Thursday, October 23, 2008

You Know That Apraxia Diagnosis is True When...

[Or, more appropriately renamed to: 'You Know That Your Child's Therapy is Working When...']

....Bubbles' very special 1:1 ECI was trying to get him to say the word 'spoon'.

She held up the spoon, "What is it?" she asked him, for perhaps the 100th repetition in one month.

He fumbled around with a few sounds, started to get frustrated, and then looked to her and said,
"It stuck. Help me out."


The light? It is burning brightly in my boy.

10 comments:

furiousBall said...

that was sweet. i'm adding you to the "do not maul" list for when me and my polar bear army take over the world.

Cindy said...

OMG, that is so cute. We are still laughing here about his breakfast performance with the microphone.

Yes, there is absolutely a light--a great big one.

Mama Deb said...

He is such a sweet boy. I love that he said that!

fairymama said...

Too.

Frickin'.

Cute.

Kate said...

How incredible that he can articulate THAT!

Anonymous said...

That's how I feel a lot. I tell people one of two things, "I just washed my tongue and can't do a thing with it" or "if I stick my tongue out can you just read what its trying to say"...ha, yes baby, the light is burning

I can't find my blog said...

Love that!

Rachel Inbar said...

I looked up Apraxia and it isn't what my daughter has, but I found this line, "language problems such as poor vocabulary, incorrect grammar, and difficulty in clearly organizing spoken information; problems with reading, writing, spelling, or math" that describes her very well. She just started a new evaluation process (she's 12), which I hope will shed some light on how to help her.

Does knowing what help Bubbles need make you feel more in control of the situation? Nothing I have done for my daughter so far has been particularly helpful.

I admire your being so open about it :-)

gwendomama said...

Jerri Ann -

I think we all have a touch of aphasia!

gwendomama said...

Rachel;
YES! In our case, I feel very much empowered to be able to help my son because of the label!
In some cases, a label or Dx will not help, but in most cases it will give you an idea of if it is treatable and how.
For us, knowing makes ALL the difference. Especially because we have time on our side; he is almost three. To catch apraxia at his age is very hopeful for his prognosis, because IF he gets the appropriate treatment, he may not have those learning issues later on in school, and he may be just fine. SOME children with apraxia actually almost 'recover' and are indistinguishable from their peers. Luck of the draw, i suppose.
The other BIG issue us, is that, bottom line: Apraxia is not fatal.
Fear is relative. I do not fear learning issues - I fear more that they would die. But this is because my brain is re-wired to torture me that way. It does make things like apraxia easier to deal with, but it does have its drawbacks.