// API callback
related_results_labels({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","feed":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$openSearch":"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/","xmlns$blogger":"http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055"},"updated":{"$t":"2023-06-01T17:48:54.498-05:00"},"category":[{"term":"daily life"},{"term":"Apraxia"},{"term":"Ava"},{"term":"therapy"},{"term":"cardsets"},{"term":"weeklyreview"},{"term":"SLP"},{"term":"Michael"},{"term":"reference"},{"term":"tidbits"},{"term":"crafts"},{"term":"homeschooling"},{"term":"articulation"},{"term":"Dala"},{"term":"review"},{"term":"OT"},{"term":"children's books"},{"term":"Testy Shop"},{"term":"busy book"},{"term":"quiet book"},{"term":"supplements"},{"term":"light box"},{"term":"preschool"},{"term":"CEU Challenge"},{"term":"car ride activities"},{"term":"audiofiles"},{"term":"app"},{"term":"giveaway"},{"term":"siblings"},{"term":"IEP"},{"term":"Testy Homeschool \u0026 Teacher Shop"},{"term":"curriculum"},{"term":"language"},{"term":"liquid watercolor art activities"},{"term":"blogging"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Testy yet trying"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"A Speech Pathologist Mother and Her Daughter Diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/-\/Apraxia?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=6"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/search\/label\/Apraxia"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/-\/Apraxia\/-\/Apraxia?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=7\u0026max-results=6"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"191"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"6"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-6152010302079579497"},"published":{"$t":"2014-05-23T06:00:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-05-23T06:00:01.476-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"reference"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Apraxia Therapy: Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) Part 3"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I frequently receive requests for information from parents or therapists of very young children - usually between the ages of 18 and 30 months.  The children have very few, if any, words.  They make few sounds.  They have a history of reduced or absent babbling.  They have difficulty imitating and difficulty making volitional utterances.  They are beginning to become aware that they are different.  They want to communicate and yet struggle.  Frustration is increasing on the part of both parents and children.  The child may begin to act out in negative ways.  What do you do?  Where do you start?\u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBr\u003E\n\nYou have three immediate goals:\u003Cbr\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EReduce frustration.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EEstablish and increase frequency of volitional utterances.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EIncrease number of daily speech utterances through structured practice.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003EEarly Apraxia Treatment - Reducing frustration.\u003C\/h3\u003E\nRead about how to address this goal in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy.html\"\u003Epart one of my Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) series\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003EEarly Apraxia Treatment - Establishing and increasing frequency of volitional utterances.\u003C\/h3\u003E\nRead about how to address this goal in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy_13.html\"\u003Epart two of my Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) series\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003EEarly Apraxia Treatment - Increase number of daily speech utterances through structured practice.\u003C\/h3\u003E\nChildhood Apraxia of Speech is a disorder of the motor planning of speech movements.  The brain knows what the child wants to say.  The mouth is capable of making the movements necessary.  The planning of those movements gets jumbled in between.  Children with apraxia need repetition, repetition, repetition in order to establish proper motor planning routines and make those routines smooth and automatic.  One of the most efficient ways to increase the sheer number of repetitions your child makes is through drill.  You can do drill activities with very young children, but first you need to figure out what to drill.  I will outline a sequence of steps that will show you how to determine which sounds to target first for a specific child and help you find the resources and methods for doing those drill activities with young children.\n\n\u003Col\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ETake a speech sound inventory - \u003C\/b\u003EYoung children with apraxia often have a “limited phonemic repertoire”.  This is just a fancy way of saying that they can’t make very many sounds.  Even if they are trying to mimic a wide variety of words, the sounds they are actually producing often are not the sounds that should be in the words they are trying to imitate.  Listen carefully to your child when they are verbalizing.  Take videos of several times when your child is “chatty”.  Then go back and really listen to those utterances.  Transcribe them if you can.  What sounds do you hear?  What vowels?  What consonants?  Write those down.  