Well as CJ transitions this year from a preschooler with a Developmental Delay to a School Age Special Education student with an Other Health Impairment I decided that I need to document our journey as a family that has a child with Apraxia.
My son CJ is 5 years old and was diagnosed with apraxia and dyspraxia 2 years ago now. He has been in speech therapy since he was 20 months old. He has made incredible progress and is speaking in 3-5 word sentences and is 90% inteligible in context around people that are familiar with his speech patterns.
CJ has made huge strides in the past year. The most recent is that he is playing Tball this year thanks to a very special coach- who volunteered to coach so that I could help CJ on the field. CJ has done great in Tball. He has even hit the ball from a pitch from the coach instead of off the Tee a few times. It is impossible to explain of how big of a deal this is for CJ the fact that he is able to be on the field and play is a huge success.
The biggest issue our family is facing this year is getting CJ in the right setting or placement for Kindergarten next year. I am a nervous wreck on how he is going to do in Kindergarten in a brand new school from where he went to preschool. He is going to be riding a special education school bus for the first time. CJ has good readiness skills for Kindergarten. He knows all of the letters of the alphabet, letter sounds, recognize numbers, and count to 10. My worry is that the teachers aren't going to understand him and not see the potential we all see. I know that he is in for a long road with school just as he is with his speech development. I worry that he is going to feel different from his brother who is a good student and a good athelete. He wants to do everything his brother does but it isn't going to come as easy to him as it does to my other son Sam.
Speaking of Sam I am very proud of what an advocate and protective brother he has become for CJ. My son Sam is 8 years old and gets very offended or protective if he feels people aren't treating CJ right because of his speech or motor delays. Sam is very good about trying to include CJ in things but they have a typical love-hate relationship that brothers have but Sam is CJ's biggest cheerleader when he does something new or says a new word for the first time.
I have become very involved with CASANA (Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America) and am coordinating the 2nd annual Virginia Beach CJ's Walk for Apraxia again this year. This is my way of raising awareness about this disability in our local community. You can find information about the walk at http://www.apraxiawalk.org/.
I look forwarding to building an online community that can share our journeys of children with apraxia.
