I have a 5 year old son with two LD’s catagorized as expressive speech disorders. These are apraxia and aphasia. He has been in speech therapy for 3.5 years. He did not start Kindergarten this year because of both the speech delays and his inability to write or hold a pencil. I have be told over and over that there is speculation that his speech problems have a connection to his writing problems. I would love to read up on this but am unable to find any materials that discuss this connection. I have read small comments about my son’s LD leading to a higher chance of dyslexia and other LDs but nothing that included much content or explanation. If anyone has any books, articles or anything else that explores this connection I would appreciate an email telling me where to look.
As a side note. I just bought the Handwriting Without Tears program to use in our home as well as therapy putty, beads/string, geoboards and other manipulatives recommended to help him.
Thanks!
Sue
Re: Expressive Speech Disorders/Later LD Problems
Sue,
Take a look tha the following site for information on dyspraxia. There is both verbal and motor dyspraxia.
http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/
If you son has not had an OT evaluation make a requst in writing for one to be done.
Helen
Re: Expressive Speech Disorders/Later LD Problems
Try the website
http://www.apraxia-kids.org
It is awesome and has a great article connecting speech and literacy among other things.
Apraxia is not limited to speech but can be in an body area that requires corrdination of muscles for functional movement. Your limbs (arms/legs) can be apraxic as well, this is often called dyspraxia and means pretty much the same thing. Many times kids who have verbal (speech) apraxia have it other places as well and that would definately affect handwriting. Go see an OT.
You may also be interested in Sensory Integration Dysfunction, it has a lot to do with apraxic issues and an OT or SLP who is familiar withit can tell you about it.
FYI: The book Late Talking Children may not be your best resource, its not written by a speech therapist and it has a very biased focus. You need to be careful in looking for material with a strong bias of bent towwards success or giftedness, it often promises things that are not within the scope of reality.
At 5 my son had a very severe language delay in both expressive and receptive language, as well as, fine motor coordination disorder, sensory integration disorder and suspected ADD-inattentive.
To make a long story short, the years from 4 - 6 were the hardest and most challenging for us and our son. At 10, our son does struggle with dsylexia, dsygraphia, and fine-motor handwriting skills. But, these problems are not near as difficult to deal with at age 10, as the language issues were at 5. In spite of the labels and the fear of struggles with schoolwork, THINGS HAVE GOTTEN MUCH EASIER over the years as our son has matured and his language reached a level that was more functional with his peers and teachers.
In fact, as the years go by, his struggles seem less and less scary. And I am more and more encouraged that he will overcome and compensate for his learning differences in some very positive and outstanding ways.
We held our son back a year before entering Kindergarten. It was a very good idea. We remained VERY positive and provided him with as much speech therapy and OT as we could afford. We spent a lot of time one-on-one working on language skills and drawing pictures for him to help him learn vocabulary and concepts and conversation skills. We taught him how to behave appropriately and politely, but handled misbehavior in a milder more patient way I think. It was difficult to tell when he was acting out because of frustratrion with his communication skills, or just being a normal kid mis-behaving. We gave him a little slack. Teaching him polite social skills was probably one of the most important things we did early on. I think it made a big difference in how his teachers and peers reacted to him, and the amount of compassion and patience they had with him.
He is 10 now. He is a great kid. He knows that he is smart. He has confidence in many areas. He has 2 close friends that are laid-back rather quiet kids too. He is well-behaved in class. His teachers love him. He has strengths in math and science. He can play the guitar very well. MOST people would not even suspect that he had a very serious and severe language delay just a few years before.
Now, I can see/hear many examples where his weak vocabulary or misunderstanding of language still create confusion for him. Up until the 4th grade, I would not have considered my son dsylexic. He was quick to learn to decode and read. But, his comphrehension of abstract concepts in stories has always lagged behind. He can tell you the “who”, “what”, “where”, and “how” in a story. But, he can’t tell you the “why” or predict future events in a story.
4th grade textbooks take a big leap in the length and complexity of the words. So, he is considered dyslexic for his age now. His handwriting is still about 2 years delayed and his writing skills reflect his weak language and organization skills. But, he is in a regular class in a private school. He is making mostly good grades, and his teachers are working to help him improve his skills. He will likely need some tutoring through high-school to help him succeed. We’ve had good and bad times depending upon the homework load and the relationship both he and I have with his teacher. I am confident that he will go on to college and find success in whatever he chooses to do.
There is a good book called “Late-talking Children” by Thomas Sowell that was very encouraging to me when my son was in Kindergaten. Off hand, I can’t think of a resource that explains the connection/correlation between language and fine-motor delays. But, I do know that it is very common. A LOT of my son’s struggles were simply developmental, and just time for growing up was the cure. This was especially true of his expressive language abilities.
There are days now when my son will just go on and on trying to explain or tell me something, and I find myself telling him to please stop talking for a while. I almost have to pinch myself that it is true. I remember crying and worrying so much when he was 5 that he would never talk, communicate, or connect with friends. All he wanted to do back then was make silly noises, tickle and tackle, and say “I don’t know.” I wish I had known back then, not to fret and worry so much.
Even now, I don’t worry too much about the handwriting problems. My son is learning to use a keyboard and will likely learn to type many of his assignments by middle school. He makes leaps and bounds every year with his skills. Middle school is in the near future for us. But, we are already talking to the school about ways to help him manage it.
It’s hard not to worry about the future. I know I still do. I’d like a glimpse of how my son is going to handle middle school or high school so that I can begin to prepare. But, in reality, I just have to take it a year at a time.
Take care,
Rosie