Oral/Verbal dyspraxia - what are the signs?

[sarahlawrence31]

I just wondered if anyone could advise me what the signs of oral or verbal dyspraxia are? (sorry not sure what the difference is).
My DS is 2.7 and doesn't really talk. He can say a few words - maybe 30 or so, but they are mostly wrong (eg thank you is ank-ee and cheese is gees etc).
He has been seen by a SALT who said he could possibly be dyspraxic but he is too young to diagnose.

He doesnt have any problems eating, can blow/suck through straws, stick his tongue out etc. He does dribble quite alot though and doesnt seem to be able to make certains sounds such as ch and t. He usually leaves the end of a word off eg. Hand is 'ha' and catch is 'ca'.

Does this sound like dyspraxia? Thanks very much.

you can get your child assessed by the Nuffield Centre - which is the centre of excellence for this
www.ndp3.org/about-the-centre.html.

I don't think it's necessarily true that he is too young for diagnosis but he's certainly not too young for therapy so don't let the SLT fobb you off with 'wait & see'.
If she has gone so far as to suggest dyspraxia she probably has good reason.
Whether or not he is dyspraxic it sounds like he has some difficulty with sound production so the therapy would be basically be the same regardless of diagnosis
On a positive note your DS obviously has some speech sounds and wants to communicate so there is something to work on.

DD1 is diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia. At 3.7 she has fewer sounds than your son, but more "words" (only intelligible to me!). A year ago she had about 4 words though.

still not sure what the difference between oral and verbal dyspraxia is (having asked 3 SALT).

At 2.4 we were told she had either a severe phonological disorder or verbal dysprxia- the only difference in real terms is whether or not you should have consolidation time between blocks of therapy sessions (you shouldn't for verbal dyspraxia).

DD1 dribbles almost constantly, she never had any trouble drinking or eating though. She did have difficulty puckering her lips for a kiss, or for blowing bubbles (improving).
My DD can say "t" as an individual sound, but cannot link it with other sounds- she has huge difficulties with vowel sounds and combining sounds.

There are various mouth strengthening excercises that you can do like drinking Macdonalds milkshakes through a straw, blowing maltesers and ping pong balls across the table and licking hundreds and thousands from various places around the mouth (i find doing this in the bath requires the least amount of hoovering).

Lots and lots of therapy and practice in between seems to be the best way forward but be warned now- if it is verbal dyspraxia it can be a very slow and long road. Alternative forms of communication (makaton) may be required in the short/ medium term...
good luck

Your DS sounds a lot like my DD who has an informal diagnosis of dyspraxia, including verbal dyspraxia. They didn't start working properly on speech sounds until she was nearly 3 (this with private and NHS) but we did do listening games, oral skills (blowing at pingpong ball through straw, licking chocolate spread from different parts of the lips etc from about 2.3yrs. Then we moved very slowly through different sounds using the nuffield dyspraxia cards and worksheets, and cued articulation. It was really helpful to have the therapist explain each one to me about how to shape the mouth (eg ssss sound is easier if you smile at the same time) and we did lots of practice at home, eventually combining sounds and making up words. It is a lot of work but the system has brought my DD#1 on a long way. She is now 6 and whilst she still has issues she is much more understandable than she ever was. It is worth noting that some sounds do not come naturally to children until they are quite a bit older, so for example for the Ch sound you would not expect all "normal" children to make necessarily at the age your DS is.

I don't know if private therapy is an option for you but I would highly recommend it if you are not going to be able to access frequent SALT input from the NHS (or children centre SALT - worth trying them for help if you haven't already with the age he is). Sadly the NHS provision is very very lacking in many places. DD#1 hasn't had NHS therapy for 15 months now and it is a disgrace.

Sounds just like my dd2. DD2 is ASD but SALT has also suggested verbal dyspraxia may be the problem with her speech. Likewise says it is difficult to diagnose without more words. My daughter has a few words. Often says only beginning or end sound and can't sequence two sounds to make the word, hence juice is ju and milk is k etc. WE do lots of work on improving vowel and consonant sounds and we are now trying to work on making two consecutive sounds (consonant + vowel). It is very slow but she is improving. Really push for this kind of SALT work.

There is a great download from the Nuffield with lots of things to do at home for children with verbal dyspraxia

www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/downloads/show_download.php?id=3

Its worth doing this but also pushing for intensive speech therapy that targets speech sounds - we have found the nuffield programme incredible for our boy with verbal dyspraxia. You need a therapist that knows about where the tongue should be in the mouth and face shapes etc.

The consultation into what services should be provided for children with verbal dyspraxia is now live. It would be great if anyone with connections to verbal dyspraxia could respond to the consultation. It runs from today until 25 March. Thanks

www.ealingpct.nhs.uk/nuffield_consultation. asp

I have also set up a facebook page with some information about the reviews and tips that I found useful with my child on verbal dyspraxia and what to do about it in the UK - would be really great if others could post any useful information.
www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_17547964 5803269&ap=1