Speech Comparison of Peanut

This is a video over the course of 4 months.  The first video is when Peanut can barely get two words out.  He was repeating the first syllable over and over because of the motor planning issues.  The repetition wasn't always this bad but we caught an exceptionally bad moment on tape.  The second part is when we started corn-free with him which has made such a world of difference.  He still isn't saying the ends of words and has a much easier time with the word in isolation verses the words in combination.  The last part is Peanut after 4- months corn free, with a fish oil supplement and a probiotic.  He also works exceptionally hard at his speech therapy daily.

http://youtu.be/qqVCl7ph8yM

A glimpse into Apraxia

Peanut has been in speech therapy for almost a year and a half and he has made some amazing progress.  So much so that people will say things like "I don't think he needs therapy" or "he talks so well, are you sure he has a speech disorder".  I know they are trying to be helpful or supportive but the truth is that apraxia isn't just a speech delay.  He can say words and sounds in isolation but when those same words or sounds are put in a different order or put together he can't say them at all.  Today I was reading some articles and case studies to prepare for his eligibility meeting for Child Find this afternoon and I found this case study that put it so perfectly that I had to clip part to help others understand.

A Case Study of Childhood Apraxia of Speech

by Patti Hamaguchi, M.A., CCC-SLP

In terms of the speech-language assessment, I found that Jamie's difficulties were a pretty classic case of "dyspraxia", also known as "Developmental Dyspraxia of Speech" or apraxia. While he had been previously identified as having a severe articulation disorder, the word dyspraxia never appeared in any of his previous evaluation reports. How did I know? Jamie was able to produce nearly all the vowel and consonant sounds in isolation. If I said, "Jamie, say 'ah' (as in *apple*), he could do it.  He could say "apple" if he concentrated. He could say "pie". But if I asked him to say "apple pie", this is what I heard: "paboo bie". If I asked him to say it three times, I would get three answers. Another attempt might sound like "pappie bah". There was no consistency. He often produced single words clearly, but fell apart in phrases and conversation. Words with more than one syllable were also much more difficult for him to pronounce. Sounds that were produced in one word (the "s" in "bu*s*") were left off in other places ("s" in the phrase "I *s*ee"). Moreover, his global difficulty with sequencing, fine-motor, and sensory integration was typical for children with dyspraxia. He could tell what he said wasn't sounding right, and was visibly frustrated, but couldn't *sequence* the sounds and syllables to match what I said.

Speech Therapy - 11/14

We played the most horrifically, disgusting game in speech therapy today and of course, Peanut loved it.  His SLP brought a game called Doggy Doo.  Do you see where this is going?  So yes, you make a doggie cookie out of gak, then you feed the doggie the cookie, take it for a walk and oh, yes, it poops and you clean it up with a shovel.  It was downright nasty.  As far as it's ability to get Peanut to practice talking - it was fantastic.  So fantastic I actually considered purchasing it until I realized that it is so disgusting that I just can't do it.  He worked on walk the dog, put in mouth, make a cookie and he did great.  He is starting to be able to fix words that start with a hard "c".  So while he doesn't naturally say cookie (he says dookie) if I ask him to fix it, he will prompt himself and get it after a few tries.

We also started making his video for his application to the Apraxia speech therapy class.  It is so much better that his SLP asks him the questions because he is a lot more cooperative with her and is used to responding to her immediately.  We asked him to pick a game that he wanted to play and he picked Connect 4 or as he calls it "Money game".  So after each question, he got a piece of money.  It went really well until my video recorder ran out of battery.  Sigh.

On a "I hate apraxia" note, this weekend Peanut really wanted to say the word "restaurant". We couldn't figure out what word he was trying to say as it was coming out "shark" or "sock" or "shant".  He came over to me and my mom and prompted himself and said "fix it" and then said "Mommy help me talk please".  Oh it broke my heart in half.  We figured out the word he was working on and he moved on and now I know that approximation and it's meaning to avoid that again.  I just hate that he has to struggle so much and is getting old enough to be more understanding of the fact that he can't say certain thing.

What is that?

When Peanut and I read books he is always pointing at different objects and demanding that I tell him what they are.  He is always saying "whhhhs mama" and since I know what he means I usually would answer him.  "That is a balloon"  "That is a bear".....

Over the last few weeks I have insisted that he says "What is that" and since he can't actually say all those words in order I would either accept "What that" or we would break it out and he would repeat each word one at time for me.  I think he was annoyed with me for making him do this but he was a trooper and either did what I asked or just stopped asking.

Tonight I was reading him and his brother a book.  He was talking to me but there was a commotion and I had to intervene with my other two kids and Peanut took my face in his hands, turned me to look at him and yelled "What is that Mama!??"  I was so surprised to hear all of those words I kissed him.  He wiped it off and pointed again.

It was short lived because when I asked him to say it again he couldn't do it, but we got it once and we will get it again!  It is very typical for apraxic kids to have an easier time saying things that they aren't asked or prompted to say.  Peanut can say things once and then if he stops to think too hard about it (because I have asked him to repeat it) he can't do it.  But we will keep practicing and celebrate each and every time he gets it!

Speech Therapy 11/7

Peanut's SLP is noticing a trend that is both upsetting and heartening at the same time.  She is having a harder and harder time understanding him.  That doesn't sound good, right?  I am having to do a lot more translation for her through the sessions and had noticed the same thing.  She said that it is to be expected because his vocabulary is growing so much that now he is talking to her about things from the past or about his feelings.  Before he would only talk in 1-2 words and only about the objects in front of him.  Now he talks in 6-7 word sentences about whatever thoughts come into his head including stories of me taking his chicken at dinner. I wish that he was more clear when he was talking but I love his ever expanding vocabulary.

Today we worked on "I want the car" and "I need the car".  He would always say " I do want car" or "I do need car". This is because he has so carefully motor planned "I do" that he almost automatically adds it whenever he says "I".  He did great in his session and was very focused and cooperative.  He allowed any necessary prompting and played the games well.  We are continuing to work on "What is it?" and "Where is it?"  plus adding want, and need as well as any needed articles.

Peanut continues to be my hero every day by pushing through the struggle of talking every day to make sure that we know exactly what is going on in his adorable head.

The George Washington University Summer Apraxia Camp

The George Washington University (GWU) is offering an intensive summer camp for children diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and we are determined to get Peanut into it if he is eligible.  We have already requested our information packet and video release forms and have asked our SLP to help us make the required video that will be used to determine eligibility.  


All participants will receive daily individual, small group (4-5 children), and large group treatment (9-10 children). Therapy will be provided by graduate level clinicians and supervised by a certified and licensed speech-language pathologist.  Each participant will be paired with a clinician in order to provide consistency and 1:1 supervision/support.  


This would be amazing especially because through Child Find, he wouldn't get any services over the summer.  We are going to have to find something else to supplement for him through the summer in addition but this camp would be the first truly intensive treatment we would have for him.  I am excited to see what something that intensive can do for his progress.  


Peanut deserves every opportunity and we are going to do everything we can to get him in including figuring out how to find the $1000 for two weeks of intensive therapy.

Update on Hearing and Vision

Peanut has perfect hearing and they were very impressed with how cooperative he was at the activities.  He was a perfect little gentleman and performed perfectly.  His tympangram (I am not spelling that correctly) showed that he has perfect middle ear pressure.

His nearsightedness has disappeared!!  But really that doesn't change the outcome.  He has a stigmatism this will make it necessary for him to wear glasses.  We are going to wait another 6 months or so in hopes that maybe he won't break them as often and will wear them more often......