Grant for Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is expensive.  And unfortunately, a lot of health insurances do not cover speech therapy or limit the amount they cover (for us, we get 30 sessions a year covered, after we meet a $500 deductible.)  Pretty pitiful, when you know that kiddos with apraxia should get speech several times a week, and speech therapy sessions out of pocket can cost anywhere from $50-$200 a session.

Almost two years ago, while trying to figure out how Hubster and I would pay for Kiddo to go see Nancy Kaufman at her clinic in Michigan, I was grateful to come across an organization called Small Steps in Speech, which provides grants to children who need help funding speech therapy.  Here's some of their info posted on their website:

"Small Steps in Speech is a non-profit foundation created in memory and in honor of Staff Sgt Marc J. Small who was killed in action in February of 2009 while serving his country in Afghanistan.

Small Steps in Speech assists children with speech and language disorders by funding supplemental therapies and treatments for individuals as well as grants to charitable organizations who serve children with communicative disorders. Our goal is to give children the chance to better express themselves in the world in which we live."

When I came across this organization, I immediately looked up the requirements for qualification.  A lot of health grants require you make less than a certain yearly salary to qualify, and it seems like hubster makes just a little too much to qualify for most grants.  But, Small Steps in Speech does not care about how much money you make, but rather how much speech therapy is needed.

And children with apraxia are considered high priority for receiving funding.  In fact, they have separate grants available for apraxia, thanks to funding from the amazing group Childhood Apraxia of Speech of North America (CASANA).  So, I spent the next few days filling out the application, getting together all the necessary paperwork they needed, and sent it off, praying that they'd help us pay for our speech therapy sessions when we went to see the apraxia expert, Nancy Kaufman.  It cost $810 for the four day speech intensive, plus we'd be paying for OT at the clinic, hotel and other travel expenses.

A few weeks later, I got a letter in the mail.  They were going to cover the whole $810 to see Nancy Kaufman!!

We were elated.  And so grateful.  Kiddo learned lots of new words and phrases, I learned new ways of working with him, and it was a fabulous week.  Thank you Small Steps in Speech!!

This generous gift by this amazing organization truly blessed our family and I wanted to share this post not only so family and friends could see one way God has provided for us, but so other parents wanting to provide funding for their child's speech therapy could apply.  It never hurts to try right?  Applications can be found here, and are awarded by quarterly deadlines (Feb 1, May 1, Aug 1, Nov 1).  

Amazing Therapists

For some reason, saying goodbye to all of Kiddo's amazing therapists has been harder than I imagined.  Maybe because they've become such an integral part of our lives.  Maybe because they see how hard Kiddo works and they work just as hard with him.  Maybe because they offer a lifeline when you feel you are drowning in all that apraxia and hypotonia and dyspraxia and sensory processing entails.  Maybe because it took me a while to find each of them before they came into our lives.  A good therapist, one who really gets your child and actually knows how to work with them and push them to succeed, well they are hard to find, but once you do find them, you learn to not let them go, even if it means paying out of pocket to see them.  But letting them go is exactly what I've had to do in the last few months.

I'm kicking myself for not getting a pic of Kiddo with his school speech therapist, Ms. R, who we said goodbye to at the end of the school year. She worked with Kiddo since he was three.  She taught Kiddo how to play board games and use words and phrases he had never attempted before.  She is his only school therapist that has attended every single one of IEP meetings.  She learned I was a Christian and was so excited, sharing with me Bible verses to pray over Kiddo, and even praying over him a few times after his session with her.  She was the one who told me about the school that Kiddo is now in, and is thriving in.  She wrote a letter to that school, stating why she recommended he needed to be a student there, and they accepted him because of that letter.  She went above and beyond what she needed to do to help Kiddo succeed and will not be forgotten.

Next, we said goodbye to Ms. M, Kiddo's private speech therapist.  We've only been working with her since January, but this sweet lady reinforced everything we learned at Nancy Kaufman's clinic: she rocks the Kaufman Protocol and Kaufman cards and all that other stuff.  And she also reinforced what we learned at CHAMP by using PROMPT cues with him.  She always raved about how sweet and cooperative he was, how hard of a worker he was, how much progress he was making, which always encouraged this mama's heart.

I was stunned when I learned last month that Ms. B, Kiddo's amazing private OT was leaving for Nashville.  What?!?  We were willing to drive an hour back to this clinic to keep working with her when we moved, and then she up and leaves for Nashville?  Ah, but I wish her nothing but the best, as that is what she has given Kiddo.  I learned so many things from her in the 17 months we've seen her, and Kiddo just as much.  Kiddo is climbing now because of Ms. B.  He is more confident in himself and his skills now.  More regulated, as she likes to call it.  She affectionately called him "My Little Turkey."  Why, I'll never know.  She was quirky and sweet and passionate about what she did, and it was evident to all.  She was the one who told me we needed to evaluate Little Brother, because of some of his behavior issues she saw, and because of that eval we learned he has some sensory issues too and began OT for him early.  We paid out of pocket for Kiddo to see Ms. B, but it was truly worth every penny.








