Verbal dyspraxia

[3TinLids]

Our 3 year old son has verbal dyspraxia. We have suspected this for about 2 and a half months but he has only recently been diagnosed officially. We have been going to speech playgroup and have now started one on one speech therapy. We have been told that if Julian's speech doesn't improve significantly over the next 6 months he may need to go to a speech kindy. Can anyone tell us some success stories? We keep getting told by his speechies that he will get there eventually but we have one very clever yet frustrated little boy!! :confused:

Rebecca 33
Rob DH 36
Will 10/00
Julian 6/8/02 (3 today!)
Ashley 12/04

[Maghan]

I don't really know how your child disorder's affects her, my son has a language disorder, whereby his words and their sounds are fine, but he has trouble understanding and making himself understood. It's a little bit like we're all talking Italian, when he's learnt English, so he can pick up keywords, but also has trouble sometimes telling us what he wants etc. He is 4 and 1/2 and we suspected something about a year ago, but were told by a very unwise speech therapist, that because he was a boy and so young to give him some time.

Anyway we got him to preschool and they noticed within the first day. He's been having a couple of special ed classes a week and speechie lessons once a fortnight. We've seen an improvement, but he's still not where his peers are, he will have trouble reading and writing because of this. He is very intelligent so this compounds the problem, he knows he is different. Anyway forgive the rant, had to get it out. My point is... one of the other mother's with a child similar in his group is taking her child to a language school at Fig Tree Pocket in Brisbane. I have not checked it out and I hear it's quite hard to get into, but perhaps that might give you a starting point. I will try and find out the name of the school and post it.

[Maghan]

Here's the link to Glenleighden school http://www.situ.com.au/weblease/tpcommon/src/tp1PointsPage.cfm?idPageCopy=8941&idClient=123.

Has anyone heard of Glenleighden School at Fig Tree Pocket Brisbane?

[3TinLids]

Thanks Maghan for the school link. It looks like a great place. Unfortunately we live in Adelaide. However, Julian's speech pathologist and early childhood worker (from Education Dept) initially believed that he would be eligible for a speech kindy (preschool) here in Adelaide. They are now thinking that because he is so clever he may benefit more attending a mainstream kindy with lots of support. I am waiting to hear back from them as he will start early entry in first term next year. I need to start putting his name down. I am reassured by his speech pathologist that his speech will improve greatly (with therapy) so that by the time he starts school he will
be only a bit behind the other kids. He will need to continue speech for a few years into school. I think he will go to the same school as our eldest son but I have heard of a school nearby which has a speech and language unit. We will have to wait and see.

It sounds like your son's speech condition is a bit different to Julian's. He understands everything that is said to him and he knows what he wants to say but the messages get scrambled on the way down from his brain to his mouth. Like your son he is very clever and knows that other kids his age are talking. He gets very frustrated and we often have issues with people he doesn't know well, big groups or changes.

We have seen some improvements since he started therapy. He is more confident and is keen to try talking more. He has come out with a few clear words and some very short sentences. Lets hope this continues.

Rebecca

[Maghan]

3boysmum, I just thought the Brisbane school might give you a starting point anyway.

I find it's really hard for my little boy not to be able to tell me how he feels, sometimes I think he says things through rote, no one will give us a firm prognosis, the human brain is one of those things you can't discount and there are so many variables... it's sad (for me) because our 2 and 1/2 year old girl is amazing. We just look at her in awe. When you've known no different, to see a child with normal speech development it's a new experience.

I worry so much for his future, I just hope the smart, beautiful little boy I know can show the world just that and so much more. Some parents worry what school or university their children will go to, I worry if he will ever be able to truly have a meaningful conversation with me one day. That's all I really want!

Sorry to rant and sorry 3boysmum I can't give you any answers, there must be more people out there than us surely?

[3TinLids]

No need to apologise for a rant. We all need to some times. I agree there must be more than us out there.

I have similar feelings about when Julian will be able to have meaningful conversations with us and worry about how he will cope when his younger brother starts talking. Ashley is only 8 and a half months old and from 7 months has been saying mum-mum and bub-bub. Will, our eldest talks constantly and has done so from a very young age so I worry everyday how this effects him. I worry about how happy he is, and if all his frustrations will effect his future happiness. I remember how easy and happy Will's young years were and how easy and happy Ashley is now. I worry that our inability to understand him now will somehow affect his personality. He is a beautiful little boy, so caring and clever yet so frustrated. It breaks my heart to see him unable to talk to kids his own age and just be a little boy with no worries. Although he seems to enjoy the speech sessions so far they are very repetitive and no doubt he will soon be sick of them. Unfortunately they will go on for years. All I want for him is to be happy and healthy!

My turn to apologise for the rant.

Still waiting to hear from the speech path about kindy. Want to get onto it soon.

Rebecca

[Maghan]

I have really found some comfort in this thread. It's so nice to talk to other parents with the same feelings and fears.

I have a 2 and 1/2 year old girl and she is amazing (although probably just on par for her age). When you've known nothing else than a child with a language disorder and then you have one who doesn't, it makes the world so much more wonderous. I hold on to her every word, I sit there and just watch her in awe. It's only know I realise how much we take a child's speech development for granted.

[3TinLids]

I agree Maghan. It is nice to be able to talk to others who understand what you are going through. Although friends are sympathetic and supportive they don't live it
everyday. They don't see the frustration and tantrums. They only see a quiet, shy little boy. However, we have seen a small amount of improvement over the last month. Julian is really trying to talk a bit more and has come out with a few very simple sentences. We have all been very excited and he has been so pleased!!

We are still unsure about the whole kindy thing but we have put his name down at the local kindy(which is great) and will get him assessed for the speech kindy at the appropriate time. I have decided not to get too stressed about it. We have seen some improvement over the last few months so hopefully that will continue. We have also seen some improvement in his willingness to mix with other children. He has surprised me a few times recently wanting to play with children he doesn't know well. He has even tried talking to them. It almost bought tears to my eyes!

Rebecca

[kyliebuzz]

Hi Rebecca

After a couple of years of being concerned with my son's speech we think they will soon be able to diagnose Dyspraxia. We are also in Adelaide in the northern suburbs.
We have been using the Tea Tree Gully Community Health Centre and finally made it to the top of their waiting list about 2 months ago. We also attended their Toddler Talk Groups early last year.
There has been only a small progress within his speech. Since attending therapy his willingness to give it ago has improved and he will try. We quite often give him a choice. (eg. Is it a picture of a cat or dog?) With this choice he will try and say the words. Other than his speech there is nothing wrong with him developmentally. Very similar to your son, his brain is unable to process the movement to his mouth.
Daniel is 3years 8 months. He will attend early entry to his kindy which is mainstream next term. I can' believe this will only be in a few weeks.
We have been discussing with the speech therapist about entry to a speech kindy which is at Valley View. They have a specialist speech therapy program with only a limit of about 10 children. Apparently they spend 3 kindy sessions with a focus on speech and on the 4th session they enter the mainstream class. He needs a specialist referrell to the special kindy.
Daniel will need to undergo a more formal developmental assessment by child youth health before an actual diagnosis of Dyspraxia can be made. But i'm convinced after doing plenty of research about it on the net.
For a long time we have been saying that he will eventually do more talking and everyone i come across whether a friend or a doctor they all say he will talk when he is ready. He is nearly 4 years old. I'm a little concerned.
Daniel will start within the early entry mainstream as he can't actually start early into the speech kindy. He turns 4 in February.
I'm glad I'm not the only one out there with the same issues. Quite bizarre really.

Kylie

[3TinLids]

Hi Kylie,

Your story sounds so familiar and it is so nice to talk to other people who understand what you are going through!! Like your son we have had some improvement (only small) in speech but we have seen a willingness to try to talk more since we started therapy. I think that is the biggest change since starting one on one therapy this term. I didn't see any improvement whilst attending the group sessions. Again, like your son, Julian will do early entry but not until first term next year. Similarly he won't be starting at a speech kindy but will be assessed for that when he is closer to four.

Have you had many behavioural issues in relation to Daniel's frustration? We have quite a few tantrums(some extreme) and Julian often hits out (occasionally bites) at his older brother. We also find that he is doesn't cope well with a big group of kids or people that he doesn't know well. I am reassured by his speech therapist that this is very normal for kids with dyspraxia. However, I find some days that it is harder to deal with than others.

Do you have other kids? How does Daniel get along with them? Julian absolutely loves his brothers (even though he does hit out occasionally) but I worry about how their speech affects him. Will talked from a very early age and Ash is only 9 and a half months but looks like he will talk early too. I don't know how Julian will cope with Ash talking perhaps before him.

It took us a while to get the dyspraxia diagnosis - we suspected it in May but it wasn't officially diagnosed until late July. Very frustrating. When doing the research on dyspraxia it was like they were describing Julian. Quite scary really!

Good luck with the diagnosis. It is really good to hear from you and would like to hear how you are going.

