I heard from a friend the other day that a child’s Speech-Language Pathologist said, “She didn’t believe in Apraxia.” While this is not only scary and invalidating, what’s worse is people’s ignorance about Apraxia being real can prevent required treatment. I thought the biggest fight in my Apraxia journey would be awareness. However, it seems like the bigger fight will have people believe this is a real lifelong neurological disorder.
Do we need to prove ourselves?
But the thing is, I don’t feel like I should need to prove myself. I don’t feel like children should have to prove their struggles are significant to others. However, with the lack of belief, what are we supposed to do? What if nobody talked out about this? Would parents and professionals still be in the belief that this is simply something you simply outgrow? There are so many questions I have in my mind when it comes to this.
When was Apraxia officially recognized by ASHA?
ASHA (American Speech–Language–Hearing Association) didn’t recognize Apraxia until 2007. So, with the diagnosis being relatively new, I believe this might be what contributed to the misbelief. However, it’s important to note; Apraxia was there before it had a name; people just didn’t know what to call it.
Apraxia was real before it even had a name.
Children with Apraxia grew up to be adults, not knowing what to call it. Adults grew up questioning what was wrong with them, why was their speech like this, and why was talking so hard? However, when they received the diagnosis as adults, many felt significant relief. At last, they had a name for their diagnosis. I don’t want our young people to have not only to fight to be heard but also to fight to have people believe them. If you had Apraxia, yourself, you would know this is a real disorder that does affect people.
Fight ignorance with awareness.