Verbal Apraxia

[daydream**believer]

Was told last week that my son has verbal apraxia.

He is 3 in 2 weeks and i knew there was a problem, just been tracking down the right place to help us.

His vocabulary consists of only 4 words.

I kept being told....

"Ohh' he'll talk when hes ready"

"His older siblings probably do all the talking for him"

"Maybe hes just got nothing he needs to say yet"

But i knew there was a problem. Now we will be starting intensive speech therapy as soon as we can get a spot

Has anyone else had a child with verbal apraxia? Im a bit overwhelmed by it all

[*elizabeths-mum*]

It's great that you picked it up so young, daydream. He has the best chance for improvement. I learned makaton many years ago when it was used with IH patients and was surprised when I heard a couple if years ago that it was back in vogue. Even now hubby and I signal simple things to each other if it's too far to talk.

This is in no way connected with your situation, it was just something I read the other day and found interesting.

http://theconversation.com/were-not-talking-to-our-kids-are-we-causing-speech-delay-23585

[daydream**believer]

hi elizabeth,

thats article is very interesting and i totally agree with it.

I hate seeing toddlers and mums on devices when they are out, but its so common now.

I personally dont do it. My phone is rarely charged anyway

[toon_town_nutter]

Do you know how common it is Amy? It's good he seems eager.

[daydream**believer]

Hi all, an update for anyone interested.

Hayden has been doing speech now for just over 4 months. His vocab has gone from 3 words to too many to count.

We (me, hubby and the kids) understand 98% of what he says but i know he is hard to understand to others and i find myself being his translator a lot.

But he is trying so hard and improving everyday.

He is now forming small sentences like "I want a drink." and "i need a wee"

He is not due to start pre entry till next year but due to his speech issues he has been allowed early pre entry so he will be doing a term and a half more pre entry then other kids with no issues and thats helping him as well.

We love celebrating when he says new words. Im so proud of him

[***super_nova***]

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@mainecoon1 wrote:

I must confess I was one of the people that told my sister not to worry that he would talk when he was ready so felt a bit bad when I found out he had a problem.

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Of-course, you ill never know if he would have grown out of it on his own.  Some kids develop in different ways. 

In his book, Thomas Sowell [wiki] noted that besides Einstein, many brilliant people developed speech relatively late in childhood. He called this condition The Einstein Syndrome.

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/26/10-strange-facts-about-einstein/#!bHWCML

But I would not take the chance; I would also take the child to speech therapy.