“Apraxia is a neurological disorder that makes it difficult for the brain to communicate with the mouth how to speak.”
This is my statement I make all the time when introducing Eli to people to explain why he can’t speak. No, he doesn’t have autism. No, he’s not stupid. No, there is nothing wrong with him. But, what if it’s NOT Apraxia. THEN, what do I say?
This question comes up because Eli is getting older. When he was young, we filled out a test with our speech therapist that gave him a high probability of having Apraxia. His speech therapist now is not sure that he does have it. According to her, the signs for Apraxia in a child who is speaking is that they say words differently. When saying elephant they would say ell-fant, fant, ella, elfan. Each time being a little different.
Eli speaks very quietly, so it’s hard to tell, but I don’t think he does that.
WHAT does that mean? He’s just speech delayed? Why? As a parent, I so want to have a reason and a title to go with it. Because, somehow that justifies his difficulty and makes it acceptable in my mind. Without a title, without a reason I have to accept the fact that he’s behind for no reason? He’s a little boy genius in so many ways. He can navigate where to drive and knows when you aren’t going where he wants to go. He can play computer games with his much older brothers and keep up. He surprises them!
So what is wrong with my little boy?
We haven’t ruled out Apraxia completely but there is now the questions and the loss of security I found in the diagnosis. In the long run, I suppose this really changes nothing. But, in the short run a mother likes to freak a little, just inside my head.
Eli's SeArcH for WoRds 
Don’t find comfort in the diagnosis…. find comfort in the therapy. My child doesn’t have a diagnosis of apraxia but I go to the support group online (where I found your blog) because they/we all have common problems, we are parents, who love our children, and are trying to do what’s best for them.
My son for the most part can say his words the same each time, however, I have been told that it is in fact apraxia because the sounds he does have are not pronounced the same way each time he says them. For instance, he can say the hard c in car, but in another word, that starts with a hard c, he sometimes uses p or f. So even though he can mostly say the words the same each time, he is not consistent across the board with his sounds. Then there is the groping, losing words (this doesn’t happen as much anymore), loss of acquired sounds, etc. can you get another opinion? I too agree- the label stinks, but when it’s there, it makes more sense and its easier to explain. Good luck!
Thank you! That was very helpful. As long as therapy is working and he is still advancing, I’m not going to worry about a diagnosis right now. If he stops progressing then we will look into 2nd opinions. Originally he did not respond to speech therapy, but when we switched to apraxia therapy with the same therapist a light went on and he started progressing. 99% of the battle with Eli is finding a way to do therapy that he enjoys.
I have never heard that a child with apraxia says a word differently each time like you described with elephant. My son is 7 1/2 with (I would say) severe apraxia. He was able to babble and make every letter sound until he turned one and meaning was assigned to those sounds. Even though he could say dada and momma as an infant once it actually meant something he could no longer say them – he didn’t say dad until he was 3. For the longest time then he would try to say words but leave out all the consonents or drop of the begining or last sounds… all pretty common for apraxic children. I understand the want or need for a “label”! We are still searching – and coming up empty handed other than Apraxia. I didn’t catch the exact age of your son, but continue with therapy and try different things to see what seems to work for him. Try not to get hung up on labels… if it hellps you you can tell people that he has a speech delay or disorder and although you haven’t found a specific cause that he is recieving therapy.