All posts tagged: apraxia kids

Apraxia Monday: Interview with “Apraxia Dad,” & Writer David Ozab

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By Leslie Lindsay For stay-at-home Oregon-based dad, David Ozab writing is not just a way to pass the time while his 7-year old daughter is at school.  It’s drive.  As a father parenting a spirited little girl born with a cleft lip and diagnosed at the age of two with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), it’s a way of finding answers and sharing them with others.  It’s a way to make the world a better place. Today, I am happy–and honored—to host an interview with David Ozab.  (This is David and his daughter, Anna.  Image source: http://www.scienceofmom.com.  Retrieved 2.4.13)  L4K: Kudos to you for being a stay-at-home dad.  As we move deeper into the 21st century, we are definitely seeing a shift from the ‘traditional family roles’ and for that, I couldn’t be more proud.  Can you expand a bit on your decision to stay home with your daughter, Anna?  DAVID:  It wasn’t so much one decision I made at a particular time, as at was a bunch of little decisions. When we were first …

Apraxia Monday (on Thursday): Teaching the Teacher about Apraxia

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By Leslie Lindsay If you are like me, then you have just spent a good chunk of your evening wondering about your child’s new school year.  Who is her teacher?  What time is the bus coming?   Do I have all of the necessary school supplies?  What about shoes?  That first-day-of-school outfit?  (It’s a big day for all that in my neck of the woods here in Chicagoland).  But have you thought about how you might broach the subject of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) with your classroom teacher?  Like many, your child’s teacher may not know what CAS is–or how to help.  It’s up to you to inform them.  Short of giving them a copy of SPEAKING OF APRAXIA (Woodbine House, 2012)–okay, shameless plus–you can do a few other things to prepare yourself and your child for a successful year in the classroom.  Teaching Your Child’s Teachers about Apraxia [excerpted from Speaking of Apraxia, Woodbine House 2012.  Available where books are sold)  Do you wonder what you should tell your child’s teacher about apraxia?  Not …

Apraxia Monday: Dealing with the Dark Days

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By Leslie Lindsay I am a day behind…but, here goes “Apraxia Monday” on Tuesday.  I’d like to share with you a few comments, emails that I have received from folks who have a child with with apraxia (CAS). “Dear Leslie, I have a son with apraxia.  While he is in intensive therapy and progressing, I am an absolute wreck.  I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of your book for months.  Bless you for all you have done to help us parents.” And another…. “Dear Leslie, My 2.5 year old daughter has apraxia.  She has been in therapy since she was 18 months old.  Most days we go about our daily life without dwelling on apraxia too much–but I have days where I break down and fear for the future.  I need someone who can understand and relate.  It’s getting harder to see her grunt at people and have them stare at me as if I am a clueless parent.  Instead of driving her to [speech] therapy, I dream I am driving her to ballet …

Apraxia Monday: Chapter 1

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By Leslie Lindsay Welcome to the first installment of a series of excerpts of forthcoming, “Speaking of Apraxia: A Parent’s Guide to Childhood Apraxia of Speech” (Woodbine House, March 2012).  Here we begin at the beginning: chapter one.  You may have some suspicions that your child isn’t talking like he or she should; maybe you’ve heard of apraxia (CAS), but you just aren’t sure if that is why your little punkin isn’t chatting like all of the other children. Consider these scenarios: “Sarah, age 2, was a puzzle to her parents. She was obviously quite bright and alert. She knew the names of all the birds in her Big Book of Birds and would point to the cardinal, chickadee, etc. when asked. But she struggled to say even the simplest words.” “Jake was an active three-year-old who loved cause and effect, an engineer in the making.  He appeared to be a typically-developing child, with one exception: he was not talking. His grandmother kept saying, “Boys are late to talk–don’t worry.” But his parents were concerned. …

Apraxia Monday: How sibs can help with apraxia

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By Leslie Lindsay I have two kids.  Both of them have red hair.  Both of them have blue eyes.  Both of them of girls.  But that is where the similarites come to an end.  You see, one of them is very, very precocious (read: talkative) and the other, well…not so much.  You know my comparison has nothing to do with love.  It has to do with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). My oldest daughter has CAS.  Her younger sister does not.  When we first learned of the apraxia diagnosis, I was very focused on helping my older daughter get the help she needed.  I shuffled her to and from therapy, I got her into a great language-based preschool program.  I worried about and read about apraxia.  I cried.  I laughed.  I saw glimmers of hope. Now, at six years old, my daughter with CAS is doing a world better.  But, being the oldest, she’s a little sensitive about her speech skills not being quite “up to par” as her chatty little sister.  What’s a parent to …