Rebecca

[kyliebuzz]

Hi Rebecca

Daniel is my youngest and Sam my eldest turned 5 in May. He started school the same week he turned 5.
We have had many behavioural issues with Daniel. It's usually out of frustration on his part. We all try our best to understand what he is saying. We are actually working with the speech therapist to learn some key word signing which has helped. We don't seem to have as many tantrums as what we used to. We do have a fair bit of crying if I am unable to understand what it is he wants.
Daniel and Sam get along quite well although there have been plenty of arguments lately. Sam is good though, he can usually understand what Daniel wants.
I think Daniel gets away with too much as we tend to blame Sam more for their behaviour incidences. They are typical boys into superheros trying to be like them.
What is really frustrating about the whole speech thing is that Daniel has been attending childcare for a couple of years now and he just hasn't picked up on the talking of other kids. Everyone used to say that he has an older brother who does all the talking, which isn't the case. Daniel attends child care only 2 days per week at the moment.
When Daniel was a baby he didn't have the "baby babble". I remember attending the toddler talk group over 12 months ago and all we worked on was sounds and babbling. He just never did do it.
We had a speech delay with Sam and also saw a speech therapist regularly. But nothing like Daniel. Sam has absolutely no issues with speech now.

I'm really concerned with Daniel attending early entry next term. He seems too little but he does understand absolutely everything. It's amazing really.

I'll keep you posted about the speech kindy. We have an appointment with the speech therapist in a week. She will have more details for me then.

By the way....Have you applied for any carers payment with centre link? We were supposed to do it over 12 months ago. This was going to help support the cost of a private speech therapist. I never did apply because I didn't think I would really need it. I always keeps saying that he will talk eventually. I have an appointment with Dawn Hugo from CYH next week. She is going to assist with filling in the forms.

Cheers

Kylie

[Maghan]

Hi girls

Rylan has been doing speech therapy for about 6 months, as well as preschool and special ed a couple of times a week. I think we've had a little break through. I think he's understanding things way better than 6 months ago and he can even put a sentence together - "mum, look at the car, red." Yes, a little back to front, but just wonderful.

He will do preschool again next year (he turns five this December), continue his speech therapy and also his sessions at special ed, so hopefully he will do ok going into grade 1, but isn't that a scary prospect... kid's can be so cruel.

I made application to centrelink for that carer's payment, but it was so more focused on physical disabilities, eg asking questions about dressing, using a knife and fork etc, that I don't think we will be suitable to get it. Wait and see.

The frustration level of Rylan has decreased as well, only when he's really tired can he not be understood, so that would make it doubly bad - tired, cranky and NO ONE can understand. Most friends still don't understand what we and he go through, they just talk louder most times to him!

He is still very shy, but at pee-wee tennis and swimming lessons he will put his head up to look at the instructors when they speak, so that's progress too. What a long road we all have to trek. Please keep sharing your stories and "vents" they are so comforting.

[3TinLids]

Hi Kylie and Maghan,

We are currently in the process of applying for the carer's allowance so we will have to wait and see. Both our speech pathologist and the care worker (from the education department who visits Julian once a fortnight) encouraged us to apply. I had heard a little about it before but didn't think we would be eligible.

Thinking back, Kylie, Julian didn't have much 'baby babble' either. Ashley certainly does so I'm hoping he won't have the same problems. I'm also worried about Julian starting early entry in first term next year. He doesn't cope well with kids he doesn't know. Today we had a hockey BBQ and there were about 8 kids and all played together except Julian. It really breaks my heart to see my beautiful little boy on the outside because he cannot communicate with kids his own age. He also seems too young to start kindy. Our kids seem to be close in age - Will starts school next term. Very exciting yet scary.

Maghan, it is great to hear that Rylan has had a bit of a breakthrough and his frustration levels have decreased. We have come to realise that any improvement no matter how small is wonderful. We all get so excited when Julian says something new.

I will keep posting here. I agree that it is comforting to talk to others who know what you are going through.

Hope you both have a good long weekend!


Rebecca

[Maghan]

Rebecca

Our very wise paedatrician said to us when we were feeling overwhelmed with what Education Queensland were telling us we should do with Rylan, "you're sailing this ship, aren't you". He said Government education or not, Rylan's our child, and we know him better than anyone, so we should not do anything we're not comfortable with, nor put Rylan in a place where it only aids his shyness and therefore does not give him an environment where he would like to talk. So that's what we've done, that is why he is doing another year of preschool. The teachers are fantastic, some times it's the bureacracy that's not!

[3TinLids]

Thanks Maghan. We will only place Julian in a place that he is comfortable and at a time that he is comfortable. He is starting in an older group of occasional care next term. This is during a kindy session so there are older kids and more kids. I think this will give us an indication of how well he will cope with early entry the following term. I like the idea of "you're sailing this ship". I will keep it in mind.

Rebecca

[Maghan]

We've had another "mini" break through... the other day Rylan said: "Mum, look at that purple light, it's freaky". Welll we've been working on his adjectives, so that's GREAT! And the light was very freaky...

[3TinLids]

Great news Maghan!! You must be so pleased! We had an extra speech session during the school holidays and Alison our speech pathologist says she can see that Julian is making progress!! It is slow but there is definately improvement. I so look forward to the day where we can have a conversation and understand what Julian is saying!

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Rebecca

All of your and Julian's hard work will pay off. One day he will be able to tell you how appreciative he is that you didn't give up on him and did everything in your power to help.

[3TinLids]

We have had an eventful few weeks. Will started school this term and is loving it!! Since Will started school Julian's behaviour has improved and his speech has also improved. We have really noticed how Julian's behaviour worsens when Will is home during school holidays. Even though the boy's get along really well, Will doesn't let Julian get a word in and he gets really frustrated and therefore lashes out. I think that Julian also enjoys the extra one on one attention he gets from me and I think that has been really beneficial. He is a much happier little boy who has less temper tantrums and sulking. Has been really nice! One new development is that Julian is coping a bit better with crowds and occasionally wants to try and join in with other children. This has made the school runs a bit easier. Although he stills stays pretty close to me he is not attached to my leg or screaming for me to pick him up.

Went back to speech this week and it looks like we will definately getting assessed for the speech kindy. Even though there has been improvement in Julian's speech, his dyspraxia is quite severe. Applied for the carer's allowance and have had a 2nd form sent out to us which we have filled out and sent back. Guess we will have to wait and see what the outcome is.

We have decided on the kindy that Julian will go to for early and pre entry. I am going to a meeting in two weeks. Julian is familiar with the kindy and is keen to go there. Hoping all goes well.


Rebecca

[Maghan]

Hi Rebecca

That's such nice news. We too applied for the carer's allowance and got it, as well as a health care card, so that pays for the speech lessons. We're also looking at occupational therapy now, the speech therapist thought it could help too, although I don't understand exactly how.

[3TinLids]

Hi again,

We are eligible for the carer's allowance which will help alot with the speech sessions. We got back paid which was very helpful. Have had a few temper tantrums again this week. Julian has lost the plot a few times at the supermarket and at school. I get so frustrated with the looks from people who don't know us and our situation. They all look so disapproving and seem to be saying 'why can't you keep your child under control?' It took all of my self control not to have a go at a girl behind the counter who said to Julian 'everyone in the whole shop can hear you!' Some people have no idea!

We have been doing heaps of speech practice and I think that there is some improvement. Julian seems to enjoy doing it although it is so repetitive. We go to the kindy meeting next week so that will be interesting.

Will is doing really well at school and it is very quiet here without him. Ashley is thriving but still not keen to sleep through the night. He is teething so I have been up to him about 3 times a night. I am feeling very tired so we are not doing too much today.

Rebecca 33
Rob 36
Will 5
Julian 3
Ashley 11 months :)

[Maghan]

Rebecca, slowly, slowly. Good to hear you are making progress. We too are getting there as well.

I was so upset the other day. We we're in a playground and I heard a 5ish year old boy say to Rylan: "What's wrong with you stupid, why can't you talk!". That child must have very nice parents I think!

Luckily it hasn't detered him, he is taking a lot of chances with other kids now, really trying to talk and make conversation with them. He's also making a lot more eye contact with other people aside from us too.

[Maghan]

I'm so excited, had no where else to post this. Rylan came home singing "the wheels on the bus" after preschool today. The whole song! He's never really sung a song before, plus all the words. That's what I call progress.

[3TinLids]

That's fantastic, Maghan. I would be so excited as well. I can't wait to hear Julian say a full sentence or sing a song. You will have to have a little celebration.

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Rebecca

Isn't it amazing, the things most people take for granted are things that make out chests swell with pride!

[3TinLids]

I agree Maghan. Today on our way home from the Adelaide Christmas Pageant I found Julian humming Jingle Bells. I was amazed and so proud and so was he! He might not be able to communicate verbally but he certainly knows what is going on!

Take care

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Rebecca that is just great, I'm so pleased for you.

Jayncharlie, Rylan goes to a special education development unit preschool for two hours twice a week. He absolutely loves going there now, but hated it at the start (I think I had to get over the fact he was going to special ed too). I think he realises they are actually trying to help him. The other bonus is that as christmas is fast approaching they are doing lots of christmas craft and he just LOVES christmas.

