Kekoa's Journey With Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Wait And See

Monday, July 18, 2011

Wait And See

Kekoa, my little speed racer

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I heard, "Koa's only (fill in whatever age Koa was at that moment)... he'll talk soon enough. You'll see." Sometimes I even heard, "Oh, he's a BOY. Boys are always slow to talk. Just wait. If he's not talking by the time he's three, then maybe you should worry. Till then, he's fine."

Being a mother I will always, always, always advocate to anyone with a child, if you feel that something isn't right, listen to that feeling. It can't hurt to ever question your gut and have things checked out. Honestly, I would have LOVED to have gotten Koa evaluated and then have someone tell me, "Mrs. Vu, you've completely wasted your time and ours; your son is perfectly fine." But the truth of the matter is, that didn't happen. But rather, I was told, "Yes, Mrs. Vu, we will have to do some further tests because there is cause for concern." And you know what, I don't regret getting him checked out. If I never followed my instinct, if I shoved away that little voice that told me something had gone wrong with Koa's development, Koa would not be getting the treatment that he's getting and really, he wouldn't be any better off than he is today.

The reason why I've brought this little tidbit up is that a very interesting article was published recently on the "wait and see" approach for parents of late talkers. While it has concluded that about 70-80% of toddlers CAN outgrow a language delay, only if it is an expressive language delay; a still significant portion 20-30% will not catch up to their peers. Do I really want to take that chance that my son will or will not fall into that latter percentage? Do I pray and hope that he falls into the greater percentage? Of course! But I need to keep reminding myself, Koa was also diagnosed with a mild receptive delay as well as a oral apraxia, not just verbal. As a parent, why would anyone really take that chance? Hope, yes. But gamble on a positive outcome for your child? Why? I thought parenting meant just that; taking the reins and making sure that your child gets the most and best that you as a caretaker could ever really give.

Below, a post on the article... its a great must read! Check it out.
A Closer Look at the Late Talker Study: Why Parents Should Beware of a 'Wait and See' Approach (The Hanen Centre)

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Definition of Apraxia per CASANA

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a neurological motor speech disorder. For reasons not yet fully understood, children with apraxia of speech have great difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for intelligible speech. Apraxia of speech is sometimes called verbal apraxia, developmental apraxia of speech, or verbal dyspraxia. No matter what name is used, the most important concept is the root word "praxis." Praxis means planned movement. To some degree or another, a child with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech has difficulty programming and planning speech movements. Apraxia of speech is a specific speech disorder.

The act of speech begins with an intention to communicate. Next, an idea forms, outlining what the speaker wants to say. The words for the desired message are put in the correct order, using the correct grammar. Each of the words are comprised of a specific sequence of sounds (also called phonemes)and syllables that must be ordered together. All of this information is translated from an idea and information about order of sounds into a series of highly coordinated motor movements of the lips, tongue, jaw, and soft palate.

The brain must tell the muscles of these “articulators” the exact order and timing of movements so that the words in the message are properly articulated. Finally, the muscles must work properly with enough strength and muscle tone to perform the movements needed for speech.

In typically developing speech, children make word attempts and get feedback from others and from their own internal systems regarding how “well” the words they produced matched the ones that they wanted to produce. Children use this information the next time they attempt the words and essentially are able to “learn from experience.” Usually once syllables and words are spoken repeatedly, the speech motor act becomes automatic. Speech motor plans and programs are stored in the brain and can be accessed effortlessly when they are needed. Children with apraxia of speech have difficulty in this aspect of speech. It is believed that children with CAS may not be able to form or access speech motor plans and programs or that these plans and programs are faulty for some reason.