Dyspraxia vs language and speech disorder

[Paribus]

So our DD (2,9) was seen at London children's practice today and was diagnosed as either verbally dyspraxic or having expressive language and speech disorder.
So she is not lazy or stubborn, like our paed has been saying for almost a year now, she will not outgrow it, and I am not imagining things. Despite knowing in my heart that she has some speech disorder and knowing that it's most likely to be dyspraxia, I am gutted and can't stop crying when I think about it.
Please come and talk to me about it, do any of you have kids with dyspraxia or expressive language disorder? Which one has better prognosis long term? I am googling, and googling, and googling some more, but I want to talk to real people. Please help me.

[dolfrog]

you could have a look at some PubMed research paper collections
Apraxia of Speech
Dyspraxia - Developmental Coordination Disorder
Speech Sound Disorders (SSD)
Speech and Language Pathology

[janx]

Hi
My son is 3.9 and was diagnosed in April this year at the Nuffield centre in London. He has severe verbal dyspraxia. I was told he would respond well to specific therapy as he is improving...it is slow and we have to do a lot of work with him at home. He wasn't assessed for expressive language as they couldn't understand enough of what he says. There is a fb group I am joined to - for patents with dyspraxic kids and everyone is helpful.

[Paribus]

Thank you dolfrog- however there is nothing in the links about the difference between these two disorders and their respective prognoses. Thank you for your help anyway!

[janx]

Meant to say what a teat your paed was ! I cried a bit when I got dx even though I knew what it was - big hugd

[Paribus]

Janx, thanks, I am on the group as well- the thing is we were told it might e "either...or..." as her motor skills are absolutely fine, her sense of balance is very good etc. So the consultant was saying that she is not convinced band is referring us to neurologist to try and get dx. It's all very scary.

[janx]

My son has no other co-ordination problem either. Where was assessment done?

[Paribus]

Janx, yes, I've been crying all day today. It is very hard, even if you know that something isn't quite right, it' hard to hear your fears being vocalized.

[Paribus]

Sorry, missed your question- it was done in London Children Practice by Jackie Harland.

[janx]

I don't know of that place but would strongly recommend a call to Nuffield as they are the leaders in dyspraxia. Are you getting any speech therapy ? Are you based in London?

[Paribus]

Nuffield doesn't take kids below 3 as far as I know. And they don't do private- and for the sake of time we went private from the start- do you think it's the wrong way? Yes, we live in London and our daughter was having one-to-one speech therapy classes in Ruth Jacobs clinic once a week from March- were told today it's not enough and must be getting more. how much therapy is your son getting? When you say the progress is slow- how slow is slow IYKWIM :)?

[janx]

sorry missed she is is under three - was using iphone and couldn't scroll back while typing! I wouldn't like to comment on what is best - feel like I have been feeling my way blind for the last 2 years. My ds has been having intermittent sessions over this period - first in a group situation and then more recently one-to-one, but not every week. I was fed some bollocks about leaving gaps for natural development which i think is another way of saying we don't have the funds.

He has been seeing a therapist from the Nuffield every week for the last eight weeks and it that space of time - he has gone from not been able to make a p or t or g sound to being able to do that. He still can't say his name (if I knew I would have given him a different name . Although the therapy before that was useful - it was no-where near the level I am getting at the Nuffield...it is really targetted iyswim. However we won't have it forever and we are in the process of applying for a nursery place at a language resource school where hopefully he will get more regular help. I also try and do at least 10 mins a day - games incorporating the sounds he is trying out. He has a lot of words that he can say really clearly but others are not so clear

[Paribus]

Janx, so is your DS talking? Our daughter is not saying much at the moment- about 10 words. Was he talking when he was younger? And how did you get a referral to Nuffield if I may ask? Can HV refer us? How long does it usually take? Thank you for sharing your experience with me- it really, really helps!!
Justaboutstillthere, I know re paed! Should have listened to my gut feeling...

[janx]

Have sent you an email

[Boboma]

Hi Paribus, No one has mentioned 'Afasic' in the previous posts. They are a speech and communication charity who have been a huge help to us. I have used their information leaflets and helpline mainly to get support to sort out nursery and school help. The other great help to us was the 'Hanen' course which we attended when our DD was 2. We got on this from our NHS-SALT and I really recommend it if you can find one in your area. My DD has been non verbal until very recently and she didn't have a dx until she was 4 (verbal + oral dyspraxia), but like you we knew there was a problem when she was tiny. We have been lucky with NHS SALT pretty much weekly, and I think that you are completely right to go private if you don't think that you will get support on the NHS. I think that weekly SALT provision is fine, but the key is to make sure that you (or nursery) are following up with daily practice. That's the only way that we have made progress I think, and like Janx said, gaps in therapy are bad. We got funding for nursery to do daily practice and now have a statement for school. Progress was really, really slow for us and we have had to be so patient, but our SALT has always been very positive and that has helped us a lot. My DD has amazed us by suddenly improving massively when she turned 4 (I have read that this is fairly common with dyspraxia?) and she is suddenly talking in sentences. It is still a lot of effort for her and her speech is slow and sounds a bit like a dalek but she has turned from 100% signing to 100% speech. She has settled really well into a mainstream school and is really blossoming. I can understand that you are feeling down just now and hope that you feel better once you have found more support. I'm a member of the Facebook group too. Also feel free to PM. x

