Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Yep, that is what we found out in January that Josiah has. We have known for a while that he needed help with his speech, but now we understand why. It has nothing to do with being “babied” and the parents “talking” for him. He is not stupid, retarded or brained damaged. (Thank the Lord!) It is basically a muscle weakness of the mouth area. The brain sends the messages to the mouth of what to say but the muscles don’t respond normally. Thankfully it is nothing serious or permanent. The way to overcome it is lots of practice and repetition. LOTS. Basically we are having to train the muscles how to respond properly to the brain’s speech signals. Repetition is the key. I found it interesting that one of the signs of Apraxia is no cooing or babbling when they are infants. That was Josiah. He never made those normal baby sounds. Now I know why. Apraxia children are more texture sensitive when it comes to food. Now I know why he is my only “picky” eater with a bad gag reflex that even made nursing a challenge the first month. Everything makes sense with him now. We have worked hard to overcome the gagging and he is doing so much better. We are working on not being so picky. He is better but still has a ways to go. He is doing great in his speech therapy and is talking so much more now. He is even saying WHOLE sentences on his own!!! I think learning how to read has helped a lot too. The repetition it takes to learn the alphabet sounds and then having to put it into practice again and again when reading has made a big difference. He is a very good reader and I think has picked it up faster than my other kids have. :-)

I just can’t but being thankful for where God has brought Josiah from and for putting the pieces of the puzzle together for me. For bringing us to this town that brought us to meet Mr. Bunke (Josiah’s speech therapist) who diagnosed Josiah with Childhood Apraxia and is VERY good with Josiah. I just love how God works ALL things out, don’t you?

Here is a web address with more information if interested.

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/childhoodapraxia.htm

I know, I know. I NEED a new look for my blog but that will have to be another day and another time. :-) Here is a new picture though. It was taken this summer in July at my brother's wedding. This is my whole family that was there. We had such a great time. I have the bestest family (both in Ak and in MT) in the whole world!!!