And last but certainly not least, and the hardest of all to say "see ya later" to, our amazing speech therapist through Early Intervention, Ms. Blessing.  It's not her real name, but it should be, as that is what she has been in our lives.  She's the one who was bold enough to confirm my suspicion Kiddo had apraxia, though therapists are supposed to wait until age three to diagnose.  The one who expanded Kiddo's vocabulary from two sounds (uh and ow) to two-three word phrases.  The one who worked with and loved on both my children, who watched them grow (she met Little Brother when he was 2 months old, Kiddo at age 2 1/2), and built up their language.  She gave me insight and ideas and education and hope when I felt lost and overwhelmed.  She let me record sessions of Kiddo working with her for the application to CHAMP Camp and to Nancy Kaufman.  She continued working with us even after Kiddo aged out of Early Intervention, before we knew Little Brother would need her as a a therapist as well.  She was truly invested in helping them and helping me to succeed.  She was our Nancy Kaufman in our little corner of the world.  She will always hold a very special place in my heart.

I'm thankful to each and every one of these ladies for all their hard work and effort and love to produce such sweet apples of gold in my children.

Apraxia Conference

So, this past weekend I went to the CASANA (Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America) Conference.  This is a yearly conference, held in a different city each summer, in which experts in apraxia come to teach speech therapists and parents how to work with children with apraxia.  This year it was in Nashville, Tennessee and it was an awesome experience!  People from 47 states and 6 countries were there.

I shared a hotel room with one of my friends I met at CHAMP Camp last summer and it was WONDERFUL to see her again and talk about our kiddos!  I also got to meet Mary Clare, one of my fav apraxia bloggers and Facebook friends I got to meet In Real Life, and I got to meet Nancy Kaufman, an awesome apraxia expert who Kiddo and I will be going to see in October.  Nancy Kaufman will be working with Kiddo for a four day speech intensive, and I'm excited to see her methods and her ideas for working with Kiddo when we're there.  Here's the four of us all together: awesome moment!! And if that wasn't cool enough, we all went to dinner together with a few other cool people.  :)

Some of the best things I learned:

• A few strategies for working with Kiddo's social skills.  Kiddo has some issues that I've been at a loss how to work with (eye contact, anxiety, answering questions, spontaneous speech, etc).  I attended a session about ABA therapy (Applied Behavior Analysis) that gave some good ideas, and I talked to the speaker afterwards and asked two specific questions relating to Kiddo.  She gave EXCELLENT suggestions, and Hubster and I now realize we need to look into ABA therapy for Kiddo.  I always thought it was specifically for kids with autism (which Kiddo does not have) but it is for any child with behavioral, social, or communication issues and we think it will be really helpful for Kiddo.
• I (of course!) learned lots of strategies for working with Kiddo on his speech.  I learned more about cueing, scripting, articulation, prosody, and all those other terms apraxia parents and speech therapists know well and I'm not going to go into here.  I admit I need to learn a lot more of the hand cues, as they really do help Kiddo with his speech and I need to be more consistent in using them. 
• I learned a few fun activities I can do with Kiddo to get lots of speech practice in.
• I learned strategies for combining literacy and speech, and also for working on handwriting and other OT-type activities.
• The conference concluded with a panel of teens who had resolved of their apraxia, answering questions.  It was wonderful to hear them talking like any other teen would, and for them to admit that either they don't really remember speech therapy or that it wasn't a traumatic experience for them, just something that was part of their life and they found fun, and they appreciate now, as they like to be able to talk. ;)  And I loved how one of them said once she was resolved of apraxia they went to Disneyland to celebrate.  Maybe we'll need to do something like that. ;)

Honestly, I could go on and on, but the overall point is I feel more confident in what I should be working on with Kiddo and strategies to do so.  I wish I had been able to attend more sessions, as most of them sounded really good and helpful for working with Kiddo, but they offered five topics during each session and you had to pick one.  Ugh, so tough to choose, especially when they are being offered by such wonderful experts.

And it is just so wonderful to be around people who not only know what apraxia is and how to work with it, but also parents who know the journey oh so well.  

So glad I went!!  Next year it's in San Antonio, TX.

