expect him to act like all the kindergarteners. He is very

immature and has his neuro deficits which compound the issue. The school

wants me to medicate my son for attention (and behavior). My line of

thinking is that if we had kept him back in preschool, he wouldn't be going

to specials and the academic requirements would be less so maybe the

attention span wouldn't be such an issue. As I am sitting around the table

with all the school folk (specials teachers, gen ed teacher, etc) at the IEP

meeting and we are coming up with a behavioral plan, I am thinking to

myself, " We need to remember that this kid is only 5 years old and we are

supposed to be fostering a love of learning. " (This is what Kathy on this

list brought to my attention, when she so kindly spoke with me on the

phone!)

I see re-posted her response to me when i was exploring this whole issue a

few months ago. I wish I could go back and take 's advice!

I wish we had waited an extra year. I think my son feels left in the dust

emotionally, behaviorally and socially. He is really starting to complain

about school and I know that he is getting a lot of flack from the specials

teachers.

Some parents of typically developing kids keep their typically developing

child in preschool an extra year. When a kid has neuro deficits, this makes

the choice to keep them back even easier. I wish I had trusted my better

judgment. I am hoping to keep my son's " head above water " this year and

then repeat kindergarten next year. It is a multi-age class (k-1) so it

will be easy to keep him back.

HOWEVER.....I would follow your gut. Go watch the kindergarten class and

listen to what your gut tells you about whether or not your child could

thrive there.

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

Re: half day pre-K and half day kindergarten

Hi Tricia,

I would strongly advise to do the extra year of preschool and start

your child at 6 in all day mainstream kindergarten unless you are positive that

he is

ready now. And when ready I would try to have him start out right in

the mainstream all day. In Dakota's kindergarten class the children that

were integrated in from the contained class did come in -but it's

not the same as just having them be in the one class all day.

The public school talked about starting Tanner in a self contained

class for kindergarten while his private school therapists and

teachers as well as Glenn and I and his doctors pushed for mainstream. My point

was -if he can't make it in kindergarten " it's not rocket science class " -what

age do you suggest

starting them in the mainstream? Once they start kindergarten -you will not

want

to hold them back either -they make friends. I found the other

children to be a great inspiration and help to both my boys Dakota and

Tanner.

I can tell you that in Tanner's case it ends up the old public school was wrong

and his parents, MDs and

regular therapists and teachers knew best. (is that a shock to

anyone?) My thought was and still is give the kid a chance to prove he can do

it. Speech problems do not have to be an indication of academic ability.

Tanner started mainstream kindergarten at 6 -and he was one of the

top in his class -which is the best feeling in the world. Tanner

will this year however be entering first grade in a private

accelerated academics school with children that were fluent readers

and writers since kindergarten -so well advanced of the public

school expectations -so Tanner will no longer be top in the class.

I believe Tanner will push to keep up and succeed -that's the way he

is. I we will help him too. (we have a tutor for him already) Why

the push? The more ignorance I learn about speech and language

disorders the more I believe that the sooner Tanner learns to write

and type his complex thoughts that he can't yet express -the

better. There is still such negative opinion overall of those who

don't speak well -and very little in the way of appropriate IQ

testing for the older school age children.

Here is a past post that you probably already read -but I'll send

again for the new people:

From: " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk@...>

Date: Sun Jul 6, 2003 3:22 pm

Subject: Re: schooling

Hi Lynn!

How old is your daughter now? You may have another option you have

not thought of yet -waiting one more year to start and having her

preschool program paid for by your school district for one more

year -it's what we did -and in the long run we are saving them money

because Tanner, in spite of the fact his speech is still not

perfect, is now mainstreamed and doing great. There is much on this

in the archives -as well as your question about learning to read

(Tanner who is apraxic was one of the top students in his

kindergarten class -and loves reading simple books like Dr. Seuss

etc. -and with the Cat In the Hat movie coming out now!!)

In general -I feel strongly about putting your child into the least

restrictive

environment -even if a " special " Kindergarten is available. As I

said to

Tanner's IEP team -we are talking about kindergarten here -not a

rocket science

class -if a child isn't given a chance to make it in a mainstream

Kindergarten

-than what grade do you propose is best to start them in the

mainstream?!

Speech ability is no indication of intelligence -schools for the

deaf are aware

of this. I so love and miss Kanter who was the Executive

Director of,

and the life behind -the Summit Speech School - who passed away the

other day

of cancer.