He doesn't have any other problems except for the speech/language disorder, but my neice who I am raising has a similar problem with the flat footedness and an odd gait. We have found swimming has really improved it.

[3TinLids]

We have had an interesting week. Ashley, our youngest was back in hospital again over the weekend (finally can call it asthma after 6 admissions and he isn't one until next month) and this has really upset Julian and his routine. I finally felt we were improving a bit especially with his social skills and behaviour but it seems we have taken one step forward and 3 back. He has gone back to extreme tantrums, not even attempting to talk to other people and attaching himself to the back of my leg in public. He even bit Will again. I understand that Ashley's admission has thrown him a bit but I didn't expect such a regression and for it to continue on. I have to admit that I am disappointed. I was so excited for him as he seem to be progressing. I am hoping that this will all pass quickly. Ash is home again and we have gone back to our usual routines.

Jayncharlie, Julian is starting kindy next term. He will start what is called 'early entry' because of his speech and this is at a mainstream kindy. However, closer to when he turns 4 he will be assessed for a speech and language kindy. At this stage we are told it is likely that he will need to go to the speech kindy. We are hopeful that he improves enough to not need to go! Julian only has speech difficulties (and the frustrated behaviour that goes with that).

Anyway we are looking forward to the weekend. We are going out for tea on our own for our 8th wedding anniversary. Can't wait.

Rebecca

[3TinLids]

Julian's behaviour has improved somewhat since I last wrote an entry. It is still not great but definately better. I went on a trip to visit an old friend in QLD. Ash came with me as I am still breastfeeding but Will and Julian stayed home with Rob. I really worried about how Julian would react especially after his behaviour when Ash was admitted to hospital. However, he coped really well and Will got quite upset. I think I had talked to Julian quite alot about my trip and maybe this helped him whereas I expected Will to be fine knowing that I was going away. I expected some really extreme behaviour from Julian when I got back and although we did have some it didn't last as long as I expected. I think the time away really helped. It gave me a break and made me appreciate the boys so much more!

Julian's speech is improving slowly. Other people see the improvement more readily . I guess sometimes it is hard to see the changes when you are with your kids everyday! It does make me see that sometime soon I will be able to have a "normal" conversation with Julian and hopefully leave the extreme behaviour behind us! :cool:

[Maghan]

Rebecca

It's always one step forward, 2 back. And so frustrating when they have those tantrums. We do wait in hope for that conversation with them, don't we?

I have no new developments, nice to be on school holidays and not be racing around taking people to appointments and special pre-schools etc.

We've moved to acreage, so the kid's are really loving it. Rylan particularly just loves to run and ride his bike so it's great. I think sport (or at least physical) activity is a great equaliser, it doesn't matter how well you can talk when you're running around or riding a bike with your mate.

[Jynxed75]

Hi Guys

I've just been reading though all of your threads and they were so much like what i have experienced with my daughter. She is now 5 years old and began speech therapy when she turned 3. She's ben diagnosed as having a severe receptive and expressive speech disorder.

She started school this term at a private school, and is seeing a private speech pathologist fortnightly who is wonderful. Unfortunatly, the school provides no support - though they sure do like taking my money hehehe. So i was wondering if any of you guys had made enquiries (especially the SA people) about what support is available in government schools. The government school my children are zoned for is....how shall we say.....scummy. So i am hoping i can get her into a better public school on the basis that she needs ongoing support. I know your children are younger than mine, but i thought maybe someone would know the answer to this!

I wanted to also reply to one of your posts about your son throwing a tantrum in the shops. I went thru all this with my daughter...the filthy looks etc....she was just frustrated as she couldn't make herself understood. But on the other hand, my 2 year old son now does the same thing and there's nothing wrong with his speech! Everyones children throw tantrums at some stage, and those disapproving look givers either don't have children, or used to leave theirs at home all the time while they went out!!

Regards

Vikki

[Maghan]

Hi Vicki

We're in Queensland, so I don't know how it works down there in SA. We've found a public school that can offer more than the private ones for Rylan (although there is a private speech school which is REALLY hard to get into).

Your daughter's speech disorder sounds like Rylan's, he has also been diagnosed as having a severe language disorder effecting his processing, reception and expression.

The local special education unit has given him so much, as well as the private Speech Pathologist (and now we know what to do also helps).

I know what you say about the tantrums, my nearly 3 year old, who has just perfect speech, has fairly big tantrums too!!!

Kelly

[3TinLids]

Hi Vikki,

We are in SA and all our speech therapy needs are met through the public system. Julian's speech sessions are public and the therapist is fantastic. We have an early childhood worker come once a fortnight to see Julian through the education department. She is also fantastic. Julian starts kindy (early entry) next term and when he starts full kindy he will either go to a speech and language kindy or he will get speech therapy and an early childhood worker at our local kindy. Both of these kindy's are public kindys. When he starts school (public) he will continue to see the speech therapist from the local kindy. She is supplied by the education department. I have met the therapist as Will (my eldest) had some difficulty with his articulation due to chronic ear infections. Again I am very happy with her. All public schools in Adelaide are zoned but you can send your children to any school and they will accept them as long as they have vacancies. I have been fairly proactive in getting services for Julian and I think this helped. There are quite a few services out there but you have to look for them!

Back to the shopping tantrums - I just ignore the dirty looks now. I don't have time to worry about it.

Hope all of this has helped a little.

Rebecca

[moonblossom]

Yes my son was diagnosed with the same thing when he was three. We were absolutely distraught because he was quite withdrawn, unable to communicate properly and it was affecting him badly, making him a loner.

He went to all the specialists, and eventually he got the help he needed .

Today he is a healthy happy 7 year old boy who can communicate without any probems, who has lots of friends and has come right out of his shell now he can get his point across :)

He went to a kindy that had speech experts, who worked one on one with him and they are miracle workers in my book. He still gets weekly speech therapy at his school but these will conclude at the end of the year because he is speaking correctly for his age.

So please dont let these things worry you (silly when I was did) My sons I.Q. test was in the high 10% and only because he couldnt verbally express himself they thought he was slow.

Give your son ever bit of expert advice and tuition that you can, and watch him grow like my son did

Absolute best wishes to you and your family

Many blessings

[Maghan]

Moonblossom, your story gave me goosebumps. Nice to hear a really positive story. The future is so scary for us...

[3TinLids]

Thanks Moonblossom. It is great to hear a positive story. Although I don't wish Julian's childhood away I can't wait until Julian is at the stage your son is. I know Julian is clever and would love to hear what he is thinking and dreaming. I would love for him to be able to talk to kids his own age instead of playing on his own. Your story has given me hope!

Rebecca

[moonblossom]

Believe me when he recieves the right tuition and meets with his speech therapist he will BLOOM. It was slow at first then suddenly he was communicating. Everybody thought he was autistic because he wouldnt hold eye contact, he would play alone and generally shrug anyone who came close. Of course later we knew he didnt hold eye contact because that meant someone would talk to him, and then he would have to answer, or try too, so even as a 3 year old it was easier to turn away and play with something he could communicate with, HIS TOYS. :)

I so hope you have the amazing speech therapists where you are as we do in south australia. I can honestly say his teacher LOVED him, and ever student she taught. Her success rate was incredible, and she still phones me to see how he is doing. She is my Hero. You can always tell the healers, they are special to EVERYONE, and she was.,

All I say is find the right one for your son, and enjoy seeing him bloosom as my beautiful David did :)

[Maghan]

Moonblossom

Your story is our story, only Rylan's just turned 5!! A few people were trying to label him autistic/aspergers, but like your son it was just because he knew it was too hard to try to talk to people.

He's been seeing a fabulous speech therapist for nearly nine months now. I don't think she's taught him a great deal, but heck she's taught us heaps on how to communicate with him and teach him. He knows that she's trying to help him, so he works so hard when he's there.

He has come along so much in the last 6 months, and like Rebecca, I don't want to wish away his childhood, but I do want him to be accepted by people (not just kids, as you know adults can be cruel too).

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your inspiration.

[moonblossom]

Your not kidding about adults being the worst. When David started kindy I knew, as I had told them, his difficulties. I wanted to stay on his first day but they said NO RUN ALONG, HE WILL BE FINE, as they always do. Anyway I came back an hour later to find him playijng by himself outside, all the kindy teachers and the students were inside, I went into them and said, WHY IS HE OUT THERE ALONE, and they told me they couldnt understand him and he wouldnt respond to his name....WHAT THE I said, hes very responsive to his name, so I took her outside and said call him. I nearly fainted when she called JAMES. Of course he didnt respond it wasnt his bloody name :@ They SHOULD of known his name was David, I had signed him in and spoke to them before I left, but they had forgotten all about that (because they were busy and new staff :@) and looked at his coat to see if there was a name on it...yes there was but it was his brothers because he grabbed the wrong one, the name on the jacket was JAMES...

After a major lecture from me I picked up my son and never went back there again, I cannot stand teachers with little educations, I have no patients or tolerance for them.

