Ashlynn said her first “trick or treat” on command at the age of four. At three…she had an approximation, but then she froze when we went trick or treating. Many people were polite and kind, not demanding she say something for her candy. Others though, sat indignantly at the door waiting for “the magic words.” Because Ashlynn’s strengths lie in social skills, she was always able to charmingly muster up
Today I am honored to introduce Ruth Stoeckel, nationally recognized expert and published researcher on Childhood Apraxia of Speech. I first saw Ruth Stoeckel speak back in 2005 when she presented in Colorado. The packet she handed out during that talk helped me greatly in those early years when I was first learning about how therapy for apraxia is very different than therapy I had been doing for other speech
It’s been two years since Ashlynn was first identified as having CAS. She is now almost 5. At her first IEP meeting, I remember praying that she would talk. If she would just talk, everything would be okay. Last year, she was talking, but they explained she had a hard time fitting in with her peer group. She would tend to just repeat what others said, but she was at
To continue my September Specialty series, I want to introduce Merry. Merry is an amazing mom, and I wanted to feature a mother because in my opinion, parents are the experts on their child. I think it’s important professionals keep this in mind, so I’ll say it again. Parents are the experts on their child. Her daughter is using an AAC (Assistive & Augmentative Communication) device at the age of
Two years ago, I found out my almost three year old first born had Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). Despite being an SLP and treating CAS at the elementary level, I failed to recognize it in my baby. It was a VERY difficult time filled with overwhelming sadness for my daughter and guilt as her mother…an SLP who didn’t realize she had CAS. It rocked my world. Not only did the
Today I welcome back Christie from MamaOT for Part II in our Q & A about sensory processing disorder! If you missed Part I, you can read about it here. Hi Christie! So now that we know WHAT it is, let’s talk about what we can DO about it. My first question is what should parents do if they suspect their child has any warning signs? If you are