Anyone with a child with speech apraxia?

My daughter is almost 20 months old now and says very little (maybe 3 or 4 words). People kept telling me that she was just a late talker. When at her 18month needles I talked to my DR about this and he recommeneded setting her up with an appointment with a speach/behaviour specialist. Her appointment isn't until begining of July. The past couple days my husband and I did some reading online and found something called childhood speech apraxia. Reading the symptoms and going through the lists, it's her to a T. Obviously we won't know anything for sure until July but I've got so many questions. Does anyone here have a child with this? How do they do in school? Did you need to teach them sign language?

I can't be of much help as I have not worked with anyone with the condition. Sorry that you have to worry about your LO. As a teacher, I hope that you can take comfort in knowing that you have already done the right thing by getting early intervention for your concern. Many parents let it go and wait until school. Your daughter will shine in school with such supportive parents, no matter what supports are needed. The speech specialist will be a huge asset to you. There a many factors in language development, I hope you get answers sooner rather than later and that those answers are better than you anticipate.

I think, your child is fine, and it is so early to think about an apraxia at a so young age! If even she has an apraxia, that can be correctable with a speech pathologist. My cousin's daughter had an apraxia, but after a few months on working on the sounds she couldn't pronounce (and there were a lot), her apraxia was treated completely (she was about 7 then). Don't make things harder, there will be no need for sign language, just a hard work from you, parents, and a speech pathologist.

My son had speech apraxia and I really wish I had pushed harder with the doctors when I knew something was not right. He spoke only in vowels and developed his own sign language. He was diagnosed at age 3 and went through four years of speech therapy (twice a week). It was really hard work on his part and on ours. We sent him to a pre-school that focused on being "language rich." The good news is that hanging in there paid off. In grades 4, 5, 6 and 7 he won public speaking contests at his school (as I sat in the back of the gym and cried.) He is now in university and doing well. It may be too soon for a diagnosis (and of course, self-diagnosis isn't reliable) but I am glad to hear you have an appointment with a specialist. If I had a dollar for every person who told me to just be patient, there was nothing wrong with him, he'd learn to talk when he was ready....I would be rich. I am glad I kept advocating for my child. If you'd like to PM me, I would be happy to tell you more.

Thanks dianne. I spoke to a specialist today and we went through a pretty lengthy checklist and she said that it would be a really good idea to get her name on the waiting list (its an 8-10 month list) since there are a few s. I know I obviously can't diagnose but like you said, I need to be her advocate.

yes. we have quite a history with his hearing/speech. sadly the outcome is permanent. hopefully your DD is just a late bloomer/talker. def. wait for the specialist appt. to see what they have to say. you've discovered things early which always helps. like the OP said. if you need any advice etc. feel free to PM.

Keep a running list of all of the issues that you notice so that you are prepared when you go to the doctors and see the speech path. Also make sure that you stay aware of any other little quirks that she may have. Children develop at different speeds. She may be having speech issues now, but there are a lot of other developmental disorders that have a lot of common symptoms....so it is better to have all of your bases covered.

A friends of mine, her son was diagnosed with Speech Apraxia and they treated that. I told her that I thought he had Autism (because he had a lot of similarities with my guys) but she did not believe me and said it was his speech and said he was just "stupid like his father". Turns out I was right, he is on the spectrum, but she wasted 2 years that she could have been on a waiting list for IBI and getting other types of services that he needed. It is better to be on a waiting list and say no thanks, then to not be on the list....

Best of luck.

Definitely agree with i_forget when it comes to waiting lists. Once you clear the waiting list for assessment, you will likely join another waiting list for speech therapy (if it is required). The written list is important because it is easy to suddenly remember things after the specialist appointment. Early intervention makes a huge difference, and as i_forget said, you can always say 'no' if things have sorted themselves out.

i actually have to take her to a well-baby clinic for a development progress assesment. i've noticed a few times (at the drs office, speaking to the speach therapist) that they've asked quite a few questions regarding autism. i'm definitly more concious of things she's doing now so that i'm more prepared when i speak to these professionals. she doesnt like making eye contact with other people and she seems to want to play more by herself than with other kids (she plays pretty well with her sister tho). so not really sure if she's just shy or if there's other issues going on there. she's such a sweet, happy little girl. my heart breaks just thinking theres a problem.

My DD was diagnosed with Speech Apraxia by her pathologist.

She is 3.5 right now and has been working with a speech therapist since she was just over 2. We enrolled her in a centre based daycare when she was 18 months because of her lack of speech. Between the preschool (she graduated from daycare to preschool), the speech therapy and the activities we work on, we've really seen a huge improvement.

Waitlists are HUGE so it's best to get on one and cancel at the last minute, then to wait and not get the help you need.

