May 15, 2025 • 16 mins
Childhood apraxia of speech is a condition affecting up to 2 in every 1000 Tasmanians. For Apraxia Awareness Month, Britt Aylen speaks with a Tasmanian mum and a local speech pathologist about the best ways to identify, diagnose and treat the condition.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
My heart.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
It makes me sad to think that kids go without
that opportunity of being able to use their voice, because
everyone has a right to their voice, like that's anything
that you want or you need, or you know, things
like Lincoln. I can count the times that Lincoln said
(00:22):
mum on one hand and then he stopped saying it.
And I didn't get mum till he was five, And
just basic things like that you don't think of. And
I think we need the early intervention because these kids
grow up to be adults and without it, they're lot.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
May is a Praxier Awareness month, bringing attention to a
condition believed to affect as many as two in every
thousand children. Childhood practicier of speech can often be misdiagnosed
and misunderstood, something Tasmanian speech pathologist Nia Michellis is hoping
to change. I'm free Ailen, and in this episode of
My Heart Tazzy, I'll be chatting to Nia about the
symptoms of childhooded practier of speech as well as the
(01:00):
best methods of treatment, and we'll also hear from local mums,
Sam about her experience raising a child with the condition.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's hard because he knows what she wants to say,
and as far as he knows, his words come out
the way that he wants them to come out, but
we don't understand them, and that that's hard to both
of us, so all of us involved, really we're very
frustrating in that sense of it took a long time
to get there. It's rare too, so a lot of
the time the speeches don't have the capacity to actually say, oh,
(01:33):
this is what it is because they're not trained in that.
We were so lucky to find a speech therapist and
she has been with us through the like everything, and
she's so supportive and just so good at what she's does.
She's just amazing. And he's so far like he's he's
almost sticks now and he can say a sentence with
(01:55):
multiple work and the severity of what he started with.
That's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Sam a mum of three living in Bernie. Sam's youngest son, Lincoln,
was diagnosed with childhood a praxia of speech when he
was four years old. The condition is a rare speech
disorder where children and later adults have trouble directing the lipjaw,
and tongue movements needed for speech. It's often treated with
extensive therapy performed by speech pathologists like Nia, who is
also based in the state's northwest.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
A praxia, known in Australia as childhood appraxia of speech,
is when a child knows exactly what they want to say,
but their brain struggles to correctly move their lips and
their tongue vocal cords to speak clearly. So they can
be very hard to understand and very very frustrated because
in their brain and in their minds, they know exactly
(02:42):
what they want to say, so when they go to
say it, words can come out jumbles, sounds don't come
out right, and they're left feeling like no one is
understanding what they are saying. They often end up relying
on gestures or Some children with childhood practice seech have
alternative and augentive communications, so they might have a device
that helps them speech where they can communicate their message
that way to successfully communicate what they.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Want to say.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So it's like being trapped. They know what they want
to say, they go to say it and it doesn't
come out the way that they had planned, so they
have trouble planning and programming the movements for speech. It
is a lifelong speech disorder. Unlike other speech disorders, childhood
A practice of speech diagnosed in childhood and continues through adulthood.
They need intensive speech therapy to rewire the brain so
(03:28):
that the brain can learn the new mode of patterns
plans to be able to speak the words clearly.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Nia says often the symptoms of childhood A practice are
of speech and misinterpreted as signs of speech delay.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Very early on, a lot of parents are saying their
child didn't babble so like bad bad bad mamma, or
they did limited babbling, or they only did reduplicated babbling
like bad bad bad ma mamma instead of like bada
masoga where they're combining different consonant of our sounds. They
have difficulty in making sounds, so sometimes their mouth can
look quite up, or lots of like trial and error
(04:02):
behavior where they go to say an m sand and
they try to get their lips together and their lips
don't come together the way that they want, or they
go to make up the letter key sound and it
comes at a too much effort, too much movement. They
have trouble imitating for repeating sequences, sounds or words. They
are often making errors on the same word. So one
(04:23):
of the diagnostic criteria for a praxia is inconsistency of speak.
So they might say mummy one way and then go
to say it again and it might come out as
mummy or mama, so that inconsistency of speech. They can
develop speech quite slowly. You know, we might see a
child come to the clinic at the age of two
and only have a handful of words, but receptively comprehension
(04:44):
wise be able to follow instructions and show us through
gesture what they're wanting to communicate verbally, So we can
see that there's a big discrepancy between their receptive communication
and their expressive communications and what they unverstand versus what
they can say. Some kids with a practice who have
whole occurring gross motor and fine motor difficulties, but speeches
areten one of the first things that the parents pick
(05:05):
up in the early years.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
She recommends parents seek advice from a speech pathologist as
soon as they have any concerns about their child.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
So us speech pathologists are really crucial in helping the
children and helping the parent understand the child's overall development
because at the end of the day, the parents are
coming to us for help, and speech may be the
main thing that the parents have noticed that they're not
talking as much as their peers or their siblings work,
or that they're not making many sounds. And then you know,
as we go through therapy, we might start to notice
(05:32):
some attention difficulties, or might start to notice some fine
motor difficulties with their fingers or gross movements as well.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
The condition can be treated through the public health system,
but Nia says the long waiting lists can make it
difficult for early intervention, which she believes is crucial.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Because it is a motor speech to sort do we
need to rewire their brain And so these adults, whilst
they are around in our community, I haven't met heaps
of adults with childhood are active speech. And I think
that is because their speech is so severely they want
to respond to, you know, once a week therapy, which
would have been what was happening back in the day.
