Verbal dyspraxia

[BubblesRosebud]

Hello. I am new to mumsnet and trying to find other mothers who may have some experience of verbal dyspraxia. I strongly suspect my son who is 3.5yrs old has verbal dyspraxia and he is currently following the Nuffield Verbal Dyspraxia Programme with his SALT. I have so many questions I'd like to ask though. If there are any other mothers or Salts who would be happy to chat then I'd be so very grateful. Thanks.

Justa - I'm so glad your boy is making such progress - I remember "talking" to you about him a while back :).

Bubbles - all I can really say is keep at it, keep doing the exercises, don't panic. I have a DS3 who was unintelligible at 4; no consonant sounds whatsoever at 3.5. Every single consonant had to be taught. He was Statemented, went to mainstream school with 1:1 support and a lot a SALT input. Now he's 8.5 and unless he's tired or ill or speaking quickly you'd hardly notice he had any issues - and even when the speech goes he can usually self-correct. The inflection is still a bit robotic at times but really, you'd have to listen for it to hear it, IYSWIM. SALTs can work wonders.

Dd1 has a diagnosis of oral & verbal dyspraxia and a phonological disorder - so at the severe end of the scale - by age 4 she had about 6 words. She is now 5.5 and has learnt most of the speech sounds and her language is slowly catching up. While it is still very obvious she has a speech difficulty I am amazed at the progress she has made
The Nuffield Programme is a long, long process but it does work. In the beginning it can be very hard to see any progress but it will come eventually - you just have to keep going.

Hi all. Thanks so much for your quick replies. Its great to hear positive comments. When I look back at notes etc from just 6 months ago it is amazing how far he has moved on. However, it also shows me that it is unlikely this is just 'speech delay'. He talks away now using so very many many words, but they are all so heavily littered with 'der' sounds and other inappropriate sounds that its just not right I'm sure. For example, he knows 'biscuit' starts with a 'b' sound and can make that sound with some concentration but can only ever then repeat back 'b...b...derdisdict'. I'm due to see his SALT in another week or so and am keen for her to explain whether or not we could try to get a diagnosis soon. She has started him on the Nuffield dyspraxia programme so I'm guessing she must have quite a strong suspicion thats it too. As you said Justa, I'm hoping that with a diagnosis I can move onto a definate path of help for him - then I'm sure the progress will seem more obvious. He does seem such a smart cookie (bias I know!).

I'm too shattered for so many other reasons to think of my key questions now...just want to thank you all for showing that understanding mums are out there!!! I'll pick up on the thread again soon.