Progress Report

Speech: Kiddo surprises me more and more with the little things that come out of his mouth.  Here's some examples, all from today:

• We were heading out the door to go to preschool when he told me "Grrr packpack!''  Oh yes, how could I forget the beloved Angry Birds backpack?  Thanks for reminding me Kiddo!
• Hubster, Little Brother and I picked Kiddo up from preschool and were driving into town to get some lunch and go shopping.  As we drove down a big hill we heard him exclaim "Wheee!"
• Kiddo was playing with bubbles outside and he spilled quite a bit of the bubble solution on our porch.  "Oh no!' he told me.  Never heard him use that expression before on his own, ever.  
• Seconds after the "Oh no!" incident he stepped in the puddle of bubble solution and then started walking around, admiring the footprints they left.   "Look at your little feet," I told him.  "Bubba ee!" And he stepped in the puddle and left "bubble feet" over and over and over again, proclaiming that phrase every single time he took a step.  I should have gone to get my camera to take a video for you, but honestly, I was just savoring the moment and didn't want to miss any of it.
• Kiddo came running to me in the kitchen, crying.  Normally, when this happens I have to run through a list of bazillion questions to find out what's wrong.  "Did you get hurt?  Was it your head?  Your arm?" etc.  This time, however, I asked him, "What's wrong?"  And he told me.  "Toe hur".   He pointed at his little baby toe and I gave it a kiss all better, and I told him how very proud of him I was that he was talking to me and telling me what was wrong.
• I had laid all our couch cushions on the floor in a big square for the kiddos to walk across and play on.  Kiddo's foot slipped in-between the two cushions and he fell over.  "Uck!" he cried.  And I helped him get his stuck foot out from between the cushions.

This kid is blowing me away with how quickly he is learning new words and phrases.  I hope this speech surge goes on forever and ever, because I hate those speech plateaus and finally having a glimpse of what he thinks about and is experiencing is such a treasure.

Little Brother's Speech: Little Brother (18 months) has had speech therapy with our beloved speech therapist once a month since January and we're seeing great progress.  He now makes lots of animal noises (my favorite is his quacking noise for the duck) and is repeating some of our words and phrases.  "Bye bye" and "Do aga" (do it again) are a few of the phrases we've heard, as well as the "go go go" and "da da" (all done) he's been saying since around 15 months.  As for individual words, don't have a lot of those yet, except for "titi" for TV and "ti" for eat.  (Apparently I'm raising a kid that wants to eat and watch TV all day.  He hears no a lot).  Occasionally he'll say "Mama" and "Dada" but it is always whispered and he signs it while he's saying it.  I have heard him say "gaff" (giraffe) a few times and "go" (goat), and "tiga" (tiger) once or twice.  This kid ADORES animals!  He still seems to prefer signing to speaking for now, but he LOVES to babble.  "Goolioolioolio" is my favorite babbling phrase we hear from him, and if you say something back to him in response he'll continue the babbling like he's having a conversation with you.  Kiddo never babbled and I've been enjoying hearing baby babble.  I'll try to get a video of the babbling and also his animal sounds for you soon.

Kiddo is Potty Trained!  Yep, that's right, Kiddo is potty trained!  Check out my previous post if you want all the fun deets about the potty training process.  We've been accident free for a week now and though he needs help pulling his pants and underwear back up, he can now pull them down by himself.  He is willing to sit on a toilet when we go out in public, but at home he prefers to use his potty chair, though I've sat him on the toilet a few times and he didn't complain about it.  He's been going to the bathroom at school with no problems, which his teacher and I are both thrilled about.  He also is staying completely dry through the night!  We've been putting a pull up on him every night but the last four nights it has been dry in the morning.  I've been amazed how quickly he has taken to potty training once he was ready, and the fact that he is night trained already blows me away.  So proud! 

New Therapies: I've been trying to figure out what we're going to do therapy-wise over the summer since Kiddo didn't qualify to get physical therapy/occupational therapy (PT/OT) through the summer and can only get limited speech over the summer through his school.  I wasn't really looking forward to going back to the clinic we have gone to previously, because although he did make progress there, it was slow.  So, a fellow apraxia mom/friend of mine recommended I check out this children's clinic because her son has had great progress there.  So I called, expecting a long wait list, but was able to set up a PT/OT appointment, and had our evaluation this past Tuesday.  This therapist was ah-maz-ing.  She was pointing out things about Kiddo that I never noticed, or at least didn't realize what they indicated.  She explained to me that the majority of his gross motor struggles stem from the fact he has "poor postural control", and once we strengthen his core "he'll become a really active little booger".  So we'll be working with her twice a month and I'm optimistic about what both Kiddo and I will learn from her.  The clinic also has a speech therapist, and I immediately asked to be put on the wait list to work with her.  Should be to the top of the list by May they said, and I was so impressed with the clinic (it has an awesome sensory gym and an indoor playground that the speech therapist uses too!) I was sold.  Kiddo's making great progress with his speech therapy where he sits on the floor or at a table, but I've noticed he gets a little more vocal when he's moving (common of most kids) and so this therapist uses that approach for building speech and I want to see what that's like for Kiddo and how he responds to it.