For example, check out this \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/09\/speech-sample-suspected-childhood_24.html\"\u003Espeech sample of a child with apraxia at 23 months of age\u003C\/a\u003E.  You can see the transcript of the words Ava was saying and the actual sounds she produced.  You'll want to do this several times so that you can be sure that you have a fairly complete collection of the types of utterances your child can make.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EAnalyze the speech sound data you collected - \u003C\/b\u003ETake your lists of the transcribed words your child makes (if you are a parent, you don't have to use fancy transcription symbols like I did -just note vowels and consonants as best you can).  From those lists, make a final list of all the consonant sounds your child can produce.  If you can, note next to each consonant whether you heard it at the beginning of the word (in initial position) or at the end of the word (in final position) or both.  Your list of consonants may be very small.  When I started working with Ava, her only consonant was \/d\/.  You may hear several consonants.  If so, try to identify the one or two consonants your child uses most often.  Or, the one or two consonants they can imitate best.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EChoose speech practice target sounds - \u003C\/b\u003EThis may seem counterintuitive, but you want to begin by working with the sounds your child is most successful with.  You are going to begin practicing with the one or two sounds that they already use the most and\/or that they can imitate the best.  You are going to do this for two reasons.  First, you want them to experience success.  Early apraxia therapy is all about turning speech from a frustrating activity the child feels like a failure at to a fun activity they can enjoy and consistently participate in at some level.  Second, it is likely that they are only using those \"best\" consonants in a single word, or that they cannot produce them at will in many situations.  You want to take that sound that they are currently only using in one word, at home, with you and turn it into a sound they can use in many words (with different vowels to mean different things) in many different situations (school, with other family members, at the park, etc.).\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMake therapy practice materials - \u003C\/b\u003EGo to my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/p\/downloadprint-free-speech-articulation.html\"\u003Efree speech articulation materials page\u003C\/a\u003E and download a free card set or two.  Choose a card set that features the sounds you identified in the previous step.  If your child uses the sound at the beginning of their words, download the initial card set for that sound.  If your child uses the sound at the end of their words, download the final card set for that sound.  The card set is designed to pair that consonant your child can produce successfully with multiple vowels.  If they leave off a sound (for example, \"pah\" for \"pop\"), accept that as correct and move on.  If there are cards in the set that your child cannot produce because they can't imitate that vowel sound at all, don’t use them.  Right now you want your child to think that this game is fun.  You want them to experience success.  \u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\nScroll down to the bottom of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/p\/downloadprint-free-speech-articulation.html\"\u003Efree card set page\u003C\/a\u003E for some tips on doing speech practice with young children and 30 ideas of games and activities to do with those cards.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EPractice, practice, practice - \u003C\/b\u003EKeep practice sessions short.  Treat it as play.  Tell your child that you're going to play a speech game and then follow through with making it fun.  If your child is struggling, ask for just one more, and then put it aside and come back to it later, with a different game.  Remember that all of these speech repetitions are cumulative.  You are using a variety of strategies throughout the child's entire day to increase the number of speech utterances they produce.  Structured practice with picture cards can easily double a the number of speech utterances a child produces in a day in a very short amount of time.  It is a valuable tool.  It also allows your child to practice using very simple combinations of sounds to produce a wide variety of words that they will hopefully begin to be able to incorporate into their own spontaneous use.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\n\nIf you found this article useful, check out \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/p\/learn-more.html\"\u003Eother articles I've written about Childhood Apraxia of Speech\u003C\/a\u003E."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6152010302079579497\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy_23.html#comment-form","title":"288 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/6152010302079579497"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/6152010302079579497"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy_23.html","title":"Apraxia Therapy: Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) Part 3"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"288"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-7747953280028401740"},"published":{"$t":"2014-05-22T06:00:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-05-22T06:00:00.276-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"reference"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Apraxia Therapy: Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) Part 2"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I frequently receive requests for information from parents or therapists of very young children - usually between the ages of 18 and 30 months.  