Age at diagnosis?

[lmjess]

My son is 17 months old and has been seeing a speech therapist since he was 9 months old. It started with feeding therapy because he wouldn't take a bottle or baby food. He also has some swallowing issues (gagging, choking, etc . . . ) But, he started weekly speech therapy about 2 months ago because he has no speech.

His therapist has suggested apraxia all along as a possible diagnosis. I just wanted to hear what age most kids get diagnosed at. Also, what are some good at home activities to work with him on?

[MamaJane]

 

Quoting shawnaquijada:

Mamajane, how is his speech now?

 I'm sorry I'm so late!  His speech is almost perfect.  At last year's IEP I was told they were working on several specific sounds.  Several.  I cried.  It was a new school so I had to stop and explain to the lady that having a specific sound was amazing in itself after having years and years of "increase intelligibility to 50 %".  I hope you ladies understand what I mean.  No one else did so I stopped telling the story lol. 

[LadyJag]

My daughter was misdiagnosed with apraxia by her SLP at 22 months. For over two years we thought she was apraxic, and then an ENT specialist told us it was just her enlarged tonsils/adenoids restricting her tongue movements and preventing her palate from closing!
The tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy was a true blessing. My daughter's speech improved tremendously within weeks, and now she's down to one 30-min speech therapy session weekly so that she can re-learn how to say certain sounds and unlearn those habits she formed when her tongue and palate were obstructed.

In answer to your activities question, I second the sign language suggestion. Also, blowing bubbles, whistles, kazoos, balloons, and party blowers are helpful.

[lmjess]

My son is almost 2 years old now. He got his official diagnosis a couple of months ago by a slp and a neurologist. He has generalized apraxia. This affects his speech and his gross/fine motor skills. He also was diagnosed with dysphagia, after a swallowing study was performed.

We see a SLP (speech laguage pathologist) twice a week for therapy. As well as an OT, DT, and PT once a week.

We are working on both sign language and PEC's. So far we have mastered 3 signs (more, all done, and please). We also have 3-4 spoken words.

Progress is very slow, though!

[mynameismuerte]

The fact that he's picking up on signs is great! When Brandon turned 3 he quite literally had his own language. The few words he did say were made up. (I can joke about it today because he's doing so incredibly well).

I think I can say without a doubt we saw the most progress from the time he turned 3 until he turned 4. That is also when the SLP was using the Kaufman materials.

I'm glad you're getting some answers so he can get the best treatment. Keep us updated!

[annaica]

My son was about 14 months

[kemclaughlin]

My daughter was diagnosed at around age 2 1/2.  We had been working on speech therapy for at least six months with NO progress at all.  That is when we decided that it might be apraxia.