Anyway it started me on the path to Davids many years (such worthwhile years) with his speech therapist. I still cannot believe what happened to him and i remember crying all the way home as I remember my little boy playing by himself b ecause nobody cared.

If there is anyone in the adelaide area that has a child with communication and speech difficulties please contact me, and I will pass on where my son got his help.

Blessings

[Maghan]

Moonblossom, you've made me cry, that's so awful. I personally get sick of people thinking that Rylan doesn't like them or he is withdrawn. His own "grandma" said, "I can't take to that boy, he wont talk to me". Now mind you that was a year a go now, and we haven't spoken to her since... His "grandad" thinks that his speech disorder is actually a developmental disorder because we don't make him eat dinner and the "sister-in-law" thinks he is just naughty... Ahhh, thank god for our speech therapist, paedatrician and supportive friends and teachers.

Like Moonblossom, if any one is in the Brisbane area and wants the heads up on a great paedatrician, speechie or school(s), let me know and I'll pass on the good oil.

I had all but written bubhub off, but I am so thankful for this thread...

[moonblossom]

Ahhh I guess i was very lucky when it come to my family and friends, they knew he was very bright, but they also knew that he was frustrated.

Many family members will make every excuse under the sun why you son is the way he is, but it is NOTHING you have done. Sometimes we just have to send extra time on children that need our help. PLEASE dont ever blame yourself in ANY way.

I know when his iq test came back extremely high, my mother said THERE YA GO, GENIUS'S ARE ALWAYS THE MOST DIFFICULT . LOL. I loved her for that comment.

Chin up Meaghan, things are just gunna be great. The first time my David sat on my lap, looked me straight in the eyes and said I LOVE YOU MUMMY...was more exciting than winning the lotto, well I dont need to win the lotto, cos with my son I already have :)

Many blessings

[moonblossom]

Gezzz Casper ..it doesnt get easy does it.

I was very Lucky, David went to his kindy four days a week, and had lessons with his speech therapist everyday. Is south australia the only one to offer this?

I have David sitting next to me and he asked why his name was typed in, so I explained about our thread, and other children having the same problem he did.

His advice was this. You'll get there guys :)

Good advice from a 7 year old LOL.

Many blessings

[3TinLids]

Moonblossom, We are in the Adelaide area and although we are happy with our therapist at the moment we only have her for another 6 months so I would really appreciate it if you could PM me with your therapists details. Thankyou.

We have had a good weekend. We went away for my cousins wedding and Julian was so happy and wanted to socialise all weekend. It was a big crowd and usually he would have been attached to my leg. Mum and dad were there too which made the difference. Julian is very fond of his nanna and poppa as they are of him. I think also now people are starting to understand that he isn't just a "quiet" child and that he does want interaction with people but it is just so difficult for him. Our families and friends are now really making an effort to talk to him and include him in everything. We are very lucky with our family and friends.

I certainly hope that Julian has a better experience at kindy than your son did Moonblossom. That is very poor on the kindy's behalf. We have had lots to do with the kindy that Julian is going to and am impressed with the director's forethought. We have seen her and her children at playgroup each week this term and she makes an effort every week to come and talk to Julian so that he knows who she is for next year. She also has lots of plans for next year regarding Julian.

Maghan, like you I can't wait to get up Bubhub and look at this thread. I am so thankful to hear of others success and to know we are not alone. It also gives me the opportunity to vent. I think we all need that sometimes.

Rebecca

[moonblossom]

Gawd this is how nieve I am...how do i PM someone LOL

[moonblossom]

FIGHT FIGHT AND FIGHT harder Casper, thats what I did. My son deserved the best help, and I wouldnt give up till he got it.

The weirdest thing I thought during this process was David having to have an iq test, they were not going to waste their resourses on someone they deemed a waste of time to australia's future (in my words :S)

WHAT THE, doesnt every child with a problem have the right to the very best care?

One thing i've learned from this experience is you have to FIGHT for what is right, and never give up. Your a mum i know you wont, but dont take no for an answer.

All the very best.

[3TinLids]

We must have been typing at the same time!! Did David go to a kindy with a speech and language unit attached to it?? Julian will be assessed for a speech and language kindy just before he starts full kindy. If eligible then like David he will have speech therapists on hand and see them every day. Otherwise he will go to a mainstream kindy and get speech support. This means he will only see a therapist every 2 to 4 weeks. However, he will have an early childhood worker there for a few hours each week to work with him. This is why I was keen to get your therapists name. The therapist we currently see only sees Julian until he starts full kindy! Thank David for his encouragement!

Mrs Casper, our therapist is through the public system and Julian sees her once a fortnight. We also can't afford to see someone privately so through our therapist we advertised at the uni and now have a speech therapy student come and see Julian in the alternate fortnight. She works closely with our therapist and in this way Julian has speech at least once a week. I also do stuff with him most days and he also has a worker come from the education department once a fortnight. All in all he is pretty busy but seems to really enjoy it all. We have joked that he will never suffer from the "middle child" syndrome as he gets so much support from everyone! But like Moonblossom has said you need to fight to get support for your child.

Rebecca

[3TinLids]

Moonblossom, to PM someone you double click on their name in any of their entries and the PM option comes up. Don't worry I haven't PM'd anyone yet but I have seen the option while looking around. Wow, we are getting a big thread now!

Rebecca

[Maghan]

That's funny what you say about the IQ test. Rylan too was IQ tested at the start of the year and I said "what for, he doesn't understand what you're saying, it's like asking him all the questions in english when actually speaks Italian". Apparently though it's just the "process", his IQ test too came back very low, I remember the guidance officer saying to me "Are you suprised, do you think he's more intelligent than that?". She's the only one in the system I've had problems with and I treated her with the contempt she deserved.

It is also true, fight, fight, fight!

[moonblossom]

Yes 3boys, it did have a speech unit attached to it that is why he got an hour one on one everyday. It was really hard getting him in there but Sue fell in love with him as soon as she met him and fought to get him in there (Sue was his speech therapist)

I remember crying when she gave me forms to sign for Carer's Allowance, and it had disability on it...I cannot tell you how that crushed me. She hugged me and said "Jayne, you travel so far to bring him here everyday, it will help you out with petrol costs etc." and I signed. But the best triumph was when he had to be re asses for Carer's allowance to continue and he was deemed not eligable...THAT WAS FANTASTIC lol.

When it was time for him to start school, the therapy continued. Sue would come to his school once a week and do her lessons, I couldnt believe this. But now he is deemed "normal" and we miss Sue so much.

She was and still is David's angel.

[Maghan]

We also have a super-intelligent Asperger's child. When doing an IQ test she failed miserably. One of the questions was what do you associate with a donkey. Naturally she said: "Ogre, gingerbread man, Fiona..."

[3TinLids]

We also have a super-intelligent Asperger's child. When doing an IQ test she failed miserably. One of the questions was what do you associate with a donkey. Naturally she said: "Ogre, gingerbread man, Fiona..."


Maghan, I have tears rolling down my face!!! I think that is great!! Seriously, what do they expect a child to answer to that question! I don't even know if any of my kids know what a donkey is!! They know horses but donkeys!!?? And they have watched Shrek!

Have had a really good day with speech today. Feeling pretty happy!! Looking forward to Christmas and seeing those little faces lit up with joy!

Merry Christmas.

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Rebecca

Christmas seems to bring out their best, I wish it was all year round!

[3TinLids]

We went to see Father Christmas this morning because Julian said he wanted to. I was going to leave it this year (every year the boys usually see FC and have a photo) because I didn't think Julian would cope well and I wanted to avoid a scene and all those disapproving looks. Well, once he said that he wanted to go I asked him a few times and thought that I should encourage him and packed up the crew and took off for the local Westfield. Getting a park was easy so this was a good sign, Julian still in a good mood, lined up for about 20 mins, still in a good mood, out turn for FC and Julian went over to FC but refused to sit on his lap. I was prepared for this so Julian stood next to FC and Will and Ash sat on FC's lap. What I wasn't really prepared for was Ash's hysterics. He was absolutely terrified which set off Julian. So we have a photo that perfectly catches the moment - Ash hysterically crying, Julian has his hands over his ears and Will looking very serious.

Very funny!!

REbecca

[Maghan]

Perfect... We don't even try Santa Claus anymore with Rylan, we had one photo of him with Santa when he was 12 days old and never again...

[rynosmum]

Ladies I've just been reading through this thread and just wanted to say what great mums you are and what special kids you all seem to have as well. You are all working so hard to get the best for your children and I'm sure it will be so beneficial to them in later years.

Big hugs to all of you and your gorgeous little ones this Christmas. You should be so proud of what you are achieving -Im sure it must be trying at times - but you guys are awesome !:D

Katrina

[3TinLids]

Thanks Katrina for your encouragement. It is nice to log onto Bubhub and get support from other parents.