The children have very few, if any, words.  They make few sounds.  They have a history of reduced or absent babbling.  They have difficulty imitating and difficulty making volitional utterances.  They are beginning to become aware that they are different.  They want to communicate and yet struggle.  Frustration is increasing on the part of both parents and children.  The child may begin to act out in negative ways.  What do you do?  Where do you start?\u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBr\u003E\n\nYou have three immediate goals:\u003Cbr\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EReduce frustration.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EEstablish and increase frequency of volitional utterances.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EIncrease number of daily speech utterances through structured practice.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003EEarly Apraxia Treatment - Reducing frustration.\u003C\/h3\u003E\nRead about how to address this goal in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy.html\"\u003Epart one of my Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) series\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003EEarly Apraxia Treatment - Establishing and increasing frequency of volitional utterances.\u003C\/h3\u003E\nTypically, very young children with apraxia have difficulty producing sounds when they want to.  You want to help them be able to intentionally vocalize.  If they already can vocalize at will, you want to increase the number of those utterances and the contexts in which they can produce those utterances.  Note that for the purpose of this goal, you should \u003Cb\u003Enot\u003C\/b\u003E care if the utterance is phonetically accurate.  For example, if the child is trying to say, “baby”, and the utterance they make doesn’t sound anything like “baby,” \u003Cu\u003Ethat is all right\u003C\/u\u003E.  If they produce something different each time, that is all right too.  You simply want them to be able to reliably produce an utterance in response to a stimulus.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\nEvery time a child with apraxia makes a vocalization (any vocalization) on purpose they are practicing formulating a message in their mind, creating a motor-speech plan, and successfully coordinating breath, phonation, and movement of the speech articulators to produce sound.  For these children, that sequence of events is a huge success and a necessary beginning.  You need this to happen before you can begin to fine tune the specific sounds that emerge.  There are many ways to establish and increase practice opportunities for volitional utterances.  I will describe four methods below.\n\n\u003Col\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EEchoing - \u003C\/b\u003EOne of the simplest ways to establish or increase the number of volitional utterances is to echo any utterances your child does make back at them.  Remember that every single time your child deliberately makes a sound to communicate they are coordinating intent with breath, phonation, and movement of speech muscles and structures.  This is essential practice in early apraxia therapy.  So, if your child happens to make a sound (not a frustration sound, but any other sound) echo it back at them.  You want to try to create a fun feedback loop or simple game out of bouncing that word\/sound\/exclamation\/utterance back and forth.  For example, there was a time when my daughter's only word was \"da?\" (for \"that?\").  She would use it to label items she already knew the name for, to request the name for unknown items, and to request items she couldn't reach.  She and I could have an entire conversation consisting of bouncing that one word back and forth.  She would point to an unknown item (let's say... a marble, just for the sake of this example).  The conversation would unfold as follows:\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EAva:  \"Da?\"  (What's that?)\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EMama:  \"Da?\"  (You mean this?)\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EAva:  \"Da!\"  (Yep!)\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EMama:  \"Da?\"  (You sure you mean this?)\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EAva:  \"Da!\"  (Yep mama. Tell me already!)\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EMama:  \"Marble.\"\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\nSo, instead of her making a single utterance and then receiving either the marble or the label for the marble and being done, Ava practiced making an utterance three times in the context of a true, turn-taking conversation.  Over time, this simple technique can result in dozens, or hundreds of extra utterances a day.  You can listen to an example of a father using this technique with his 21 month old daughter in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/search\/label\/audiofiles\"\u003Ethe first apraxia speech sample audio clip of this post\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EInteractive book reading - \u003C\/b\u003ESit down with your child and a picture book.  Your goal is to use the book interactively to elicit speech from your child.  