--- In voices_group@yahoogroups.com, "mommyof6nokc" <davidnokc@c...>
wrote:
Kathy-

My son Jacob sounds very much like your son. He is 28 months, has
been in speech for 3 months. Was 54% delayed in expressive and
receptive speech. (Receptive is hogwash- it was the way the test was
structured.

Jake has made good progress in the past few months- we have speech 2x
a week for 1 hour a time. He also sees a cranial sacral therapist.

However, the most improvement for Jake came after working to remove
toxins from his body. Amazingly enough, my son like many autistic
kids, does not process out metals from his body like a normal kid. I
tested his hair and found lead, mercury, arsenic, antomony and
others. I was flabbergasted.....I performed this test more out of
respect for a mentor who recommended it than belief that it would
help. (It was about $60 paid out of pocket) I then got busy
researching the connection b/w mercury, lead etc and apraxia. I
started at the Mercury-Autism group here at Yahoo. Read the files,
particularly the ones from Andy Cutler. He is a chemist who
specializes in healing through chelation.

The first week of chelation my son said Bye Bye SPONTANEOUSLY at a
party. He also stopped drooling (I thought the kid was never going to
quit) Since Oct, he has made sooo much progress and I attribute much
of it to the chelation. He is brighter, spunkier and more awake. >

He still has a long way to go, but I think with chelation, therapy,
cranial sacral and a mom who is soooooo worried about her son, Jake
will be OK. God willing.

Check out the Apraxia- kids website and the Cherub website. There is
also a good book called the Late Talker that is interesting.

Also, my son takes many supplements to help with the chelation, but
he also takes fish oil (mercury free!!) to help with mental
developement.

Best wishes-Erin

Hello, I am the mom of a wonderful, smart, 19 month old son named
> Turner. Turner has only one word which is Mama, but he says it so
> oddly. It comes out more as "Muhh Muhh" with a second or two
> delay between the syllables. He has a general "Duh" and "Muh"
> depending on whether he wants something, or whether he wants to
show
> you something. A hearing assessment revealed perfectly normal
> hearing. A multidisciplinary assessment revealed severely delayed
> expressive and receptive skills with normal cognition, normal gross
> and fine motor skills, and decreased oral motor skills. I think I
> suspected early on, around 8-10 months of age, that Turner was
> having difficulty with babbling/cooing. He was, and is, such a
> quiet baby. He has intermittently said words such as "Uh Oh"
> or "more" but only for a day or two, then they are gone. He
> currently receives EI speech therapy weekly and attends a Language
> Preschool at the Health Sciences Center 3 times per week. We have
> heard a gamut of possible diagnoses from Autism to CAPD and now to
> verbal apraxia. Turner is also in the process of being evaluated
> and diagnosed with Absence Seizures (Petit Mal seizures). In the
> meantime I have begun Baby Sign with Turner and in four months he
> has acquired roughly 30 signs which he uses to communicate.
> Receptive skills are now considered near normal limits. Verbal
> skills remain at the 4 month old level. At this point my head is
> spinning, but I do feel the Apraxia diagnosis is "The ONE"----it
> just all seems to fit. I would love to hear from anyone who has a
> child with similar symptoms. Also, has anyone had a child
diagnosed
> with verbal apraxia this early? Everyone seems reluctant to give a
> formal diagnosis. I feel an absurd need for a diagnosis, I can't
> even explain it. Possibly it has something to do with my being a
> Speech Pathologist! I specialize in adults, coincidentally have
> done much therapy with adult apraxics, but am at a loss with my own
> child. Any advice, insight or encouragement would be so
> appreciated. Kathy