[bubble2bubble]

Paribus please have hope.
dd1 was diagnosed with severe verbal & oral dyspraxia and had about 4-5 words at age 3 probably about 10 by age 4.
She is now just six and in mainstream school and her speech is amazing- not all sounds 100% accurate but she is capable of making herself understood and has good ( rapidly expanding) vocabulary and use of language within the normal range. It's been a very long, very hard struggle but she will probably be discharged from therapy this year.
BTW she did have quite severe motor difficulties not obvious to us, nor to 2 NHS OTs she orginally saw, but resloving these made a huge difference

[softasshite]

My ds is 2yrs next month and cannot yet talk although understands perfectly. If one more person says to me "oh, he's just a boy", or "but he's still very young" I swear I'll do a tango lady and explode on the spot! I've known there was something wrong since very early on. He would never have a dummy, a bottle, any kind of cup except a tommee tippee, weaning was a nightmare. He can say "mama" but nothing else, has notbabbled much and has never ever made a single animal noise. His gross motor and fine motor skills are ok but he runs with one arm trailing behind him. He seems to fall a lot but don't they all at 23 months? He signs really well and is really keen to communicate. He has never copied a facial expression and cannot purse his lips to blow. The point is I'm sure he has a verbal dyspraxia. The Gp and speech therapist have told me not to worry ( anyone know how to do that?) so I'm paying for a great OT I know to assess him. I just want to know that someones taken me, and ds's needs, seriously for a change instead of brushing it all off so quickly.

I happen to be "in the business" of child development too and this experience has reminded me how every word you say, good and bad, can mean a massive amount to parents.

[sazale]

My son is 4 1/2 and just started full time school. He didn't start trying to speak till he was 3 but he's caught up well. He speaks in sentences but it isn't always easy to understand what he's saying, some days worse than others. He misses the ends off his words and also can't say the letter L. He says W instead. He can't purse his lips, stick his Tongue out far or lift his Tongue when asked. He was a poor feeder as a baby. Couldn't breastfeed and only drank 1oz from a bottle. His gross motor skills are fantastic but he is having difficullty with pen grip and attempting to write. I have a daughter who has dyspraxia (waiting on diagnosis scored low on testing with OT) suspected Aspergers and SPD. I don't know if that is making me paranoid as her issues have only just been acknowledged at the age of 13!

My son had a couple of nhs salt sessions and she said it's not verbal dyspraxia as he could make the same sound several times in a row which he wouldn't be able to do if it was verbal dyspraxia. Is it really as simple as that to rule it out?

His understanding of speech and language is amazing as are his social skills. He does go mute at school and if nervous. He resorts to showing people what he needs. He developed his own sign language before he began to talk.

[Paribus]

Sorry I disappeared from the thread- we have a newborn as well, so days are a bit of a blue. Thank you all so much for your support and willingness to help!
Janx, thank you for your email, will email you back!
Boboma, thank you, will have a look at Afasic site- I think I looked at them when I first had my suspicions about a year ago, but totally forgot about them! Thanks so much for reminding.
Bubble2bubble, thank you for your wishes, your story is so inspiring to me. Can i ask you, what motor difficulties did your daughter have? It's just i really struggle to see any motor provlems with her- she rides a scooter, kicks the ball, jumps, etc. And what is OT?
Softasshite, follow your instincts, if you think it's dyspraxia, act on the assumption.
Softasshite and Justaboutstillthere- are your OTs in London?
Sazale, our daughter can also make the same sound several times, this is another reason our paed was sure it was not dyspraxia. However, the lady who was assessing our daughter didn't mention that at all, so I really don't know if it means anything.
Again thank you so much for your help. You are all so, so wonderful, understanding and compassionate. I would be very grateful for any piece of information or advice you might want to share.

[Paribus]

Days are a bit of a blur, not blue obv- stupid autocorrection!!

[sazale]

Thanks for your replies and sorry for hijacking, Paribus! justaboutstillhere, I'm in South Yorkshire would your specialists be of any use to me?
Cheers guys and I agree the chaps on here are fandabbydozey!!! My OH is amazed by what I have learned xx