Apraxia--The Journey Part 2

Grace was a late talker. At 18 months, she had 18 words, but by 24 months she was speaking in sentences and having conversations like she had been doing it forever. When she was 2, I began babysitting a little boy and his would receive speech services at our house. It was interesting to see how playbased speech therapy was. I was thankful that Grace wasn't receiving the services, but also comforted that with little kids it seemed more fun.

Christopher also had 18 words at 18 months, but unlike Grace where we knew what she was saying, Christopher sounded like we were listening to him under water. He tried so hard to make the right sounds, but the right sounds didn't always come out. We had him evaluated a few weeks before he turned 18 months and I almost cried when they told us he would qualify for speech services. At 18 months and 3 days ( remember since it was the morning after Aaron came home from the hospital) we began our first session of therapy. They finally concluded that his speech delay could be related to swollen adnoids/tonsils and fluid in the ear. Sure enough, just weeks after having the adnoids/tonsils removed and ear tubes put in, it became easier and easier to understand him. By 3, he was talking well enough that he didn't qualify for services from the school district and the week of his 3rd birthday, we told his playgroup bye.

Aaron at this time was already receiving services in the home. He began in mid-April--17.5 months after his met Miss K for the first time as she played with CJ, she was now sitting on the floor of our living room playing with Aaron. Where, CJ progressed leaps and bounds (even though CJ was not talking clearly before his surgery, he was still picking up words left and right), Aaron didn't. 6 months after receiving once a week services, we added speech. In January, we added playgroup.

A couple of weeks ago, he had part of his yearly review and the A word was brought up. Even though it had been dropped in conversations as a possibility, it was never brought up as something definite, until his year review. As the therapist left the house, I broke down.

Knowing that the chance of diagnosis was strong, I couldn't deny it anymore. The diagnosis doesn't change who Aaron is, it just brings it to the front. I asked for prayer on vairous places, let the grnadparnets know that the diagnosis was a possibility, and reserached the services availalbe to him in Dixon. Still, a part of me hoped that when the speech therapist did the official evaluation, she would decide that it wasn't apraxia.

Tuesday, I again had to snap out of denial. Miss K had told me that she talked to the speech therapist and she was able to do the evaluation when she returned from maternity leave. If he was diangosed with aprxia, they would bump his services up to 4 times a week (so far he was only receiving services 2x a week-because it just worked out that play group didn't have an opening until right before the speech therapist went on maternity leave). I left playgroup--with the word IF being my main focus. It was still an if. Still a chance he didn't have it.

Friday, I casually asked Miss K if the speech therapist had given any hint of if she thought Aaron did have apraxia. Miss K just looked at me and said that the speech therapist talked like it was official, she would be diangoxing Aaron with apraxia.

Mid-April a large portion of our dialy schedule will revolve around aaron's therapies. 3 days a week, I'll have to figure otu what to do with other kids while we work with him, make sure he gets fed in time for therapy, make sure he gets lunch and napped in time for therapy and do whatever homework we have to do on the off days.