We have had a good few days with speech. Julian has said a few more words which have been clearer and he has been able to string a couple of words together. We were all so excited we have just about been jumping around the house. Rob and I feel that Julian's speech has improved the last month and hope that it continues. Hopefully he will improve so much that he will not need to go to the speech kindy!:)

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Hi all

Rylan's now got a wobbly tooth, which has freaked him out so much. It is really hard for him to understand what's going on... Ahhh, mother nature!

[3TinLids]

Maghan, thankfully we are a few years away from wobbly teeth with Julian. However, Will looks like he is not far away from losing his first teeth. He is very excited. It will be good for Julian to see it happening and hopefully won't be too freaked out when it is his turn. It has been so hot here over the last few days and raining today that we have been stuck indoors. Julian had been really good up until today. He totally lost the plot. He screamed and carried on. We just rode the storm and waited for him to come out of it. Which he did eventually. Hasn't happened as frequently recently. His speech seems to be coming along. He still can't hold a conversation and most people would not understand what he is saying but there is definately improvement. We are very excited about it and he is so proud of himself!!:D

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Rebecca, really good to hear. The tantrums will get less and less, they will. Rylan only has a melt down once a month if that now and usually when he's really tired.

Hope you had a good christmas (aside from the weather).

[3TinLids]

We had a great Christmas, thanks Maghan. Hope you and your family did too!

We have had a pretty good couple of weeks in regards to tantrums. That is until late last week. Julian's behaviour and speech have gone backwards which is a bit disappointing but we realise now that he will have ups and downs. We actually sat down and thought about his behaviour recently and his good and bad behaviour has coincided with us buying a bread maker. His behaviour improved when we started making our own bread and got worse when our bread maker needed replacing (faulty) and we used packaged bread from the supermarket. We have come to the conclusion that he is very sensitive to preservative 282 (mould inhibitor) in bread. His behaviour is extreme in the days following eating this bread. Prior to this I may not have believed that food could affect a child's behaviour like this. Now I do. We have decided to only allow him to eat bread without preservative 282 in it. Hopefully this will mean an end to the really extreme behaviour. I am realistic in that he will still misbehave at times and have tantrums but not to the point where he is growling like some sort of animal. I hope that this will make him a happier little boy. At the moment that is all I really want for him.

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Rebecca we've also found with some of the other kids how certain foods can effect their mood or even make them go wild. With one of the kids we have to steer clear of strawberries, tomatoes and other naturally red things...

I personally have found that chocolate and champagne effect my mood, but that could be for different reasons.

Keep going, in a blink of an eye they'll be 21 and leaving home (well maybe 31)!

[3TinLids]

Julian started early entry kindy last Thursday. He is doing early entry for one session a week this term because of his speech. Next term he is doing pre entry for 2 sessions a week and then in 3rd term he will do full kindy. We are not sure yet whether he will stay at this mainstream kindy or whether he will go to a speech kindy. He gets assessed next term. On Thursday he did really well. He was really looking forward to it and coped with it all so well. Apparently he was able to make himself understood by either showing the staff what he needed or he gestured to them. I am so proud of him. He has also been a much happier little boy since we discovered that he was sensitive to preservative 282. We have been very aware of what is in his food and he is now like a different little boy. It is so nice for us all - especially for Julian. I get so many more kisses and cuddles now! I wish we had known about this so much sooner. We could have avoided so many behavioural problems!!

Rebecca:)

[Maghan]

Rebecca, that is amazing, isn't it? At least you're getting your cuddles and kisses now, you can get your emotional well into the black! And probably Julian's too.

Soon we get Rylan reassessed with the speech therapist to see where he's at. She's very impressed with the improvement generally (mind you it's been a year). We don't get much feedback from the special education centre, so it will be nice to get the speechie's report.

Preservative 282, scare me and tell me what it is in...

[3TinLids]

Thanks Mrs Casper. We have been considering investigating further to see if there are other preservatives that he may be sensitive to. I will speak to my GP soon.

Maghan, 282 is usually found in bread products but can be found in some orange juices, pizza bases and dried fruit. We have been avoiding anything with any 280 preservatives in them. These can include meat pies, crumpets, taco shells and much more!! Scary really. If you get a chance have a look at the site that Mrs Casper has mentioned and look at the bread section. Makes very interesting reading. 282 causes in some kids: speech delay and behavioural problems!!!! Obviously 282 hasn't caused his dyspraxia but it probably hasn't helped! We have really noticed a difference in Julian's behaviour since we eliminated 282. He is a much happier little boy. He is much less angry and aggressive. He is loving and helpful and has much more patience. This has helped so much with his speech. He has the patience to try and talk to us and others. I honestly could cry with joy. I just find it disappointing that we didn't know about it so much earlier. Julian would have been a much happier little boy. I hope that we have discovered it early enough so that he doesn't remember how cross, angry and aggressive he got when he was younger. You are right Maghan, we are making up for lost time in the emotional and hugging area. We have got our beautiful little boy back!! He seemed to be hiding for such a long time! Sorry to waffle but we are so excited!!

Rebecca:) :) :)

[Maghan]

Rebecca that is wonderful, brought tears to my eyes. Congratulations for this little, but still BIG step!

[Maghan]

Rylan came home from preschool yesterday with some very interesting art work. The first one had lots of "stamping" on it with a smiley face he had drawn and also a piece of paper where he had tried and quite proficiently wrote his name.

Now to most people this is no big deal, but we were told because of his speech disorder that he may be very delayed with his drawing, reading, writing etc. So this is HUGE!!!!!!

[3TinLids]

That's fantastic Maghan. Well done Rylan!!:D

Rebecca

[louisealmond]

hi
im 19 and was diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia when i was 3. just thought id let u know tht it gets easier. my speech was almost impossible to understand when i was younger. i underwent years of bullying and had very few friiend as a young chid. i had years of speech therapy, but they didnt really help me as much as they could of, it ruined my confinfidene as it made me feel stupid. i also attended a comprehensive school, i went 2thre learning support centre which was awfull. they didnt know how to deal with me i as i had a very high IQ. i just found it difficult to communicate. i think that if i had recieved better help when i was younger it woud have made a massive differnce tomy life. now ive left school its much easier. my speech is still quite bad but i can hide it quite well, i dont let it hold me back.im studyingfor a degree in history and poltics. thoughhaving 2 do verbal presentations is a tad traumatic ive found tht people dont judge me as much now im older.
good luck
xxxx

[Maghan]

Louisealmond, thank you for sharing with us.

[3TinLids]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, louisealmond. Just for interest - did you have any difficulty with reading and writing? I have read somewhere that this can also be a problem for kids with dyspraxia. I know where you are coming from with the high IQ. Julian hasn't been officially tested yet but all his careworkers and speech therapists seem to think that his IQ is above his age. We will have to wait and see when he finally gets tested! Good luck with your studies and thanks again for sharing with us.

Rebecca:)

[Mel, Tyler's mum]

Hi all

Tonight I logged onto the internet to again research dyspraxia. I have done this many times but only tonight have I felt a real sense of relief with the information discovered. I have been reading all of your entries about your kids with dyspraxia, I've laughed and I've cried! What a fantastic web site. My son Tyler will be 3 in March and was diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia approx 9 months ago. We live approx 3 hours north of Adelaide and so have to travel for private speech therapy, the waiting lists for public speech therapy out here are crazy. At the moment we are taking him fortnightly for hourly sessions. We too receive the Carers Allowance from Centrelink which covers about half the total cost, however it is a real help. Tyler does not speak a word but he is a very bright little boy. He uses basic sign language to meet his immediate needs eg. drink, eat etc. He is becoming increasingly frustrated at our lack of ability to understand him and has just started throwing himself on the ground crying in frustration. We too feel like he's taking one step forward, three steps back but keep trying to push forward for his sake. He took a big step backwards about 3 weeks ago when his sister started school, major change really throws him into turmoil. Like some of your kids Tyler doesn't mix well at playgroup and prefers to play on his own. None of the other children understand the sign language so he's accepted at this stage that he can't communicate with them effectively and seems happy doing his own thing. I would love to know more about the speech and language kindy in Adelaide. Thanks so much, I really do feel better after communicating with mums with kids with similar issues, sometimes dyspraxia is a very lonely topic!

[Maghan]

Hi Mel and welcome

You may have read that my son's disorder is different to dyspraxia, but the outcome of tantrums, frustration, shyness etc is quite the same.

One thing I never mentioned, I was looking at one stage at the "Miller Method" of sign language. I can't find it on the net now, so long ago. But our Speechie also suggested some different forms of sign language too. The kids at kindy may not be able to communicate, but at least you will (really no differnt to hearing impaired children).

Feel free to vent or share your joys here any time! I've found it a great solace!

[3TinLids]

Hi Mel and a welcome from me too!

I have really benefitted from having this thread here. I, like you often searched the net for stuff on dyspraxia but haven't so much recently. I hope that you feel you can vent here when you need to.