There are lots of resources out there so make sure to find out all your options. I know with DD, when we enrolled her into a CENTRE-BASED daycare, they hooked us up with a community organization that assists with delays (anywhere from mild speech to extreme autism, down syndome, etc). Through that organization we've receive a lot of extra support. They pay for a one on one EA to work with DD for 3-4 hours each day she is in preschool (the preschool hires the EA and the org. pays for it) plus they have a case worker that does RANDOM visits to the preschool and monitors & charts progress (DD just adores her and gets excited for her visits). She also gives the preschool workers goals to work on before the next visit. It's SUPER nice to have an extra set of hands and eyes to make sure my DD is getting all the help and support she may need. It's too easy for kids to get lost in the system and not receive the help they need. I check in with the preschool on a regular basis but knowing there are multiple people watching out for DD, gives me even more piece of mind.

You will most likely also be referred to the CDC and they will have evaluations to see where your DD is at and if there are any other issues (ie, autism). The CDC usally takes over more severe cases, where as most local health units cover mild to moderate speech delays.

If you ever want to chat or have questions, just pm me :)

I am in Ontario. When my youngest was showing symptoms of a delay (that I noticed) I did a checklist for developmental delays. Brought it to my doctor. She referred me to a Paeditrician who assessed that she felt (as I did) that he had Autism and she hen referred me to a Paeditrician that specialises in developmental delays for a formal diagnosis. Not too sure why you are going to a well-baby clinic for that assessment. You can get all the assessment forms from a Paeditrician and they should be looking into that....

my dr set my daughter up with the appointment for the well baby clinic. i've since contacted a speach therapist here and am on the waiting list as well (on her recommendation) for occupational therapy. i appreciate all the input from everyone.

Get yourself enrolled in a program like "talking for tots", basically the speech pathologist teach the parents how to encourage speech. My daughter is quite delayed with her speech, I had this program started at our local childrens facility and one on one speech with a speech pathologist started before she was two. When ppl make the comments they are just a late talker,just wait, its just stupid. For those ppl who listen to this advice,will be setting their child up to be farther behind, to be older when they get the needed medical care. One should never wait if they feel and the doctor agrees the child is showing signs or displaying traits of a delay,medical condition,syndrome etc. The wait time for services that are government funded can be quite long. If you feel you dont want to wait that long,private therapy is available,at a cost to you. I chose this with my son.
My daughter uses a communication book with the pec method as well as some other methods that I am trained in and work with her. Insist on help, and its really sad but the squeaky wheel is who gets the help first. If you have any questions please pm me. Good Luck!

My daughter is speech delayed. She was involved in the infant speech and hearing program here. She was hearing impared at birth (conductive loss). She had tubes at 15mo. She recently turned 2, and says a handful of words consitantly (maybe 15?), plus 2-3 word sentences (I want more, I want mama).

She doesn't say things like dad, dog, eat, shoes, baby. She won't point to things and say their name.

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Originally Posted by DianneS

My son had speech apraxia and I really wish I had pushed harder with the doctors when I knew something was not right. He spoke only in vowels and developed his own sign language. He was diagnosed at age 3 and went through four years of speech therapy (twice a week). It was really hard work on his part and on ours. We sent him to a pre-school that focused on being "language rich." The good news is that hanging in there paid off. In grades 4, 5, 6 and 7 he won public speaking contests at his school (as I sat in the back of the gym and cried.) He is now in university and doing well. It may be too soon for a diagnosis (and of course, self-diagnosis isn't reliable) but I am glad to hear you have an appointment with a specialist. If I had a dollar for every person who told me to just be patient, there was nothing wrong with him, he'd learn to talk when he was ready....I would be rich. I am glad I kept advocating for my child. If you'd like to PM me, I would be happy to tell you more.

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I just read your story and it gives me hope. My some is almost 3 and it was mentioned to me yesterday by my pediatrician that my son may have ...I'm am just reading about it now...and I'm concern... I work a full time job... and now not so sure that is a good idea....any advice would be so helpful

Thanks

My ds started speech therapy at 15 months - he had no consonant babble at all.. In fact e, o was pretty well it.. They wanted to see his play with me and discovered he wasn't looking at me at all - needless to say while no formal dx we did conclude motor speech delay. He said "bye" at 3 after a year and a half of therapy - and NOW - won't stop talking.. He has struggled with dysfluency (stuttering) but we couldn't care less about that.. My posts from 2007-2008 are pretty well largely about that and the worry I had over it.. I would cry myself to sleep at night saying every prayer possible that he would talk and "just be ok".. :) Truth be told he is now.. With lots of advocacy on my end.. I had countless conversations and *arguments and still do in terms of ensuring he gets what he needs.. He hasn't been in therapy for about 2 years and is now nearly 8.. There IS hope and when you feel hopeless, look at the face of your little one and dig deep down in that mommy place and keep pushing through.. :)

My ds is testing for his black belt in tae kwon do in December - often reads on the school announcements and loves loves singing virgin radio songs in back seat of car.. :)

His teacher has said "I wouldn't have noticed a thing unless we were having this meeting about it".. :)