I don't know how I'll ever be able to think of the Summit Speech

School without

thinking of , in awe of her -and can not imagine that school

without that

amazing lady running it. No wonder members here are having trouble

getting

their hearing apraxic children into that school today -

apparently wasn't

there to help bring our children a voice anymore -she was too sick.

Please

quote her to whoever tells you that your child isn't able to attend

this school

if they are not deaf -her message should carry on even though she is

no longer

with us. " Our hope and our goal is to mainstream these children into

their

local kindergartens " Kanter -Executive Director Summit Speech

School.

" children with apraxia appear to benefit from the same therapies as

their

hearing impaired peers " http://www.cherab.org/news/insideedition.html

I'll post

more about reading later -here is a post about kindergarten (and get

some sleep -it'll be OK!)

=====

[Guest guest]

There is a group for parents of kids with LD who are homeschooling! I ran

into it by accident. I have tons of respect for parents who homeschool. my

sister did it for a few years. I couldnt do it but commend those who do. Its

their choice for their family.

LearningAbledKids/

[Guest guest]

Many have thrown out the idea of homeschooling to us ( a year from now- k-garten

after a transitional year). Our neighbor took her child out of 3rd grade after

being " fed up. " He has auditory processing and ADHD. She has done more " hybrid "

homeschooling- doing some on her own, but he also goes to a small homeschooling

class for other subjects. Therefore, he does have the socialization, just a

small group (but small is not a bad thing). He's also on club baseball and is an

amazing baseball player. So, he does get his social outlets. He is a really

great kid, and his mom loves the kids he's friends with through homeschooling

and baseball. It's an option. We, personally, are worried about having our

child in a special ed. classroom in future years. He's the quiet, obedient kid

who has never had behavioral issues due to his apraxia/language issues. Being

around others with behavior issues concerns us- learn from their peers? We get

to observe his present pre-k classroom. 1/2 of the class sits on rocking chairs

to exist in the class- the extra teachers sit by them. We're fully aware that

ADHD/sensory goes along with apraxia/language issues, but we don't feel it's

necessarily the best environment for our quiet child- we'll do it this year and

next, but for many years to come? The director just says to me, " You know as a

teacher that mainstream will not mean well behaved kids. " True- somewhat,

but....the private mainstream school I taught 1st grade in had very well

behaved, more on the quiet side kids. ONE boy was more rambunctious- that was

it. That I can handle, not 1/2 the class. Public schools will have more

rambunctious kids and therefore teachers who can tow the line with those kids.

We've decided that will not be the best place for our son.

Our neighbor who has the ADHD son says she's fully supportive of kids with

ADHD, but she would not want her ADHD kid in a class full of other ADHD kids.

________________________________

From: <>

Sent: Mon, February 21, 2011 3:43:41 AM

Subject: Re: [ ] Re: apraxia and learning disdabilities

Hi -

I just read your post that described " Home schooling " . I have met other parents

through various Net Groups who also believe in this Concept. I have asked this

same question to others... and I always get no response... or angry responses.

I am not trying to " be a jerk " ... I simply, have a desire to ask how home

schooling can benefit a child. My Son is almost age 4... he has a diagnosis of

Moderate Apraxia... he also has hypotonia...and has worn various forms of DAFO

type leg braces since age 2. He also has massive sensory issues.... meal times

have always been difficult..... We are in the process of a battle with the

Insurance Company to simply, obtain " Feeding Therapy " .

I am against the concept of " Home Schooling " .... only because I feel that this

would cause my Son to have more difficulties as an adult (in regard to

socialization skills). I also feel that with his Diagnosis of " Moderate

Apraxia " , he needs intensive Therapy, plus " speech practice with trusted peers " .

I feel that if I home schooled him, he would be in a provervbvial " safety

bubble " for years... and he would not be able to develop the skills that he

needs to function as an independant adult.

Any input re the " Home Schooling " concept ..... and relevant links to more info

would be appreciated.

[ ] Re: apraxia and learning disdabilities

This is going to sound out in left field, but have you thought about

homeschooling him? I already homeschool my daughter age 11 (who is dyslexic btw

and has sensory issues and low tone), so it has been natural to roll right in my

son age 2 1/2 with his apraxia. I love having the extra time to work with him

one-on-one, and I feel very confident that any LD issues he may have we can deal

with, as we've already btdt with my daughter. It's just something to consider.

Someone mentioned singing. We were singing just today! I try to give my daughter

an hour of independent work a day so that I can have extra time to work just

with my son. We'll do follow-up activities to reinforce what he has been doing

in PROMPT speech therapy, then we might sing or watch a Signing Time video.