Julian is now 3 and a half and doing really well. He has started early entry at a mainstream kindy and loves it. His speech has improved quite a bit so his speech therapist thinks that it is unlikely that he will get into a speech and language kindy. He will however, get quite a bit of speech support through the education dept at the kindy. We are so excited about his speech improvement and are happy that he is staying at the kindy as he will make friends that will go to school with him. His speech therapist has said that this will be very important for him and his confidence. Mel, you asked about the speech and language kindy's. They are situated in some mainstream kindys (there are a few out on the northern side of the city) and have "live-in" speech therapists. They are very hard to get into even for those kids with severe dyspraxia. Julian's dyspraxia is severe and his speech therapist said even he would be hard to get in!! Apparently they are very good though! Your speech therapist should be able to get some more information for you. We have a lot of support for Julian. He has speech therapy once a fortnight, a speech student works with him once a week and he has a care worker from the education dept come to visit him at home once a fortnight. He also goes to occasional care once a week. All of this has helped his speech enormously. We have also found that recently Julian is coping a bit better in social situations. Instead of being attached to the back of my legs he is now playing near other children. He is still not joining in because he cannot communicate with them but it is an improvement. Very exciting. :thumbsup: :smiliedance:

As you said Mel, dyspraxia is a very lonely topic. People are well meaning but don't always understand. It is so nice to come here and talk to other people who understand.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Hi Rebecca

Good to hear things are going well. We too are seeing improvement, after improvement every day. I can't remember the things Rylan says, but we can understand everything he's talking about now (still muddled and when he's tired more difficult...). The speech therapist is in the middle of doing another assessment, his last one was a year ago, so it will be nice to see in black and white the improvement!:yelclap:

[Mel, Tyler's mum]

Hi

Thanks for the info, I will definitely talk to Tyler's speechie on Thursday about trying to gain him some extra support. It certainly sounds like the extra support has helped your little man Rebecca.

I love hearing good news stories, not only is it inspirational it's motivational. Makes me want to get out there and get Tyler right amongst it.

Thanks so much girls, lovely to talk to you.

Cheers, Mel:thumbsup:

[3TinLids]

Glad to be of help Mel. Drop in anytime and let us know how you and Tyler are going!

Glad to hear that Rylan is doing so well, Maghan. Looks like our boys are going to go well this year!! Very exciting!:smiliedance:

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Well, we got the latest speech report - NOT GOOD!!! What the... I hear myself say... Whilst Rylan's speech has improved, compared to other children his age he is still significantly delayed and is in the lowest percentile for comprehension and expression - he didn't even make it to the 2nd percentile...

The school speech therapist said: "It's good that he's remained constant and not gone backwards, he's still where he was a year ago basically."

I could've cried a river of tears right then and there. My poor little boy, it's just so unfair. We've all put the work in, he's worked so hard and we didn't even put a dent in his disorder.

Anyway I wont ride the pity train for long, just wanted to vent. Tomorrow will be better, he's alive, healthy and I love him to death, he's got so much more than a lot of kids.:crying:

[Maghan]

Jayncharlie

We can all see he has improved. I thought more than he had though. He would need to develop faster than a normal child his age to surpass his disorder (does that make sense).

The good things I see though are that he is not anywhere near as shy anymore, he can write his name, draw basic pictures and sings and dances with his class mates (something he would NEVER have done a year ago). I suspect as his social bravery improves then he will take more chances and rote learn the right things to say in certain circumstances.

We've had an independent assessment done too, so we'll see if that agrees with the school.

I was so frustrated with them yesterday when they said that they would do another IQ test on him too. Really what's the point when it's all language based... they didn't agree. It think it's something they have to do to ensure the govt funding.

I'm out of pity mode, and back into my fight stance!

[3TinLids]

:crying: Hi Maghan,

I am sorry to hear that Rylan's assessment didn't go as well as you had hoped!! It is so hard to get news like that when you feel there has been some improvement, even if it is small. We (us and the kids) need encouragement for this improvement even if it is small.

Anyway love what you said about Rylan:

"Tomorrow will be better, he's alive, healthy and I love him to death, he's got so much more than a lot of kids."

I feel the same.

Rebecca

[Maghan]

Thanks Rebecca and Stacey

It's nice to have your support, I really appreciate it.

We had a meeting with our private speech therapist yesterday and she said basically the same thing that the school one did. She was far more positive though. She could see the whole picture like us, not just Rylan's speech. She said it would be good if we can find out what Rylan's strength is and work on that. I think he's going to be a sporty little buggar so we've been doing pee wee tennis and swimming for years, so I think we may move to little athletics.

There's no point droning on the speech side of it, she says we can't do anymore than what were doing, he's obviously in a enriching house, he just has the defecit. Life has to be about more than that...

[mumof8]

Hi, thought I would drop a quick line to let you know that one of my little girls was diagonosed with severe Dyspraxia when she was three & she is now in year one 7yrs & doing really well....She is a quieter girl then the others BUT if she has something to say she will make sure she is heard..I can honestly say that in Kindy the teachers had trouble understanding her BUT now you would not really pick up on it..They offered my daughter an aid to come in with her for some one on one BUT due to the very quick improvement in the last year it was not necessary !!!. My sister in laws nephew has Dyspraxia also BUT the mother never followed through with the weekly appointments with speech therapy & you can tell !!! This poor kid is in High School & there are days you cannot understand him, so as they say getting it early is the key their brains are so eager to learn & it is the best time to work at it.....So keep up the great work & as you say he is alive & he is your baby he is some one so damn special that will blow your mind with the lessons he is going to teach this world..Take care & know that it will all be fine no matter what !!!!! Gee I said this was going to be a quick line....sorry....I obviously rave a little !!!!!

[3TinLids]

Thanks Mumof 8, you have given us some much needed inspiration!! Mind you today has been one of those days. Julian seems to have gotten out of bed on the wrong side. I knew straight away it wasn't going to be a good day. We had a speech appointment which ended up being a waste of time for us and the speech therapist as Julian would not cooperate at all and spent most of the time under the table. To top it off he decided to have a full on tantrum (which he hasn't done for ages) and upset poor Ash in the creche(He could hear Julian screaming!!). We left with the speech therapist and the creche ladies feeling sorry for me with 2 screaming children. Thankfully one of the creche ladies helped me out to the car. They both fell asleep on the way home and are both now in bed!! I have had some chocolate some coffee and gotten on to bub hub to try and de-stress!!! Hopefully this afternoon gets better!

Rebecca:(

[Maghan]

Thanks for still posting on here gals, gee it's nice to come home and read about people in similar situations!:D

[3TinLids]

Wow it has been 2 weeks since Julian's meltdown. I have thought a bit about that tantrum session and come to the conclusion that we all lose the plot sometimes! Julian has had to work so hard at his speech his entire life and he is entitled to lose the plot as much as the next person!

Speech wise Julian is showing improvement. He is definately more understandable to others outside of the family and is showing more confidence socially. I am very proud of my little man.

Today was the last day of occasional care for him. He is very excited to be starting pre entry at kindy. He will do 2 days a week. I feel a little bit sad about him finishing occ care as they were fantastic with him. They want us to keep in touch and drop in from time to time.

We went on a kindy excursion to the beach yesterday and Julian had a ball so it looks like he will be fine there. Makes me feel a bit more reassured.

Think that is all there is to report at the time.

Rebecca :)

[Maghan]

Rebecca

True right they're allowed to have meltdowns. It must be so frustrating for them to be in a world where they can't get their point across!

Sometimes I find the only language Rylan understands is just kisses and cuddles (even when he's trying to whack me! lol). When they were babies we didn't use that many words, did we? More shooshing noises, the one word/phrase over and over. Sometimes that is just what Rylan needs...

[3TinLids]

Just a quick update! Julian is doing really well. His speech therapist is so pleased with his progress and he absolutely loves kindy. His behaviour has been better too! I am so proud of my little man.

Rebecca:thumbsup:

[Maghan]

Nice to hear from you Rebecca, I'm glad it's going well!:thumbsup: :fingerscrossed:

We've had another break through, Rylan drew a picture of me the other day! Head, eyes, mouth, body!! It's very exciting!!!

[3TinLids]

Hi Everyone,

Recently a user name was added that was very similar to mine. To avoid confusion I have changed my user name to 3TinLids. (Previously 3boysmum).

Thanks

Rebecca;)

[LauraG]

Hi I am completely new to this so have patience with me. I am a 25 year old mum of two boys. One who is 5.5 and was diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia at the age of 2.6. He currently goes to a language development centre for pre school where he is also being tested for dyslexia. I was wondering if anyone knew of any mums groups or groups in general which are specially for children with speech and language difficulties in Perth, WA? If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[3TinLids]

Hi Laura,

Being in Adelaide I don't have any info about WA but I would ask your speech therapist or the speech and language unit that your son goes to. They may be able to help. I haven't heard of any support groups here in Adelaide either so have found this thread invaluable!! Good luck and let us know how you go.

Rebecca :)

[SharonC]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and I've been sitting here crying (and feeling a little less alone) reading your postings. My son has just turned 4 and was diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia when he was 2 and half. We have a wonderful speech pathologist who has taught both my son and myself so much but it's such a slow process and I get so scared worrying about his future, which preschool to pick, how kids treat him etc....

