I practice person-first language. I make sure I use it in every setting. If you’re not familiar with person first language, it’s the idea that you put a person *before* their disability. The idea is that when we put the disability first, we define a person by their disability. However, no person is defined by their disability. A person is just…..a person first. So, instead of saying that bipolar guy, you
I think one thing, well actually I KNOW one thing I never knew about CAS before Ashlynn, was the significant difficulty kids with CAS tend to have with word finding. Ashlynn and all of my clients struggle with this to varying degrees. Sometimes, Ashlynn’s seem innocent. She’ll call me grandma after she’s been with her grandma all day. She’ll say “today” when she really meant “tomorrow,” or say “tomorrow” when
This year was definitely a big year for me and for apraxia awareness! I coordinated the Walk for Apraxia in Denver, I was honored to be published in the ASHA blog and on The Mighty twice; and of course as you all know, my story on Ronda Rousey having apraxia went viral and was featured in national publications and on Good Morning America! This lead to our popular facebook group
I’ve been down lately. Really, really down. It pretty much started at Ashlynn’s re-evaluation meeting and went downhill from there. For all the work she’s done, for how far she has come, for what she knows in the face of so many challenges, it was like a slap in the face. It’s really not anyone’s fault. It’s just the way it is. I’m dealing with mixed expressive/receptive language issues now.
My friend introduced me to an AWESOME website call “The Mighty.” During the month of March, they challenged readers to write an open letter to a disability that a loved one faces. I have no idea if I’ll get accepted, but hey, at least I have a blog. For as much writing I do about apraxia, it was definitely high time to talk to apraxia myself. Hello apraxia. Hello global
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.