Imagine a child who is just a few years old. A child who laughs and plays and enjoys the simplest things in life as it passes him by. But amid the laughter, they try to speak, and what comes out is incomprehensible. Friends, parents and siblings have no idea what they are trying to convey. This is the life of a child with Apraxia of Speech. This is the life of someone like my nephew Noah.
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According to the Mayo Clinic, “Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is an uncommon speech disorder in which a child has difficulty making accurate movements when speaking.”
“To speak correctly, your child’s brain has to learn how to make plans that tell his or her speech muscles how to move the lips, jaw and tongue in ways that result in accurate sounds and words. Your child’s brain also plans these movements so that he or she speaks with normal speed and rhythm. In childhood apraxia of speech, the brain struggles to develop plans for speech movement.”
This is what Noah has suffered from since a very young age. It may only seem like a speech problem, but it is so much more. Apraxia impacts his development, his self-esteem and his ability to convey his feelings or simple needs. It means regular visits to speech therapists and extra efforts by his parents to help him learn and begin to feel at ease in his own skin.
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Very little is known about Apraxia of Speech, including exactly what causes it and why some children have it. We don’t even know the true number of children with Apraxia because it is still a mystery disorder.
What we do know is that more research is needed. We need more opportunities to assist the children and parents who require frequent therapy and teaching tools to overcome the barriers presented by Apraxia.
Thank you for reading and for donating – from me, and from Noah.
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