Dear teachers,
I wanted to make a letter for those of you who may have a student with Apraxia in your classroom this semester. To introduce myself, my name is Jordan Christian, and I’m a young adult who grew up with and has Verbal Apraxia. I advocate for Apraxia awareness and mental health- to name a few.
If you don’t know what Apraxia is; Apraxia is a neurological speech disorder where the brain has trouble sending signals to the mouth to move the tongue, lips, jaw, and facial muscles. Therefore, resulting in inconsistent and unpredictable speech errors for the child, teenager, or adult. So, speaking for these people can be incredibly difficult.
Apraxia is also classified as a motor planning speech disorder, so these individuals will require most of the time, frequent speech therapy focusing on repetition to gain control of their speech.
We ask you to have patience with your student and know their speech is not something they can control. Please work closely with them and be in contact with the parent if you need to understand how you can help the child more.
Some children who are still gaining their voice will use an AAC device or sign language to communicate and limit frustrations surrounding barriers in communication. It’s important to note research has proven this to not prevent or hinder a child from developing their speech skills.
A child who has an AAC device should not have their device taken away as a form of punishment; that is taking away their voice. You wouldn’t duct tape a verbal student’s mouth shut if they didn’t stop talking. The same applies here. If you have any concerns about the child’s AAC device usage, it is best to contact the parent and speech-language pathologist. However, this device should never be taken away from them; this can hinder them from communicating their needs.
Most students with Apraxia have IEP’s that need to be met. Please communicate with the school, parent(s), and speech-language pathologist if you have any questions about it.
These students are bright and understand everything you say despite not be able to articulate what they desire. Please see the child for who they are, not for what they don’t have. I’ve observed so many amazing qualities in these young people that never fail to amaze me. Their courage, hard work, and determination inspire me. You may feel the same by the end of the semester.
If you have any questions or concerns, you can also feel free to reach out to me. I have a page on Facebook called ‘Fighting for my Voice: My life with Verbal Apraxia,’ or you can reach out to my email at fightingformyvoice@gmail.com. I’m happy to help and will never stop fighting for these young people until they can.
Love,
Jordan Christian