Being with him all day allows me to ensure he gets lots of practice to reinforce

what we're working on.

I highly recommend PROMPT to you btw. When we started last fall, my son had two

sounds and one word. He now can easily initiate single words (me, more, up, his

sister's name, etc.) and can say two word phrases with assistance. We tried fish

oil but for now are sticking with flax. For us, PROMPT is the miracle.

Oh, you're original question was about LD's. I have no clue if my son will turn

out to be dyslexic. My daughter is, and it appears to be genetic. She also

happens to be gifted, which makes her 2E, twice exceptional. (google stealth

dyslexia) At this point my son gives no indication of cognitive deficits or

delays.

Best wishes,

[Guest guest]

, I'm on digest, and it looks like you've already gotten a ton of good

responses! I will say that you shouldn't feel compelled to explore

homeschooling if you don't want to. It's not for everyone, and I don't think

you need to defend your decision or preference not to, even in your own mind.

Sometimes we end up thinking certain options are inferior or that we aren't

doing as good a job of we do such and such, and it's really not that way. It's

about OPTIONS. If you are INTERESTED in homeschooling and the only hang-up is

the socialization thing, then I think you can answer that for yourself by

exploring the opportunities in your area. My oldest was an only child for 10

years, so I heard the socialization thing for a long time. Then people stopped,

because they realized it was a non-issue for us, utterly a non-issue. We

participate in sports, church events, co-op classes, have informal get-togethers

with other homeschoolers, etc. etc. You make friends who are like you, and you

get together. What I like is that our socialization is across the ages and

ethnicities and economic groups, not limited to just the 20-30 kids in a school

class or the neighborhood kids on a bus. When I asked for connections to the

deaf community to find signing people to interact with my son, I had multiple

responses from the homeschool community, with offers of play time, monthly

support groups, etc. One of the women in our group even has an apraxic child

herself.

So I don't know what opportunities are available where you live, but for us it

has not been an issue. Again, only if you're actually WANTING to approach this,

you could try to find out what homeschool support groups there are in your area

and start linking up with people. In our area we have three very active

homeschool groups (one with over 150 families!), but some communities have none.

You just have to see what's out there. And really, I don't think they'd mind at

all if you came now, met people, and just asked what resources there are for

you. You might find friends who are in a similar position who could support

you. I will say though, the more obscure the problem, the more the internet

becomes the answer, at least for you on the personal level. I have a friend

with an unlikely set of problems who found a person within an hour of her in

almost the same boat, all through a homeschool discussion board with a Special

Needs forum. There could be people close to you who would become new friends.

I don't know what's best for you, and wouldn't presume to say. It certainly

sounds like a hard situation. However I love the time we have together, the

bonds, that I can pursue the best therapies and teaching options, and that my

child isn't getting lost in " the system. " I do everything privately, so I

haven't pursued the school evaluation route. It's not totally correct to say

that you're on your own educationally if you homeschool. Not only are there

laws in most states, but for the more challenging academic struggles you can get

a neuropsych evaluation and get a full written up report to guide you.

Everything the school could have gotten through that evaluation and IEP, you can

get too, with all the academic counseling, etc. There's no need to feel you'd

be alone in that respect.

The Special Needs forum I frequent is on the discussion boards of

www.welltrainedmind.com I have come across other forums, but this just happens

to be where I hang out.

BTW, if I had opportunities close to me that were specific to apraxic children,

I would certainly consider them. It's not that I'm *opposed* to outside help.

Right now we're driving 2 1/2 hours each way weekly for PROMPT, and that plus

our regular schedule of school work is plenty. If I were to put him into a

program an hour away, he'd spend more hours in the car, which I just don't think

is beneficial. I'd rather spend that time focusing on talking with him, since

it clearly brings improvement.

Best wishes on your decision.

[Guest guest]

,

I stand corrected. What says is true. Maybe a better choice of

words is that you have to initiate things more so than when you are working

within the school system.

[ ] Re: apraxia and learning disdabilities

said:

route. It's not totally correct to say that you're on your own

educationally if you homeschool. Not only are there laws in most states, but

for the more challenging academic struggles you can get a neuropsych

evaluation and get a full written up report to guide you. Everything the

school could have gotten through that evaluation and IEP, you can get too,

with all the academic counseling, etc. There's no need to feel you'd be

alone in that respect.

Best wishes on your decision.