National Apraxia of Speech Day 2014!

Imagine sitting in a room with a group of people. Conversation murmurs to your left. Laughter bubbles to your right. A lady shares a story about an amusement park ride she enjoyed during her last vacation. 
You shift in your chair. 
Another person chimes in and chuckles over the last county fair he went to, where he ate too much cotton candy and had the worse stomachache ever. You want desperately to tell everyone that your favorite ride is the Tilt-A-Whirl and that you love cotton candy, too. 
But you can't. 
That's what it's like for a child with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. They have so much to say, yet lack the ability to do so. 
Apraxia of Speech is a neurilogical disorder, where the pathways from the brain to the mouth muscles (approximately 100) are nonexistent, rendering the brain unable to send its messages for speech. Typically, these children are extremely bright and have a zest for learning. But in order for them to exercise that zest intensive therapy is needed to create those pathways from the brain to the muscles needed for speech. 
My youngest was diagnosed at age 22 months. We were extremely fortunate to catch it early. Lots of kids aren't diagnosed until they reach elementary school, causing delayed development. I've written about our family's experience before (published elsewhere), but here's a snippet of one of my articles I'd like to share: 

As a family, we dedicated ourselves to learning sign language and used amazing DVDs to do so. Once CJ was given his “Picture” book, he could hand us little images of his wants and needs. It was then that I finally understood what he had been telling me all along. 
Hearing CJ’s diagnosis being described as a neurological disorder could have crippled me. Instead, I collected research and questioned his two therapists on ways I could help him at home in addition to his therapy regiment. I searched magazines, the internet, and any other source to find pictures of everything under the sun. Shrinking the images and laminating them into a deck of cards made it easy to take to any ice rink or field my older kids were playing at. We would use car rides as therapy by flipping pictures to CJ and encouraging him to form the sounds. My older children helped, too. Slowly we saw improvement.CJ had lots to say. He only needed help finding his voice.
My greatest joy was the first time I heard him say, “Mama.” (Full article can be found HERE.)

Recently, Apraxia of Speech Awareness was awarded its very own national calendar day ~ May 14th. I couldn't be more thrilled. 
Let's help all children everywhere find there voice. 
(NOTE: CJ is currently a bright and thriving ten year old. He stopped therapy a few years ago and loves playing ice hockey, soccer, video games, and reading loads of books. He's one of my beta readers for my MG novel.)
I'd be honored if you'd share this post and help raise awareness for Apraxia of Speech. This is a disorder that, with therapy, children can overcome and live long, healthy, productive lives.