Clyde Said:

Will my son's speech ever be normal?

We Answered:

He sounds like my 3 year old (4 in Oct) who has Apraxia.

Here is a good checklist ofr signs & symptoms: http://www.kidspeech.com/index.php?optio…

Under Apraxia of Speech click on early signs & symptoms.

Keep in mind it doesn't have to be all of these. For instance it says *Lack of a significant consonant repertoire: child may only use / b , m , p , t , d , h

When we first got started with this diagnosis the only 3 he could use were b, m, h & not consistently. For instance he could say Boo (for blue, juice, etc) but couldn't say boat.

I'd be looking for a good speech therapist that KNOWS about apraxia.

ETA: We used a lot of signing early on & even some picture exchange to lessen his frustration.

Javier Said:

Any ideas for introducing & ending an assessment to a child?

We Answered:

I have worked for 15 years as a special needs teacher in a mainstream secondary school and over that period a number of students with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have passed through my hands. Do you know anything about the child you are going to assess? Special needs identification and provision work best when you are fully aware of a child's previous educational history, including their strengths. The child you are assessing may have a "co-morbidity" such as autistic spectrum disorders or a learning disability which may skew your results.

If your supervisor hasn't provided you with any data about the child's medical or educational history, try your best to build up a modicum of rapport with your student. Look at their body language, the way they sit, whether they are smiling or sullen. Your job is to put them at their ease. You could make a joke, or simply ask them how they are today or whether they had a good weekend. Children with SLCN tend either to be taciturn and withdrawn or moody and prickly, asking why they are there. Do your best to be reassuring, whatever the response happens to be.

You could certainly proceed by asking the child to take part in a game and then explaining the rules simply. Don't baby the child, but look them in the face to see if the expression on their faces confirms understanding. Simple language is indeed the key, as SLCN isn't just about speech, it's also about difficulties with expressive language. Better to begin with easy levels of communication, moving later to more complex usage if you find the child's intelligence equal to the challenge.

Finishing off the assessment can be done quite swiftly, saying thank you to the child for participation or cooperation. Be as reassuring as you were at the start and presumably during the assessment. The child may be anxious at the end, wonder how they performed in the test and ask what will happen next. Some children in mainstream schools fear that they will sent to another school if their test results are poor. You may have to explain that SLCN assessments aren't like academic examinations, but more like a visit to the doctor's surgery to check that everything is OK and that any follow-up will be about supporting the child in their own school, not removing them to a different and unfamiliar educational setting. Be reassuring, be honest about what will happen next without raising anxiety levels. Try to arrange things so that you and they conclude the interview with a smile on both your faces.