I also have to be so careful to get the balance right between teaching him new words and how to "fill out" his two word sentences and not turning it into a chore that he hates doing.

Anyway I feel that I could talk forever but I'll stop myself. It's just nice to talk to some other mothers in similar situations.

Thanks Sharon

[3TinLids]

Hi Sharon,

Nice to hear from you. I felt so alone too before this thread started. It is wonderful to be able to talk to other people who understand what you are going through. Friends and family are great but don't fully understand what you and your son are going through.

Your son and my son Julian sound very similar in age at diagnosis. Julian was 2 and a half when we got the diagnosis and turns 4 in early August. We are very lucky also to have a great speech therapist and she has given us great direction in where to send Julian to kindy. Julian has started pre-entry at a mainstream kindy and is doing wonderfully. Next term he will start full time and he can't wait. He is starting to reach out and make a few friends of his own. My heart swells with pride watching him as only a few months ago he was very socially delayed. There is only a few kids that he will play with and they seem to be the more sensitive kids who don't worry too much about his speech difficulties. We still have quite a few behavioural issues and although I am told by several professionals that this is due to his speech we are going to see a Child and Family Psychologist at the clinic where we go for speech therapy. Like you we had tough choices about where to send Julian for kindy as we wanted to make sure it was right for him. So far it seems to be. He is more confident and his speech has improved quite a bit. He seems to fit in and so far there seems to be no issues with kids making fun of him (this was also a big worry for me). As you also said I worry about his future and how this will all affect him and his personality. However, I have two other sons and I worry about their futures too and they don't have any speech issues!!!

Anyway keep in touch. Goodluck with you preschool decisions.

Rebecca

[LauraG]

hi guys,
It is so amazing to see just how connected we all really are. My son goes to a Language development centre for pre-primary and I can tell you what a relief it was that he actually get accepted there. I do not know what we would have done if not as he is a very shy and anxious child. He is extremely aware that he has dyspraxia to the point where he knows that he cannot say certain words and therefore changes the words to ones that he can say( tall instead of long etc). At first we thought that this was his language being delayed but have been told that he is iintelligent enough to know and to change them around......so not only do we do the usual speech we are looking out constantly to make sure he is having a go and not doing a swap......... I am honestly finding it really hard to split my time up between my two boys as I am exhausted by the end of the reading, the gross and the fine motor activies we are given for homework as well as his speech, and it really leaves little time for my 2.5 year old who is currently in superman mode and thinking he can jump from the glass dining table onto the kitchen bench whilst the dog is barking like mad!!! who wouldn't be a mum hey? I had better go. sorry for the ranting and raving. But thanks to you all for the support that just being there provides..

[SharonC]

Hi,

Just wanted to let you guys know (in case you haven't heard of it already) about a supplement that is meant to help children with Dyspraxia (actually they say it helps all kids). It's called Efalex and it's provides "important fatty acids to help maintain EYE and BRAIN FUNCTION". It contains natural fish oils and evening primrose oil and Nathan's speech pathologist raves about it.

Nathan's been on it now for around 5 months and it's hard to say whether it has helped him or not but I know his speech has improved during this period (how much is due to the Efalex and how much improvement would have happened anyway - who knows). So it's something you might want to raise with your speech pathologists.

It doesn't taste great but Nathan takes it as long as he gets a chocolate afterwards.

On another subject does anyone have any tips for teaching your kids how to make the "c,k, and g" sounds? Nathan finds making these sounds quite tricky and as a result uses "d and t" sounds instead ie, he'll say "duning" instead of "coming". He also has a problem with finishing of the ends of words ie, he'll say "sho" instead of "shop".

Any tips would be appreciated !

Thanks alot and everyone take care
l

[Maghan]

Hi Sharon

Just wanted to you know that you can vent here whenever you like. We really do understand.

On another tangent, it would be wonderful to find another out there to compare a speech and language (processing) disorder with. Whilst I know we all endure the same struggles regardless of the problem, I'd love to compare notes with someone with Rylan's disorder.

[SharonC]

Hi,

I just wanted to say thankyou to you all for your support. It really does mean alot. It's a shame that we're all scattered across the country (I'm here in Sydney). It would be great to be able to talk face to face and watch our kids play together in a nice safe, accepting environment.

Anyway take care and thanks again

[3TinLids]

Hi Sharon,

Yes it would be good if we were all in the same state. However, I really appreciate that we can all talk and vent to each other on bubhub. It does make you remember that you are not alone.

We are still having behavioural issues and am still waiting for an appt with the child and family psychologist.

Keep in touch

Rebecca

[3TinLids]

Hi,

I am feeling a little nervous. As this term draws to an end there are going to be lots of changes in Julian's life. This starts tomorrow. For just over 12 months we have had a support worker come and visit Julian every 2 weeks. She has been a fantastic help with Julian and he has grown very fond of her! Tomorrow is her last visit. Julian is aware and is not very happy about it. Next week is the last time we see the speech pathologist at the clinic. From next term he will see a speech path through the education dept. Julian has found it very hard to relate to people so when he does find someone that he does like and trust he gets very attached to them. It is going to be a difficult transition for him. However, he really likes kindy and is doing well there so I am hoping that the extra sessions there will help distract him. He is doing so well and this is what he needs now. He needs the extra stimulation of kindy and the socialisation. His speech has improved since he started at kindy and he is very slowly making some friends!! I know that this is progress for him but I don't want him to be unhappy! These people have been a fantastic support for Julian and myself so it will be a big adjustment for both of us!!

Fingers crossed!!

Rebecca :rolleyes:

[Mejane]

Hi ,

My name is Jane and Mitch my 2nd son was diagnosed at about 2 with Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia. He is now in grade 5 at our local Primary School. Life has had its ups and downs and we continual to struggle with some of lifes basic's - spelling, punctuation, word retention, telling the time - but his speech is almost perfect.

I have been unable to find help for parents of older children who are DVD sufferer's. Has anyone come across any sites?

As a parent I decided very early on that as no one could give me any indication of the "get better" rate Mitch needed to be with his peers in an enviroment that they were all heading into together (regardless of the DVD).

At the age of 3 he attended 3yo kinder (he had 1 one word), 4yo he attended the local kinder (3 words) and the following year he started school (5 words - but a whole lot of Makaton hand signs). Learning Makaton signing gave the whole family a chance to communicate with Mitch and him a sense of belonging. It was also one of the most frustrating things because you had to be in the same room / facing him for any form of talking to happen. Yoralla Spastic Society runs courses in Makaton - it was the best piece of advice his speech therapist gave us.

Mitch's life is no longer driven by his DVD - to the outside world he is a bright, articualte, extremely social almost 11yo. Only I as his mum know when he is struggling with a verbal word/phrase but like everything else he has learnt to deal with this and he manages to work around it.

The DVD is not gone but its managable - we have to work doubly hard on all school tasks - but Mitch knows about his disability and with his willingness to stay with his peer group and not to have to repeat a year things have improved 100,000 times more than I could have ever expected.

(I started explaining it to him at an early age so he would understand why sometimes his mind/voice didnt work as well as his friends - this has helped him.)

High School is only 18 months away. At the moment its almost to daunting to contemplate but between the two of us I can only hope that his life continues on its upward path.

Thanks for listening/reading

Jane (Melbourne)

Mitch 10/10/95
Jake 04/06/92

[3TinLids]

I am so proud of my little guy. He coped so well with ***'s last visit. We had made her a card with Julian's photo on it and Julian had picked out some choc's for her. He gave her these and both *** and I got quite teary. At this point he was ok. We went out to say good bye and she gave us a hug and we waved as she drove away. It was at this point that he started to cry. It was quite heartbreaking. We had lots of hugs and kisses and I told him that we could ring her from time to time. He was quite accepting of this and has been fine ever since.:smiliedance:

Hi MeJane,

Thanks for sharing your story. It is nice to hear that your son is doing so well. Even though Julian's speech is improving so much I still worry about his future. Hearing about your son has given me some hope. I had heard that reading and writing can be an issue for some kids with DVD but I guess we won't know that until Julian starts school. One of my biggest worries is whether he will fit in socially. He finds it very hard to relate to kids his own age. He is a gorgeous little boy but his speech is a big barrier and kids can be really mean about differences! I just want to protect him from that sort of hurt!

Did you find that your son had big tantrums when he got frustrated? Even though he is able to communicate a bit better now he still throws a wobbly when he is cross. I am trying really hard to get him to talk to me when he is upset instead of screaming and throwing himself on the floor. At the moment I can still see him as an adult on the floor having a 'tantie'. Please tell me it gets better!!:rolleyes:

We are just starting to notice that the support (which we worked so hard to get in the first place) is starting to drop off now that Julian is almost in the education system. I haven't heard of any support system for the older child with DVD.

I really liked your idea of explaining to your son that his mind/voice didn't work as well as his friends. I think I might do this with Julian.

Thanks again for your story.

