Severe Speech Apraxia or more?

[KJLMOM]

My son is 4 yr old.He didnt talk until he was 3 yr old.He was then dx with severe speech apraxia which he takes speech for three times a week.I have seen some improvement on the speech.But I know he doesnt talk about things like a four yr old does.He only talks about the present.And only broken sentences of two or three words.All single syllable."Go home" He is also in special ed prek.He also has sensory intergration disorder and autistic like behaviors.The drs think he is not autistic because he is engaged with us and adults too much.Now with kids he is not so comftorable with and rarely even interacts with them.His gross motor skills are delayed to where he cant ride a tricycle,hop on one foot or even stand on one foot,walks toes first (not high up on toes just very clumsy bouncy walk).His fine motor skills are delayed also.His grasping skill is the lowest and is of a 12 month old.Every thing else is atleast a yr or two behind.He cant even take off his own socks.He is also not learning like the other kids in his class.He doesnt even seem to care or pay attention to anything I or teach try to teach him.He cant count,doesnt know shapes or want to try to learn to write his name.He does know colors but ony if they are there in front of him.It almost like he cant remember anything for very long and loses whatever he learned the very next day.Iknow he is young but even his teacher tells me that she can see he is going to have problems learning in higher grades if he doesnt improve.Now my question is does this sound like its only part of speech apraxia or does it sound like more.

[KJLMOM]

Also wanted to add he is not potty trained and not even close.He has not used the potty at all and I have trying since he turned 3.Its like he doesnt even know what to do with the potty.

[Momoflove1]

I am a mother of. A 4 year old son who gas a severe speech impairment and a sever language impairment. My son is the same way expect I push him to do what he need to for his self. My son is behind like 2 years behind his age group also I say it's more than what they are saying. A severe speech impairment is one thing but what that gotta do with them brining behind and are slow learners. I feel that answer they know but don't wanna tell us.

[margypops]

Do you send him for speech therapy ,how is his hearing ?

[specialmom]

Hi there, the cousin to apraxia is 'dyspraxia'.  This is basically motor planning which the executive function of our brain and our nervous system must work together to coordinate movement, thought,  really------  everything.  It is part of the sensory system.  My son has mild dyspraxia----  so issues with fine/gross motor control are involved.  Now, when you think of speech--------  there are three parts.  Articulation which is the obvious part of the mouth muscles moving to make the sounds.  But then there is expressive (getting across meaning to someone) and receptive (understanding what others tell you).  These are related to praxis as well and if the brain is not processing correctly or even slightly disorganized---  a child will have great issue communicating.  And dyspraxia carries over to everything besides just speech.  Kids that can't dress themselves, trip frequently, can't hold a pencil, have trouble with any new physical activity, take stairs with two legs instead of one legged, etc. are all common with kids with motor planning issues.  

You see an occupational therapist for dyspraxia and they work directly on the nervous system to help regulate it and improve motor planning.  Kids are also taught life skills in order to cope.  We've had great success with occupational therapy.  It is an adjunct to speech therapy that I highly recommend.  

My kid has sensory integration disorder and dyspraxia but has overcome much.  Let me know if you would like any other information,  good luck

[scared3571]

This year in english I wrote a 25 page project on dyspraxia (specialmom has said about dyspraxia) but also about relating difficulties.


I suggest maybe reading a books called "Gut and Physchology Syndrome" Dyspraxia along with apraxia, dyslexia, aspergers syndrome are all in the autistic spectrum and are counted as autistric spectrum disorders. They all overlap and relate

50% of people with dyslexia also have ADHD
30%-50% of people with dyspraxia also have dyslexia

and so on. The book is very helpful about understanding how no one child can really fit into a certain label, but really can have lots of symptoms from a number of different autistic spectrum disorders. So I for example have poor motor skills (from severe dyspraxia) but also have obsessions (which is a symptom of aspergers syndrome) Although I do not actually have aspergers I do have autistic traits due to the overlap between dyspraxia and autism.

Also if you want to start by helping your son now, try starting with specific diet, surprisingly alot of what people eat can help symptoms of things like apraxia.
A study in france in 2009 showed that 86% of people with ADHD had abnormal iron levels. (I'm dyspraxic and I have anaemia)
Also, in a study done by a dr. Stordy, a diet of high DHA supplements (things such as tuna oil) improved alot of fine and gross motor skills in children.

I found when I changed what I ate, more meat for iron  and more tuna over a period of time my balance did improve (I'm not saying this is a definite way to help, but it has been known to help some people)

If you do want more information about all this, Gut and Physcology syndrome I thought was a very helpful book that explains the whole apraxia/autism things very well.

[specialmom]

Scared, are you 14 years old and currently being evaluated with aspergers?  just trying to remember if I have the right person.  

[scared3571]

Yes thats me. :)