Speak for those who cannot

When I write a new blog post, I generally aim to share from our experience a challenge or difference related to Sol’s dyspraxia and then to finish on a positive word that reveals the hope I have for Sol’s future, despite the daily challenges. As the days go by and as I’m able to write and converse with others about dyspraxia, I’m becoming more bold and forthright in my role as Sol’s advocate. Sol started homeschool 4 weeks ago – thanks to everyone who has asked about Sol during this “experiment”. I can see the doubt in parents faces when they ask how everything is going. I get it! If I was not up to speed on Sol’s learning difference, he would be back in the classroom with his peers and I’m not sure he would have learnt the volume in the same focused way he is getting at home with Ms Rachel. When I’m able to share that Sol has accelerated past the lesson plan set by his online curriculum for his age, I get a surprised response.  I was also surprised at our last group meeting when Ms Rachel and Ms Aqila told me that they are able to blend and “double up” on the lesson plan for reading and writing as Sol is speeding up. Math – not so much but hey! He’s his mothers son – the right brain creative!

As Sol passes the 5.5 year mark, one of the areas that stands out as “needing work” is his speech. I’m going to break it down to be fair to Sol and paint a picture that simplifies one of the indicators of dyspraxia – speech apraxia.

After Sol’s MRI at 6 months old, we were informed by the neurologist to watch out for a delay in speech. This was an accurate warning and one that proved correct. Knowing this information actually decreased my stress levels around Sol hitting milestones with speech. I set my sights on the 2.5 year mark and if he wasn’t making strides in his verbal communication by then, I would seek help. And we did find the most fantastic speech pathologist in Dr. Cindy Lian.

Sol started weekly one-on-one speech sessions with Cindy and continued these for two years. Sol believed that he was going to “Aunty Cindy’s” to play with all her cool toys but like all amazing child educators and specialists, there was always a lesson plan that was masked in play. I saw a great improvement in Sol’s confidence and speech to the point where anyone would be able to understand 95% of conversation today. The other 5% is usually linked to a transformer character that you may not be familiar with – Optimus Prime, Megatron, Gridlock and Sideswipe. If you have never heard of these characters, you wouldn’t know what Sol is talking about and he will actually think that YOU have a problem with hearing!

Left field – Ronda Rousey (UFC Women’s Champion) has Speech Apraxia – read it here

The challenges we face today are linked to the following:

• Organsational processing – where Sol might get distracted and jump from one topic to the next. This is obvious when he is answering my question, then stops as if he has thought of something else, pauses, then resumes to talk about another topic but often related. Actually, I know adults like this too – LOL.
• Vocal pitch – Sol speaks in either a high pitch OR a loud register. This is dependent on his environment and who he is with. When he is one on one and there are no other distractions, he has a high pitch. In a crowded room or with a bunch of other kids, it sounds like he is shouting. (I have actually booked Sol into an ENT specialist to evaluate whether his pitch is affected by his breathing as he’s always had nose breathing issues – a future post).
• Vocal speed – and this is also linked to coordination or the inability for Sol to coordinate his mouth into the words he wants to say. Actually, his brain is thinking quickly and his mouth can’t keep up. On reflection, you’d think he would get more frustrated than he does but honestly, he’s very rarely had a meltdown or tantrum around not being understood.

In the third example, I see the greatest challenges for Sol socially. I can see how other kids respond when it looks like Sol wants to say something and it doesn’t come out fast enough. And I’ve also noticed that he is starting to NOT speak in social situations when he is around people he doesn’t know. This points out that he is now AWARE of how he sounds, particularly to other kids. To our close friends that interact with him all the time, Sol never shuts up. For them, I am grateful. And Sol has also started to gravitate towards other children who don’t necessarily use verbal communication to “play”.

Sol now has  a “group” speech session with two other boys and Cindy. The purpose of this session is to help the boys interact socially and across their unique speech barriers. Happy to report that they have a great time and seem to have no issues understanding one another. Cindy has done an incredible job of bringing them together as they are able to accept one another and build confidence in each others company.

On a positive note and highlighting Sol’s strengths here – Sol has a memory for movie lines. Not just the words, but the emotion, the intention, the body language, facial expression – you name it. Most days we are treated to a re-enactment of a character and all the “famous” lines. He really keeps me laughing and it’s something I look forward to and encourage him to do. Dave and I try to play the “other characters” to build on his passion but we often fail miserably as we don’t “say it right” – HOW IRONIC.

We are 100% confident that with Cindy’s help and keeping Sol’s self esteem high, that his apraxia will abate and he will likely go on to be the next Sam Neill – oh, you didn’t know about him either??