CASANA has a parent support group on facebook called APRAXIA-KIDS – Every Child Deserves a Voice. If you have a child with apraxia, I highly recommend joining this group. Sharon Gretz, the founder of CASANA, is an active member, but there are also other SLP’s, advocates, educators, and of course parents who care about these little ones.I recently vented to the group about my sadness over the park incident, but
Ashlynn is in a regular preschool this year with about 15 other kids. Most are typical with about six on IEP’s. I asked the SLP if she was talking at all in the classroom, and she looked at me like I was crazy and then answered “yes?” I presumed it meant she was surprised that I didn’t think Ashlynn was! In the Spring, Ashlynn was still gesturing and pointing in
She only had a handful of word approximations, and her favorite thing to say was “a dah.” and “hi.” I’ve learned from my parent support group that most kids with apraxia have a go to sound that they use for everything, and “a dah” was Ashlynn’s.
Speech Stickers is the first app that I downloaded for Ashlynn (my daughter with apraxia) when she had first turned three. I chose it because it was cheap, and said it was developed for children with apraxia. The app is simple in design with not a lot of bells and whistles; however, my daughter loved practicing her speech with this app. The app is set up for kids in the
ApraxiaVille is an app from Smarty Ears, and is the newest speech app that I have downloaded to use at work and with Ashlynn my daughter with CAS.To get started, you create your players. You can make an avatar, or import your own picture. The application allows up to four players, which is nice from an SLP perspective, since you can use it during group therapy.Next, you choose your activity
I never thought when I was going through school to be a speech/language pathologist, or when I became a speech/language pathologist, that I would one day have a child who would have apraxia. It’s funny, because before I had Ashlynn, I was still drawn to the disorder. I was highly disappointed about the information that was available on it in graduate school. I think I have a packet of maybe