Read the same book each night so that the child sees the book as a familiar and fun activity.  You do not want to read the book to your child, although you can make reading the text on each page part of what you do.  You want to engage your child in commenting on the action in the pictures by pointing and asking questions.  For example, if a story involves a character who falls, every time you read that page, point to the character and say, “Uh oh!”  Then encourage your child to mimic you.  Go back and forth several times.  Have fun with it.  Other utterances that can be worked into reading many children’s books include “hi,” “oh no,” “shhhh,” “bye bye,” “mama,” “daddy,” etc.  Again, it doesn’t matter so much that your child mimics those words correctly.  You simply want them to experience the turn taking and joint attention that comes with playing the game.  \n\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EYou can watch a video of this type of interaction in my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/search\/label\/audiofiles\"\u003ECase Study of Apraxia – Audio Samples from 21-30 months post\u003C\/a\u003E.  I am reading a book with my 21 month old daughter with apraxia.  I also highly recommend the Big Book of Exclamations by Teri K. Peterson.  The author is a speech pathologist who designed the book to provide many, many opportunities for interactions and vocalizations.  Read my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/04\/apraxia-therapy-materials-big-book-of.html\"\u003Ereview of The Big Book of Exclamations\u003C\/a\u003E for more information on this great book.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EPair actions and vocalizations - \u003C\/b\u003EOften children with apraxia find vocalizing easier when their efforts are paired with motion.  Encourage your child to say “whee” while sliding down a slide or swinging on a swing.  Play horsie and bounce them on your knee or on an exercise ball while saying “ba bump, ba bump, ba bump”.  Blow bubbles and encourage them to say “pop” as they pop each one with their finger.  Crash cars together and have them mimic “bam!”  Give them a ball of play dough and let them poke holes in it imitating “squish” each time.  Line up blocks along the end of a table and have them say “uh oh” each time they push one off.  Then they can say “up” each time they put one back up setting up for the next round.  Possibilities are endless.  Again, it doesn’t so much matter what sound they make.  What matters is that they do make a sound.  You want them to enjoy making the sound.  Making a sound is part of the game.  Without a sound, the game isn’t as much fun.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EStrategic Withholding - \u003C\/b\u003ECreate speech opportunities in daily life.  Structure interactions to require speech.  It is so easy with a minimally verbal child to start anticipating their needs and eliminate the need for them to even try to vocalize.  Instead, deliberately place a few favorite things out of reach so they have to ask for your help to reach them.  Give them a small serving of their favorite food so they’ll need to ask for more.  If you are coloring with them, deliberately place the colors just a little out of their reach so they’ll have to ask you to hand them the crayons.  These are just a few simple examples, but extend the concept as much as possible during the day.  Through this simple technique you can create dozens of opportunities for your child to verbalize each day.  Every single utterance adds up to extra practice.  A child with apraxia needs as much practice as you can possible squeeze in.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E  \n\nDo not take this to extremes.  You are not trying to be mean, or to deliberately frustrate the child.  You are simply intentionally creating opportunities for requests. You want the process to feel natural and not forced.  If the child is not able to vocalize a request, respond to nonverbal requests (and signs) as well.  You want to avoid increasing frustration.  Think “create opportunities” rather than “force practice.”\n\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\n\nTrying to write this as one continuous post was simply too long.  Look for the continuation of this series the rest of the week.  In the meantime, if you need more general information about Childhood Apraxia of Speech, the following posts may be useful:\u003Cbr\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/04\/what-is-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-and.html\"\u003EWhat is Childhood Apraxia of Speech and How Is It Diagnosed?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/04\/what-makes-childhood-apraxia-of-speech.html\"\u003EWhat makes Childhood Apraxia of Speech different from other speech disorders?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/childhood-apraxia-of-speech-therapy.html\"\u003EChildhood Apraxia of Speech Therapy Fundamentals: Part 1 - How Much and How Often?