Apraxia/Speech Frustration

Assembly_Reqd

Nate has been doing speech for a year(sept) through EI for 30 minutes per week. I really like our therapist and she works well with him but he just cannot make words.

He has ONE new word since last year. ONE! It's "goon" for balloon and I was the one who got him to say it a couple of weeks ago.

I am really feeling frustrated with the time that has been spent without results, but I also think that results are not something he can accomplish right now anyway. His oral motor sucks big time. Neither I nor the therapist feel that more therapy will make any difference. He also has speech for an hour once a week via Hippotherapy that he started in July.

Thank God we do sign language. At least I see the sign for 'Mommy' instead of hearing it. I also don't believe the sign language has delayed the speech. If he could talk he would. He watches our mouths so closely when we work with him and you can see how difficult it is for him when he tries to imitate.

I am just so frustrated. PMS is not helping right now either. 

CrazeyJaneyR

My sons have motor planning issues ans possible apraxia (can't really tell yet, b/c they don't speak in sentences). We recently got a prompt therapist and she has been very helpful. She helps the boys make the shapes of sounds with their mouths. I am really impressed with the results. I'm not sure if this will hel you, but it may be worth asking about.

 

Good luck!!  

kcisthebombdotcom

I'm also the mom of a little boy with apraxia. Have you checked the Apraxia kids website? I know that your therapist may not agree but the experts think therapy for apraxia should be 3-5 times a week if LO is nonverbal. My son has a mild case of apraxia and we still do 2-one hour sessions a week. 30 minutes is too little to really make a difference. I would definitely push for more therapy.

https://www.apraxia-kids.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=chKMI0PIIsE&b=1071417&ct=1460227

Assembly_Reqd

KC_13:

I'm also the mom of a little boy with apraxia. Have you checked the Apraxia kids website? I know that your therapist may not agree but the experts think therapy for apraxia should be 3-5 times a week if LO is nonverbal. My son has a mild case of apraxia and we still do 2-one hour sessions a week. 30 minutes is too little to really make a difference. I would definitely push for more therapy.

https://www.apraxia-kids.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=chKMI0PIIsE&b=1071417&ct=1460227

Thanks for the link! Our SLP actually stays about 45 minutes. She has put in a request to EI for another session each week. I am SURE she thinks he needs more. I honestly am not sure that more therapy would do it.

Assembly_Reqd

-auntie-:

Oh. And can he get any cuter? Seriously, I love the new picture. I remember when DS had toddler hair like that- the silky feel on your cheek when you'd carry him to bed when he was tired.

Aww thanks!

thanks also for the encouragement. I just hate to see our time wasted and am totally unsure if a more intensive approach would even work for speech. (hmmm, it did work for walking...ugh!!!)  If he never talks that is fine, he can sign, NBD.

babyboys123

exact same situation here! exact!! I finally went private and am doing prompt therapy... Its almost like magic.. New sounds every SINGLE day! Please email me so we can talk!

kcisthebombdotcom

-auntie-:

I think this is one of those situations where it's a bit like going into the unknown. You know to anticipate some issues because of some anomalies, but you have no way of knowing the severity of the impact.

You may not being seeing results now, but the therapy could be helping him build the connections that will make speech possible in the future. Or you could just be wasting his time and subjecting him to a pointless exercise.

Our situation is different, but I can share that there have been times when I have dispaired at constant interventions that seemed ineffective and pointless. Sometimes they were. Sometimes, it was a matter of waiting for him to mature to a level when the skill would be taught- like multiplication closer to 12 than 10 or driving at 18 not 16. It seemed like we'd bang our collective heads around a skill for a couple years and then it would seem to appear out of nowhere.

This was kind of my experience too. My son wasn't progessing in therapy very much at all. Back sometime in May, I called my service coordinator and said something needs to change because we're not making any progress and pushed for more therapy. Sometime within those next few weeks his language just exploded seemingly out of nowhere. Literally it went from maybe 50ish word approximations that only I could understand/some occasional 2 word phrases to the point he can tell my DH a story of what we did that day (with little to no translating on my end) when he gets home from work within a matter of months. Sometimes I can't even believe it.

I'm not real sure if it was just until he was ready to do it or the year of therapy establishing the foundation to let him do it but sometimes it just clicks.