Apraxia it is...

Actually, Brody's SLP called him a "posterchild" for apraxia. If you recall an earlier post a few weeks ago, I wrote that children with apraxia have trouble planning the movements required of the tongue, lips, palate, etc. in order to produce sounds and, therefore, speak. One of the strongest indicators that a child has apraxia is that he/she has very high cognitive abilities and receptive language skills, yet they are not speaking words. That means Brody has all this knowledge in his brain and knows the words for things, but he is unable at this time to get his mouth to actually SAY the words!

I find this all very fascinating because you really just don't even think that talking and making sounds and words is as complex a process as it truly is. Parents, like us, just expect their kids to talk when it's developmentally appropriate. I feel horrible that I have gotten so frustrated with him at times because his frustration level probably far exceeds mine!! I can't even imagine what it must feel like to KNOW what you want to say but not be able to express it verbally. The only thing I can think of to relate it to is when you have that "tip-of-your-tongue" feeling. You know?

So anyway...Brody's first private session was a success. He loved going and getting to "play" with Deb, the SLP. Kris went with him while I stayed back with the babies, and we'll probably take turns doing this. Apparently Deb had been having a tough day, and within minutes she was saying how she needed someone like Brody, ("He's going to be easy," she said.) and she's going to keep him on her schedule so she gets to work with him every time--just like we wanted! She got him to say words and some sounds that he has never produced before. Kris is probably going to kill me, but he said he had tears in his eyes because he was so proud. Some people might think that sounds silly, but when you've been waiting and waiting and wondering and wondering what is going on...and then you realize that everything will eventually be fine and he's going to be able to do this...it's a pretty big deal.

Brody is all scheduled for private sessions through January--twice a week for about 45 minutes each time. He is also going to be attending group therapy twice a week. We have a meeting with the teacher next week to set some goals (SORT of like an IEP for all my fellow teaching buds), and then he'll be on the schedule for that as well. I am looking forward to providing updates about the progress that he makes!

In the meantime, I'm looking to get all the information regarding apraxia that I can get my little hands on. And I'm REALLY going to try hard not to ask, "So...how long before he's talking normally?" :)