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/childhood-apraxia-of-speech-therapy_17.html\"\u003EChildhood Apraxia of Speech Therapy Fundamentals: Part 2 - Types and Variability of Practice\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/childhood-apraxia-of-speech-therapy_18.html\"\u003EChildhood Apraxia of Speech Therapy Fundamentals: Part 3 - Methods and Content\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ol\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/feeds\/7747953280028401740\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy_22.html#comment-form","title":"51 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/7747953280028401740"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/7747953280028401740"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy_22.html","title":"Apraxia Therapy: Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) Part 2"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"51"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-5255232227361679732"},"published":{"$t":"2014-05-21T06:00:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-05-21T06:00:02.108-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"reference"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Apraxia Therapy: Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) Part 1"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I frequently receive requests for information from parents or therapists of very young children - usually between the ages of 18 and 30 months.  The children have very few, if any, words.  They make few sounds.  They have a history of reduced or absent babbling.  They have difficulty imitating and difficulty making volitional utterances.  They are beginning to become aware that they are different.  They want to communicate and yet struggle.  Frustration is increasing on the part of both parents and children.  The child may begin to act out in negative ways.  What do you do?  Where do you start?\u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBr\u003E\n\nYou have three immediate goals:\u003Cbr\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EReduce frustration.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EEstablish and increase frequency of volitional utterances.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EIncrease number of daily speech utterances through structured practice.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003EEarly Apraxia Treatment - Reducing frustration.\u003C\/h3\u003E\nBoth child and parents experience increasing frustration.  The child has the cognition and underlying receptive and expressive language skills to want to communicate and yet the child is unable to talk.  The child wants to initiate simple requests - they want attention, food, help, an item out of reach, etc.  When they are unable to make those requests they are frustrated and act out in frustration.  They also resort to grabbing, pulling, pointing, crying, and grunting as they attempt to communicate.  You need to reduce all of this frustration to improve the quality of life for the child and everyone around him or her.  The child needs to be able to communicate their basic needs.  You need to teach temporary ways for the child to communicate effectively.\n\n\u003Col\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ETeach simple signs - \u003C\/b\u003ETeach the child simple signs such as \"no, stop, more, help, eat, drink,\" etc.  Teach the same signs to any adults and other children who regularly spend time with the child.  Incorporate the use of these signs into daily routines and encourage the child to use them as well.  Adults and other children should pair the use of the sign with the matching spoken word, but do not push the child with apraxia to vocalize.  The purpose of using the signs at this point is to allow the child to communicate functionally when their voice fails them.  This will result in a happier child who will be able to better understand the underlying give-and-take nature of communication when you are ready to bridge to verbal communication. Here's a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.parenting.com\/gallery\/baby-sign-language-words-to-know?page=0\"\u003Evisual guide to 21 signs\u003C\/a\u003E useful with young children.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECreate communication boards - \u003C\/b\u003ECreate communication boards and post them in key areas of the child's home.  Make a simple chart of food and drink items to put on the wall in the kitchen (at a height the child can reach).  Post another chart with characters from their favorite TV shows near the television.  A third chart might include pictures of the toys they request most often posted near the place toys are put away.  This gives the child a way to request specific things without needing to be able to verbalize complex sounds.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\nThink about the things the child most often struggles to communicate and create boards that feature those things.  For more in depth information, read about why and how to make and use communication boards in my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/04\/apraxia-therapy-communication-boards.html\"\u003EApraxia Therapy: Communication Boards\u003C\/a\u003E post.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\nTrying to write this as one continuous post was simply too long.  Look for the continuation of this series the rest of the week.  In the meantime, if you need more general information about Childhood Apraxia of Speech, the following posts may be useful:\u003Cbr\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/04\/what-is-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-and.html\"\u003EWhat is Childhood Apraxia of Speech and How Is It Diagnosed?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/04\/what-makes-childhood-apraxia-of-speech.html\"\u003EWhat makes Childhood Apraxia of Speech different from other speech disorders?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/childhood-apraxia-of-speech-therapy.html\"\u003EChildhood Apraxia of Speech Therapy Fundamentals: Part 1 - How Much and How Often?