Anyway, I'm sure there's more I can report, but that's all I can think of now.  Loving all the progress I'm seeing in both of the boys.  I love my little blessings so much and am so proud of both of them! :)

"Cheese!"

Awesome Opportunites for 2014

I've spent all of November and the first half of December in what I call fierce Mama Bear Mode.  Sometimes it entails lots of research.  Sometimes lots of phone calls.  This time, it has included lots and lots of paperwork, forms to be filled out by our pediatrician, recording speech videos, lots of phone calls and playing phone tag, and of course, research.

But, I am happy to report I am finally getting new therapies and other things for Kiddo and myself settled into place.  Here's what's on the docket:

Awesome Opportunity Number 1.  Kiddo is enrolled in a preschool!  You can read my previous post about how it all fell into place and how his first day went.  The second day he cried for a while when I told him he was going to school, which surprised me because I thought he had so much fun on the first day.  He cried for 15 minutes after I dropped him off.  But day three, no tears at all.  Now when we tell him it's time to go to school he rushes to get his backpack.  He seems to have adjusted well, and had his first speech therapy session at school, which I heard went well.  We are so proud of our little preschooler.

Awesome Opportunity Number 2.  Kiddo was accepted for the spring (and I'm hoping the summer) session for equine therapy/ hippotherapy /therapeutic riding/ horse riding therapy.  It may have many names, but all the research I've come across has indicated that children with motor planning difficulties make huge progress receiving therapy upon horseback.  Horse riding helps with balance and coordination, flexibility, core strength...the list goes on and on.  Doing therapy-type activities on horseback adds to the fun, the challenge, and the progress.  So anyway, we'll be going once a week for a 50 minute therapeutic riding session from February through April at Storybook Farm.  It's about an hour away, but it's an awesome Christian-based facility that works specifically with children with special needs and I am so excited to see how this will help Kiddo with his gross motor skills, overall coordination, and his speech.  Plus, he LOVES animals, so I think he's really going to enjoy it.  Can't wait to post a pic of him on his horse soon. :)

Awesome Opportunity Number 3.  I recently had an hour long phone consultation with Lynn Carahaly, director of Foundations Developmental House in Arizona.  She's an amazing speech therapist who works with children with apraxia, and rather than focusing just on speech and articulation like so many speech therapists do, she also focuses on how their brains work to help them build up their language skills as well.  I've heard rave reviews about how great she is, and she offered many ideas about how to work with Kiddo after she watched a few of the speech videos I sent her and she read the very thorough questionnaire I filled out about Kiddo. I ordered the manual she wrote, The Speech EZ Apraxia Program, which teaches hand cues (something I've wanted to learn for a while to help Kiddo) and strategies for working on language, articulation, and a whole lot more.  Can't wait to receive the manual and start implementing some of her ideas.  For those interested, she offers week long apraxia intensives, which we considered, but for now will pass on, due to the logistics, cost etc.  Maybe next year...

Finally, Possible Awesome Opportunities:
The 2014 National Conference on Childhood Apraxia of Speech sounds like it'd be awesome to go to.  The best of the best speech therapists who specialize in apraxia speak there, including Jodi Kumar, who we met last summer at CHAMP Camp, and Lynn Carahaly who I spoke with on the phone, and a bunch of others I'm excited to meet and learn from.  This year it's taking place July 10th-12th.

We're also contemplating CHAMP Camp again this summer at George Washington University.   I learned a lot from it last summer and Kiddo learned a new sound and several new words after a week of intensive speech therapy.  I would highly recommend it for anyone whose child has apraxia or suspected apraxia.  Info about it and applications are available here for anyone interested in going.  Applications are due at the end of February.


Fun times ahead folks!  Stay tuned for updates.  God has really blessed us with some awesome opportunities in 2014.  :)

The Right Speech Therapist

Everyone says early intervention is key, the earlier the kiddos get treatment if they are speech delayed, the better.  But then, you're put on a waiting list for a speech therapist for months.  So when your kid FINALLY makes it to the top of the waiting list, you're ready to accept any therapist you can get.

The Journey Begins

I have two kids, two books I'm in the process of writing, and two blogs already.  And yet, I feel compelled to start another blog, sharing the journey I've been on with my son and hubster and God.  I kept it from my other blogs because I felt it was too personal.  But I really feel I need to share it.  Share what we've been going through and why it's impacted my writing and my faith and who I am.  And I hope that if there's anyone struggling with similar things with their kiddos, that they stumble across this blog and find it helpful.  So, here goes blog three. :)

You see, my son (currently 2 1/2) has had a lot of obstacles in his short life.  Obstacles that have been time consuming, worrisome, and yet have molded me into a stronger mom, stronger woman, and stronger in my faith.