Kekoa's Journey With Childhood Apraxia of Speech: September 2011

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Sensory Triggers Vocabulary

For some reasons unbeknownst to a lot of researchers, children with developmental delays, speech in particular, seem to have sensory issues... whether oral (Koa), touch/ texture (Koa), sound, environment (Koa), smell, they are a common thing.

When Koa first started his IE services almost one year ago, we found that Koa had some MAJOR sensory issues when it came to touching textures. For instance, he HATED paint and anything with that sort of sticky texture (i.e. stickers, glue). For him it was too much of an overload and you could see the anxiety start to build as he would frantically try to wipe whatever it is, off of himself. Quickly, though, and through repetitive usage of the different items, he got used to it... so much and so swiftly that within a month he tolerated the items. You could tell he wasn't into it, and it wasn't his first pick for an activity, but he would try.

Also, Koa's teacher was WONDERFUL in getting him acquainted with it. Together they made messes that would frighten any normal parent. Me, I was fine and knew it could be cleaned up, even in our new house. :) My whole drive was, if it would help him speak, then hey, I would try just about anything.

And sure enough, one year later, Koa's still doing sensory work and it elicits all kinds of new sounds and reactions out of him.

Today, Koa sat and not only painted, drew, colored, played with stickers... but he also attained to the task for a whole hour! Children with Apraxia, due to the lack of an understandable communication, which then leads to frustration, often have trouble attaining to a task for more than 10-15 minutes, TYPICALLY. Koa was again was showing that he's going to beat this thing, no matter how much it wears him out. :)

The first few pictures, you could see that Koa's a bit uncomfortable... it has been awhile since we worked with paint!

Then we got messier...

And it was a good event!

For a good measure, here are the words that we got out of Koa during this sensory time overload.
1. Kuh-lo (for "color)
2. Mowh (for "more") which then led to...
3. Mowh Pane ("more paint")
4. Ewwwwww!! (Hahaha... totally self explanatory, right?)
5. OOOS!! (for "oops!)
6. Keeeen (for "clean")
7. Stuck-urr (for "sticker")

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.