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/childhood-apraxia-of-speech-therapy_17.html\"\u003EChildhood Apraxia of Speech Therapy Fundamentals: Part 2 - Types and Variability of Practice\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/childhood-apraxia-of-speech-therapy_18.html\"\u003EChildhood Apraxia of Speech Therapy Fundamentals: Part 3 - Methods and Content\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\n"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/feeds\/5255232227361679732\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy.html#comment-form","title":"293 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/5255232227361679732"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/5255232227361679732"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/apraxia-therapy-early-apraxia-therapy.html","title":"Apraxia Therapy: Early Apraxia Therapy (Where to Begin) Part 1"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"293"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-2334455957644960123"},"published":{"$t":"2013-08-21T05:00:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-08-21T05:00:01.033-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ava"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"therapy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Language Explosion = Speech Intelligibility Issues"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"As I mentioned, almost in passing, Ava was discharged from speech therapy at the end of the school year.  I was fine with that.  She had achieved all of her goals working on specific age-appropriate sound targets.  We finally got the \/k\/ and \/g\/ sounds even at the conversational level and the only sounds she makes errors with at the word level aren't eligible for therapy until she's much older.  Besides, we were beginning homeschooling, and as a SLP myself, I'd rather do therapy here at home from here on out.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\nI've taken a more laid back approach with Ava at home.  Once she started making progress and her intelligibility was no longer an issue, I decided to let structured therapy happen with her therapists and let her time at home with Mama just be Mama time.  And it has been fine.  She's doing so well.  Most people can understand her most of the time.  You would no longer pick her out from a crowd of her peers and notice her speech.  All of these things are wonderful and amazing and facts I wish I could have known about two or three years ago.  It would have saved me so much worry.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\nHowever...  She's 4.  She has so much to say.  Her language skills are perfectly normal and so her sentence length and grammatical complexity are shooting up.  She want to tell stories and participate in active conversations and is competing with an extremely verbal older brother.  And we're starting to have trouble understanding her again.  It certainly isn't all the time, but several times a week she'll say something and we won't have any idea what a couple of key words are.  We'll ask her to repeat herself, and that doesn't help.  I'm finding myself asking questions like, \"Can you tell me something else about it?\", or \"What does it do?\" in order to try to figure out what she's trying to tell me.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\nSome of that is specific sound errors.  She has a consistent \/v\/ for voiced \/th\/ and \/f\/ for voiceless \/th\/ substitution.  \/w\/ and \/r\/ are weak.  But some of it is the mild apraxia rearing it's head as utterance length and complexity increases.  Soon it will be time to incorporate some structured speech therapy into our homeschooling routine.  If it weren't affecting her intelligibility, I would wait.  But it is.  So, soon...\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/feeds\/2334455957644960123\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2013\/08\/language-explosion-speech.html#comment-form","title":"6 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/2334455957644960123"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/2334455957644960123"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2013\/08\/language-explosion-speech.html","title":"Language Explosion = Speech Intelligibility Issues"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"6"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-7923809635429479765"},"published":{"$t":"2013-08-12T05:00:00.003-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-08-12T05:00:00.100-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"articulation"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"cardsets"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"SLP"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"therapy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Free Simple Articulation Screening Tool"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"For those of you who are new, I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist.  I also have a daughter with Childhood Apraxia of Speech who \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/this-cant-be-happening-to-her.html\"\u003Ewasn't talking at the age of two\u003C\/a\u003E.  Look back in the archives for the full journey, but to simplify things a lot, she made a great deal of progress once we began intensive therapy.  Several months later she had enough speech to attempt an articulation test.  Hahahaha.  I'm sure some of you have tried a GFTA with an apraxic two year old so you know where I'm coming from here.  