Rebecca:wave:

[Mejane]

Hi Rebecca,

Yes Mitch threw tantrums on a regular basis - to the point where he would broke many things around the house. He would also attempt to hurt his older brother by biting and kicking etc. Even though I knew most of it was due to his frustration I still set boundaries and he was treated just like his brother for bad behaviour. Yes it gets better so hang in there. The sign language was a major help in reducing the frustration.

Your right about the support dropping off - this is where you have to be the pushy mum - I found I had to be in everyones face right up to the day he started school and even now I keep in regular contact with his teacher to see where I can pick up the slack at home.

Although be prepared Julian will not like you - he just wants to be a little boy and play - not be doing extra to keep in touch with his peers - but its worth it in the end.

Go now and talk to the principal or co-ordinator at the school you are planning on sending him to. Mitch did not qualify for an aide (as with most DVD sufferers) but the school used internal resources to help him wherever they could. Take as much info you have with you. I copied speech reports etc so that the school could have these on file.

One thing I found was that by mixing him with the same small group of children (playgroup/3yo kinder/4yo kinder friends) and asking the mothers of these children to explain in simple terms to their children that Mitch was just like them but he had problem talking, he was accepted quicker than if he had to find his own way. He is still friends with many of these children, despite not going to the same state school.
bye for now

Jane

[3TinLids]

Hi again MeJane.

The biting and kicking sounds very familiar but I think we are getting past that now. You have given me hope that we will get past the tantrums too!!

I have been a 'pushy' mum already and am prepared to keep doing so. However, we are very lucky with the kindy and school that Julian will go to. Julian has qualified for a support worker at kindy and will also have his speech therapy through the education department. We also have a speech student come once a week to work with Julian. She is fantastic ahd has been coming for about 12 months now. I have been to the school and have spoken to the principal already. Julian is enrolled and I am very happy with their approach. Julian will continue to see the speech therapsit there. So I am hoping he settles in well there.

We do go to playgroup each week and the friends that he is making at kindy seem to be the kids he sees at playgroup which is really encouraging.

Thanks again for the advice.

Rebecca:thumbsup:

[Maghan]

Hi Jane and welcome, it's nice to hear from people who have travelled down the road a bit futher than all of us. It gives us all a bit more drive and hope.

Rebecca, I hope that Julian has adjusted ok, I often think of you and your family.

[3TinLids]

Hi Maghan,

Sorry, it has been a while since you posted but I only realised tonight that you had added to the thread. We are well and Julian has been adjusting really well to all the changes in his life at the moment. I think that he is really excited about kindy so that makes the transition a bit easier. I have always believed that despite Julian's speech issues that he is quite a bright little boy and I think that he is ready for the next step and new challenges. At kindy they are finding his speech easier to understand and he is making the first steps in making friends. Of course I am very proud of him but I still worry about how the other kids will treat him especially when they don't understand him. Kids can be so cruel. They are very good at the kindy and I think they will keep a close watch on it.

It is school holidays here in SA and it has been an interesting few days. The boys are playing nicely one minute and fighting the next. Julian is finding it a bit challenging having Will around so much. He is now used to having some time to himself but Will isn't giving him that space. So there has been some extra tantrums. Probably by the time school and kindy goes back they will miss each other.

Anyway keep in touch. I often think about you and your family too so it is nice to hear from you from time to time.

Rebecca:yes:

[3TinLids]

I am so proud of my little man. He has coped so well with his first full week at kindy. There was a few tears on Tuesday when he stayed in for the full day but the staff were able to talk him around and he was very happy when I picked him up. I think he is really enjoying the social contact with other kids his own age. Lets hope that he continues to enjoy kindy.

Rebecca:D

[Maghan]

Congratulations Rebecca. One good week is better than none at all. Little steps, you'll get there!

We're stuggling with the Education Department at the moment. Because Rylan's social skills have improved so much, he doesn't fall into the right categories. So they're talking about putting him into mainstream school. He would just get lost there. He wouldn't be able to understand or be understood. I wish they could just look at him rather than comparing him to a bell curve!

Rant over...

[3TinLids]

Wow can't believe that it is over a year ago that I started this thread. We have come such a long way in that time. Julian's speech has improved alot and he is loving kindy. His behaviour has improved dramatically and we only have frustration meltdowns very infrequently. He is a much happier little boy. Just what I wanted for my gorgeous little boy! We are having a few issues with speech therapy at the kindy (lack of) and hope to get this sorted very soon! This is not the kindys fault but it is so frustrating! Our other boys are doing really well also and our family is in a much happier place than it was 12 months ago!

Rebecca:smiliedance:

[SharonC]

Hi,

It's Sharon from Sydney and it's been a while since I've read the posts and I've just read Jane from Melbourne's story about her son Mitch and it's given me alot of hope. I've been abit down lately (I'm sure you've all been there) worrying about Nathan's future but am now starting to feel abit better after reading her son's story.
Anyway, Jane if you're still reading the posts (or anyone else who could offer some advice) "what did you find helped your son's speech development the most?" I'm always worrying if I'm doing enough for my son in terms of therapy and whether it's the right kind of therapy. Also making sure that I don't push him too hard. So if anyone has any advice on techniques that have really helped a child with verbal dyspraxia, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks alot

Sharon

ps. Nathan is 4 and a half years old

[Maghan]

Hi Sharon, you may have seen that my son Rylan, doesn't have dyspraxia, however he has had a solid 18 months of speech therapy. He was getting a little distracted with speech therapy and seems to be developing in a different path to that of where we were trying to send him, so we're giving him a break at the moment and have moved to occupational therapy (for his fine motor skills). So I guess the thing is to get the cues from your child, they'll tell you one way or another that they've had enough.

Rebecca, glad to hear home is much happier too!

[3TinLids]

Hi Sharon,

Julian has made some real progress these last few months and I think that is mainly due to regular speech sessions. He has some sort of outside speech input at least once a week. This is on top of the speech stuff we do at home and his speech appts. We have a 4th year speech student who comes to work with Julian once every week. She has been fantastic. I also think that starting at a mainstream kindy has also been fantastic for Julian. There have a few upset moments when another child has not understood him and occasionally laughed at him. The kindy staff have been wonderful and his confidence has increased so much. He is still a loner but is slowly starting to make a few friends. Hope this has helped.

Hi Maghan,

Good to hear from you! Yes, we seem to have a much happier household these days. Kindy is going really well. We seem to be having a few issues with the speech therapy at kindy but I am hoping they will be sorted out soon! Otherwise we will have to look at other options. Hope you and your family are well.

Rebecca :D

[SharonC]

Hi Maghan&Rebecca,

Thanks for your responses. It sounds like my current approach is on the right track!!

Glad to hear that kindy is going well and that your kids are happy. It will be Nathan's turn to start preschool next year - fingers crossed that it will be a happy time for him.

Sharon

[nimlot]

Here's the link to Glenleighden school http://www.situ.com.au/weblease/tpcommon/src/tp1PointsPage.cfm?idPageCopy=8941&idClient=123.

Has anyone heard of Glenleighden School at Fig Tree Pocket Brisbane?
I realise that this thread was started in 2005 and it's nearly the end of 2006 but for any new people that are reading this. My son now 5 and a half was diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia a couple of years ago, to cut a long story short as you would all know the symptoms of poor social skills etc.. We were blessed enough to have been accepted into the Glenleighden school in Fig Tree Pocket for children with severe language and speech disorders. He has been there for only one year and was practically mute when he started. Next year he is goign to a main stream school as his progress has been remarkable. Not only is his language almost on par with children his age but his social skills are great. He makes converstaion with children he has never met before. His speech is still quite difficutl to udnerstand but he will be going to the school one afternoon per week for speech therapy. I can't recommend enough what wonders this school has done for him and our family.

My husband and I went to an "observation day" in April, he had only been there for that term. He could not only recognise but spell the children's names in his class, he could tie his shoe laces within three weeks of being there. He can count to 50, recognise and write every letter of the alphabet. He can do simple maths even. He is well above the average for his age group and three years we were told he was "slow" I am so proud of him and what he's acheived this last year. I would recommend that shcool for everyone. I think though being end of year they have taken their enrolments for the new year but give them a call for speech therapy. I'ts a therapy based school so it's not just speech therapy but ot as well as physio is all linked into the program. They do this every single day.
Thanks for listening

[3TinLids]

Hi Nimlot,

Thanks for posting. It is always good to hear success stories. It gives hope to others who are not quite so far in their journey.

We are doing really well. Julian has come along in leaps and bounds. He is loving kindy and the staff are fantastic with him. He is slowly making friends and is starting to initiate play with other kids. This is a big step as he has been quite socially behind. Obviously there are still speech issues but on the whole he is more understandable and he has much less frustration issues.

We may look into his speech therapy next year. Not sure if current situation is right for him. Will wait until school goes back though.

Kids are really looking forward to Christmas and again will be thoroughly spoilt.

I don't get onto Bubhub as often as I used to but I usually check it about every 7-10 days. If anyone wants to ask me about our experiences they are welcome to post here or pm me.

Thanks

Rebecca :tree: