I decided to start this blog as a way to air my own feelings. Landon is one of my sweet joys, my baby boy. He is 24 months old, just turned 2 and precious as they come. Those sweet green eyes, big smile, soft little hands, and the way I feel like I "get him" is what we all need in this world. He is heading towards a diagnosis of Apraxia of speech accompanied with some form of Sensory Processing Disorder. Half the time, I feel sick, just worried what this all means and what is coming, and then the other part of the time, I trust God, I know he will be fine, and I see him for who he is: PERFECT.
I first asked about apraxia when Landon was about 13 months old. I had him in EI for PT, OT, and feeding, and everyone kept saying he has motor planning trouble. In grad school, apraxia was barely covered, but all I remembered was learning that it is a motor planning problem, so I asked about that, but everyone said no, they are not related. Then it was about February, and words were hard for him. He was 17 months and had a good amount of words, but not consistent. He would stand up, say done in the bath, and then it would be gone for weeks. I was worried about this, but he was little. At 18 months, he should have been imitating and he was not with any consistency, so I paid a private SLP for about 10 weeks. He picked up some new words and sounds with him and she was not sure he had apraxia. In my heart, though, I was saying yes, yes, yes, he does. I took him to a specialist in July. She said it is definitely sensory motor and to have him looked at by an OT. He had just been dismissed from OT, but I took him. This lady talked all about sensory processing, saying motor planning is actually sensory processing, that his nervous system isn't wired like ours.
On July 19, I referred him back to EI, and he is now getting teacher services- 1x per week, speech 2x, and OT 2x. Everyone is saying apraxia and SPD. The SPD manifests in whatever he is doing to the book, whenever he walked around the cars, throwing himself on the floor, wanting to be touched on his terms, etc. He is looking for some kind of input, but it varies and it changes. Socially, he does great. He is happy and loves interacting, but it is easier when it is a game he understands- playground, chase, peekaboo, etc. He doesn't have the words to play with all his buddies the way he wants to yet, and apparently, he knows it. I guess he gets frustrated a lot. I feel horrible for him. Somedays, I just want to cry and cry, but I have a job and my sweet little Logan too. Landon is gaining more words and more sounds and I know he will be ok. I will be there in his corner no matter what. He has made me a better person, and not everything comes easy to everyone, but the struggles are part of the joys in life.
He is not a severe case, and I pray it is mild, since he already has words and sounds and many do not at his age.
I love that little boy. Please keep him in your prayers,
Kim
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