It took us three sessions.  And it was a mess.  Think about the stimuli on a GFTA.  There are so many of them.  They are multisyllablic.  The problems with the instrument in the context of severe apraxia with a young child are purely practical.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBr\u003E\n\nI just needed a quick, simple, way to gather data about the phonemic inventory of a young child with a severe speech delay while maximizing their chances of success.  That meant I needed simple stimuli (CVC words) and a short test (appropriate for short attention spans).  So I made my own.  And I used it and found it useful.  Then it sat in a folder on my computer for two years.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBr\u003E\n\nRecently I decided I wanted to re-screen Ava's speech.  Now, of course, she could participate in a standardized articulation assessment without a problem, but I don't own one, so I dug out the screening I made two years ago to use again.  All of the reasons it worked then make it an extremely easy instrument to readminister now.  I thought I would share the instrument with all of you.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\n\u003Ctable bgcolor=\"F0EBDA\"\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Ci\u003EIf you like this free articulation screener, you might want to check out the premium speech therapy kits now available in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/p\/testy-shop-speech-therapy-kits.html\"\u003ETesty Shop\u003C\/a\u003E.  Kits include expanded speech sound card sets, illustrated minimal pairs, homework sheets and more in a single download.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\n\u003Ch2\u003ESimple Articulation Screening\u003C\/h2\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003EDescription\u003C\/h3\u003E\nThis is a tool designed to screen the phonetic inventory and articulation errors of young children with severe speech delays.  The screening is comprised of picture stimuli of 22 CVC words.  Prompts are provided on the back of each stimulus card.  Results can be analyzed for individual articulation errors and for patterns of phonological processing errors.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EPermissions\u003C\/h3\u003E\nI give permission to copy, print, or distribute this articulation screening provided that:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEach copy makes clear that I am the document's author.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ENo copies are altered without my express consent.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ENo one makes a profit from these copies.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EElectronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\n\n\u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003ETo download click on each image to open it full size.  Then right click on the image, choose \"save as\" and save the page to your computer.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI recommend you print on cardstock or laminate for durability.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-WQ4T0dWofzg\/Uf3A7wvVA1I\/AAAAAAAAEfg\/3o_WYkTU6T8\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+1.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-WQ4T0dWofzg\/Uf3A7wvVA1I\/AAAAAAAAEfg\/3o_WYkTU6T8\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+1.png\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-LdaodmZ_1ww\/Uf3A79D9L4I\/AAAAAAAAEfk\/oOEML-upLmk\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+2.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-LdaodmZ_1ww\/Uf3A79D9L4I\/AAAAAAAAEfk\/oOEML-upLmk\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+2.png\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-8qj99MUty7o\/Uf3A77-FkaI\/AAAAAAAAEfo\/-lCENsRGxtc\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+3.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-8qj99MUty7o\/Uf3A77-FkaI\/AAAAAAAAEfo\/-lCENsRGxtc\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+3.png\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-GE_AVE88IFE\/Uf3A8KGyJvI\/AAAAAAAAEfs\/UxwSmMJeKmQ\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+4.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-GE_AVE88IFE\/Uf3A8KGyJvI\/AAAAAAAAEfs\/UxwSmMJeKmQ\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+4.png\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-h4vBHA6nErk\/Uf3A8Wa8q1I\/AAAAAAAAEf0\/GmL_AUZPseM\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+5.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-h4vBHA6nErk\/Uf3A8Wa8q1I\/AAAAAAAAEf0\/GmL_AUZPseM\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+5.png\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-qj9J97L5_ek\/Uf3A8rDbqzI\/AAAAAAAAEgc\/ENDo2kstbsg\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+6.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-qj9J97L5_ek\/Uf3A8rDbqzI\/AAAAAAAAEgc\/ENDo2kstbsg\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+6.png\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-DZjyeme6_30\/Uf3A8tBqfbI\/AAAAAAAAEgM\/AiRugiYVkw4\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+7.PNG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-DZjyeme6_30\/Uf3A8tBqfbI\/AAAAAAAAEgM\/AiRugiYVkw4\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+7.PNG\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-EjJ1fhBBpQU\/Uf3A8xECnMI\/AAAAAAAAEgE\/xbATVBYyZJg\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+8.PNG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-EjJ1fhBBpQU\/Uf3A8xECnMI\/AAAAAAAAEgE\/xbATVBYyZJg\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+8.PNG\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-NJ_aPtskpVU\/Uf3A9mHj1ZI\/AAAAAAAAEgQ\/ILoRgeuO1V0\/s1600\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+9.PNG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-NJ_aPtskpVU\/Uf3A9mHj1ZI\/AAAAAAAAEgQ\/ILoRgeuO1V0\/s400\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+9.PNG\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003ELooking for Feedback\u003C\/h3\u003EI would love to hear back from anyone who uses this card set.  Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change.  Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\n\u003Ch3\u003EWhere can I find more?\u003C\/h3\u003ESpeech therapy picture card sets are on my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/p\/downloadprint-free-speech-articulation.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EDownload\/Print Free Speech Articulation Materials\u003C\/a\u003E page.  Other card sets include \/p, b, t, d, m, n, h, f, v, k, g, w, j, s, z, l, r, th, ch, sh, ʤ, s-blends, and l-blends\/. More sets are being added regularly.\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/feeds\/7923809635429479765\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2013\/08\/free-simple-articulation-screening-tool.html#comment-form","title":"6 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/7923809635429479765"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/7923809635429479765"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2013\/08\/free-simple-articulation-screening-tool.html","title":"Free Simple Articulation Screening Tool"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-WQ4T0dWofzg\/Uf3A7wvVA1I\/AAAAAAAAEfg\/3o_WYkTU6T8\/s72-c\/Simple+Articulation+Screening+pg+1.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"6"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-8416985878615199460"},"published":{"$t":"2013-08-07T05:00:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-08-07T05:00:01.370-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ava"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Silence"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-lRYYJWn2haI\/Uf0ELv85TEI\/AAAAAAAAEew\/Clk19aZvqUY\/s1600\/Ava+4+months.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-lRYYJWn2haI\/Uf0ELv85TEI\/AAAAAAAAEew\/Clk19aZvqUY\/s400\/Ava+4+months.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\nWe found some old home videos tucked away in a folder we had lost track of.  Ava was about 4-5 months old when the videos were taken. What struck me as I watched was how smiley she was.  I remember very few smiles, and yet while watching these videos, she responded with a huge toothless grin every time I smiled at her.  Her eyes would light up and there was this huge smile.  And yet she was wrapped in a huge bubble of silence.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\nI listen to babies coo and babble all the time.  I play with those sounds in waiting rooms, babbling back and forth with any infant who will play the game with me.  Ava was silent.  It's a little creepy - all the talking around her and this completely silent little baby.  She didn't seem unhappy, she was just silent.  She was silent in the bouncer, on the playmat, and in the arms of loved ones.  We have some videos of me trying to make her laugh - tossing her gently in the air or creeping tickle fingers up her leg towards her neck.  The vast majority of the time I was unsuccessful.  The once or twice she managed to giggle, it looked and sounded effortful.  And yet, somehow, even as a speech pathologist I managed to miss how exactly abnormal it all was.  I was a sleep-deprived mother of a 4 and 19 month old.  My professional experience was with preschoolers and school-aged children.  At the time, I wasn't getting out much and didn't realize how much noise babies should be making.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBr\u003E\n\nThere was a video where...  well, I have no idea exactly what I was trying to capture in the video, but Ava was laying on her back on the floor.  She couldn't roll over yet and looked a lot like a turtle stuck on her back.  She was obviously frustrated.  She was lifting her head and shoulders and waving her arms and staring straight at me.  And there were no sounds.  None at all.  No grunting, no fussing, no crying even.  Just silence in the presence of frustration and physical effort.  And why exactly did it take me 18 more months to start assessment?\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\n\nHas anyone had similar experiences with their apraxic children?  If you go back and watch videos when they were babies are they silent?  I know that \"abnormal history of babbling\" is a red flag for apraxia, but this complete silence...  Anyone? "},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/feeds\/8416985878615199460\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2013\/08\/silence.html#comment-form","title":"5 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/8416985878615199460"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2522593221428423055\/posts\/default\/8416985878615199460"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/testyyettrying.blogspot.com\/2013\/08\/silence.html","title":"Silence"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-lRYYJWn2haI\/Uf0ELv85TEI\/AAAAAAAAEew\/Clk19aZvqUY\/s72-c\/Ava+4+months.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"5"}}]}});