Frustration

Nate is making some progress with his speech therapy.  According to both of his therapists he is able to make most sounds individually.  Now we need to work on getting him to put the sounds together for words.  So hard for him sometimes.  He almost has the word "up" perfected but many times it comes out only as uh or reversed... puh uh...

Some sad news (and frustrating news) we found out just today, that the SLP he is working with in the school district will be moving.  Her last day will be the end of May.  I've been able to see a couple of sessions and Nate responds so well that I'm extremely frustrated that he'll have only spent 3 months with her.  Who knows what we'll end up with next??  It worries me. 

Nate's doing well in his new class at his Montessori preschool.  Something that has been troubling me for a while, is that his teacher may not truly understand what Nate's condition encompasses.  We've shared information from the Apraxia-Kids website that included a very easy to read letter talking about what it's like to be a student with apraxia.  It's almost as if the teacher believes that because he cannot speak that he does not understand academics.  He had been working on a basic number activity and she wasn't sure he was really understanding.  The trick for Nate and his teachers, at least for now, is that they are going to have to find other ways to check for understanding that doesn't require a verbal response.  Today, he did choose to continue working on the math activity and tried to say three -- with his version of "th" which is kind of a "sh" sound. 

Next month we have an appointment with a slew of people for the "Asperger's" evaluation.  I'm apprehensive about this particular appointment as I know that is NOT what he has and am becoming more cautious about seeing different "specialists" who don't know much.  We are scheduled to see an Occupational Therapist, an SLP, a psychologist, and a social worker at this appointment.  Not quite sure why a social worker will be there, but it will be a learning experience none the less.

On a positive note, I've met a couple more families with children like Nate who are going through all of these things and it's so helpful to have other people around to talk to and who understand.  Facebook has been really helpful with creating these new connections.

Say What?

Just got a call from the developmental pediatrician we saw earlier this week.  She's recommending we have Nate assessed for Asperger's Syndrome.  Ok, so this has really caught me off guard.  There's no way!  If you're not familiar with Aspberger's, here's a list of the characteristics:

• Appears to lack empathy
• Does not pick up on social cues
• Unusual facial expressions or postures
• Preoccupied or only a few interests
• Normal language and intellectual development

So if you know my son, he is extremely empathetic, concerned when others are upset or crying.  He will console them with a hug or pat on the arm.  He picks up on social cues and has no weird faces or postures.  He loves cars and animals but what 3 year old boy doesn't?  And normal language...nope.  Although he understands everything, he's just unable to move his mouth to make the sounds needed.  I guess in a few weeks, we'll meet with another team of people, a psychologist, an Asperger's specialist, a social worker, and another SLP.  I'm sure in the end they'll all think he's a wonderful, smart boy but they won't be able to tell what's wrong either.

On another note, today was the first time I've had the chance to sit in on his speech session with the school district's SLP.  It was amazing to watch her persistence with him as he can be a bit stubborn.  He actually said the word hot only it was more like huh......o........t.  But it's a step in the right direction.  They worked on color words and the corresponding signs.  He said purple.... p.....p.  He works so hard.  What was really interesting was watching her do oral exercises with him.  I asked her about it and she explained what she was doing with this one soft brush-like tool that she uses with him.  She moves it slowly around his mouth and then will stop.  He is suppose to move his tongue to that spot.  It's a natural reflex, like when you're at the dentist and they are moving the mirror around in your mouth, your tongue kind of naturally follows.  Only Nate's doesn't do that.  He has to really think about where to move his tongue so that it's touching the brush.  What he's basically working on is rewiring his brain so that eventually he can move his mouth to make the sounds and words he needs to in order to speak.  It's fascinating.  We talked about how the developmental pediatrician suggested an MRI but as with many apraxic kids, the scans will come back normal.

Much of the research into how we talk, how thoughts and speech are formed, is still taking place and it's a much more complicated process than we normally think.  Since it's so natural for most of us, why would most of us stop to think about it?

Here's some interesting research that just came out last fall:

In just 600 milliseconds, the human brain can think of a word, apply the rules of grammar to it and send it to the mouth to be spoken.   
Speed of Thought-to-Speech Article

Amazing.