Two years ago, Payton was diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. It has been a long road and we have come so far. We also have a long way to go... but we are getting there. Payton has remained in PROMPT therapy and it truly has made the difference for her, in addition to her other private and school speech therapy.
And supplements. I have always been a huge proponent of supplements... here is what we are doing right now...
Juice Plus+ gummies (3-4 fruit/veggie/berry each day)
Longvida Curcumin powder (4 scoops every evening)
Honeycombs Gingko Biloba (2-3 droppers every morning)
Speak by SpeechNutrients (2 tbsp every evening)
Vitamin D3 (4000 IU each day)
Iron
An SLP friend of mine gave me this apraxia word list when we were trying to nail down Payton's diagnosis... and I have continued to document her repeating this list over the last two years to show progress.
March 2010, age 4 years 2 months
March 2011, age 5 years 2 months
May 2012, age 6 years 4 months
And my little unofficial off-the-top-of-my-head word list... repeated over the years. I think this truly shows the amazing progress she has made... love her!
March 2010, age 4 years 2 months
March 2011, age 5 years 2 months
May 2012, age 6 years 4 months
Amazing!! I have an apraxia child as well. He is 8 now and you would NEVER know he had a speech issue previously. Excellent work mama!
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing. Great job Beth. The only part that makes me sad is she is growing too fast.
ReplyDeleteI love watching how she has grown. Her language has come so far, we have no problem communicating 80% of the time. She is so darn cute.
ReplyDeleteYep, I love her. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved listening to her update you on what she had been up to while staying at my house. That was a great example of how far she has come in her speech.
ReplyDeleteGo Payton! Amazing progress, great work to both of you! :) I was watching this also thinking what a beautiful child she is! Beautiful full lips and a perfect nose! With my bump in my nose I tend to notice noses, and I am having some nose envy. :)
ReplyDeleteOh my word! I LOVE how well she has done! It is so great that you have taken video of this to see the progress! I don't remember my google account... it's been that long since I have blogged. So this is Emily Quick from Facebook! LOVE LOVE LOVE this! Way to go!
ReplyDeleteOh, I can't imagine how incredible that must feel to look back upon!! One of our biggest hurdles is getting LC to vocalize at ALL. So much hard work is represented by that progress. Love, love it. I think I especially love how little she's concentrating on the act of talking in the last video, when you can tell every cell in her body and brain is focusing on trying to coordinate her talking muscles in the earlier ones. Breathtaking. Absolutely.
ReplyDeleteThat is A-mazing! She is doing so great and you are an awesome mama for making sure she gets the help she needs to do the very best she can :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat Job!! And might I say as beautiful as ever!
ReplyDeleteShe is doing amazing! Good idea too to film her every year with the same list of words, want to remember that one :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteShe is adorable, by the way :)
AWESOME!! Great job and she is sooo stinkin cute too!
ReplyDeleteBethany -
ReplyDeleteShe is precious! I just want to eat her up!
love *sigh* {so cute!}
So anyway, question - I am still so new to this, especially with Wes being only 7 weeks old. I fear already that I won't do these awesome things with him and I want to be on top of it. Did you do your own research to know what to do, or was is from the advice of her speech therapist? Or did you just go ahead and do it on your own?
I already feel lazy at times {and my husband and I are teachers!}... I forget he has Ds and that he can benefit so much from things I start doing with him now.
Adrienne
Wessies momma, Don't feel lazy, enjoy your BABY! You will learn over time what you want to do to most benefit your son but don't stress at 7 weeks. Incorporate things you find into play and keep track of these cool things you find to look into more as you find time & energy. Prioritize your time when you do, speech is key but right now check out nursing & bottle feeding tips to strengthen tongue placement (don't have tongue out when nursing & drinking!) and holding upright to minimize ear infections. Www.Dsala.org has a video and/or ask moms in a local support group. Hold yOur baby with maximimn strengthening of his core when he's ready too ( as little support as you can & on your arm upright when he's ready & rested!) and baby pull ups with your fingers around his hands pulling up from the floor.
ReplyDeleteBut don't think or worry about anything yet cause it will come with time.
Learn ASL and the alphabet as lots of signs are based on letters. Again, as you have time
Your emotions & energy from mothering ANY infant is gong to fluctuate--and that's okay, it's a much higher high and lower high as you adjust to the uncertainty of spec needs. May your spec needs be mainly non-medical or speedy doctors to heal your sin if not. Prayers & enjoy your blessing!
I can't watch the videos now but I'm very intrigued--thanks for the great lists & cool way to track progress!!! Love it and will share with friends & therapists. Cool