They need intensive speech therapy to help rewire their brains.
(06:10):
So to adults, unfortunately, it looks pretty grant now and
that I'm so passionate about early intervention because adults who
don't receive intensive speech therapy with childhood taxive speech will
struggle to find the job of their dreams or they'll
start to withdraw from social situation. So the impacts are
not only speech if it's not treated intensively early on
(06:32):
in childhood, but then it also starts to seep into
the psychological and emotional well being of the whole person.
And they're just their self esteem and willingness to communicate,
like you can just see them withdraw and it is
absolutely heartbreaking. So intensive speech therapy is the most important
thing we need to be getting these children funded from
(06:54):
the number three or four times a week. Really they
have intensive motor speech therapy. And I've said to parents before,
have a chap TOI you speech pathologist, ask them if
they have treated children with childhood the practice speech before,
ask them if they've affessed kids with a praxier And
if they haven't, have a chat to them. Are they
willing to get supervision around it? Are they willing to
do trainings on the evidence based approaches or are you
(07:16):
going to need to look for another speech pathologist Because
we've got to get the early years right. If we
don't get the early years right, and we don't get
that early intervention, it is even harder later on. We
know that the World's Health Organization says that nine and
under is early intervention. So really that is our critical
window to help rewire these children's brains when they are
(07:36):
the most able to be changed and moved, rather than
waiting until they, you know, in high school, trying to
get that intensive therapy in then it's a lot harder
to do because the motor plans, the motor patterns are
just so much stronger and just harder to shift.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
The sam She was grateful to get Lincoln diagnosed and
beginning treatment as early as she did. However, she did
feel the need to transition from the public health system
into private practice.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
You know, your kids there, you want to advocate them
and you want them to do the best that they
can do, and whatever that takes you get there, you
find what needs to be found. And I know, for me,
I've had to advocate a lot for Lincoln because his
works they come out, he can't face up. So it's
been a bit of.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
A ride, and that's not an option for everyone with childs.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Perhaps your speech you need intensive speech therapy, and you know,
if you don't have funding, especially towards the start, like
you're out of pocket for that speech therapy. We started
with the one therapy session a week and that piles
up to thousands and thousands for the year if you
don't have that funding. But in the end it is
(08:45):
that to be that they actually need intensive therapy, which
is up to three times a week. So you're juggling
multiple appointments and we were face to face at this
stage and we had to travel about thirty minutes, so
you know, especially family, multiple kids, jobs, things of life,
it can get tough. Some plants. You have to have
a really good schedule and calendar to do it.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Nia says it can be hard to find a provider
to treat conditions like childhood a practicier of speech here
in Tasmania.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
So at the moment, there aren't heaps of clinicians in
Tazzi with experience or confidence freeting childhood a practice of speech,
which is our first barrier. Because I've got families across
the state who reach out to me as our email
and say who can I be in Hobart or who
can I see between Loncesteron and Hobart. There are very
limited options that I can be giving them because the
(09:35):
knowledge and the expertise just isn't there with childhood a
practice your speech. Thankfully, due to Teley Health, quite a
few families across the state that accessing services up on
the Northwest, like with myself or interstate because a practice
of therapy can be effective via Telly Health. And that's
one of the best things that did come out of
the COVID pandemic is that parents and speeches started to
(09:55):
see that Teleyhealth was an option and can be an
option to help support our families. But as far as
speech pathologists fell in Tasmania, there's myself in the Northwest
and a few others who feel comfortable treating child with
a practice of speech. I think there is a couple
of month sencens and maybe one or two in Hobart.
This is privately that I'm aware of, which makes it really,
(10:16):
really tricky. So we've got these parents who are desperate
to help their children to arrive communicate, just the communication
is a basic human rights. They're basic need of communication
and they're trying to meet their child's basic needs to
help make their child's life easier and communication easier. And
then they go to look for speech plogist and their
heart to find.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
And extensive speech therapy has made a world of difference
for Lincoln.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
We'll have a conversation with you now, so we're going
to get better from here. Like a lot of people
haven't staining for a little while, we'll be like, oh
my gosh, he hasn't stopped talking because now that he
has this new confidence about himself. Because when we started
this journey it was really hard for him. A lot
of people don't take the time to try and understand
(10:59):
him because he was hard to understand. But the amount
of speech that he's had and all that time and
effort that he puts in on a weekly face, it
is really pay for him and he can only move
forward and people just listen to him now is nice.
You know, he's making friends at cool and he's talking
to his teachers and other staff members and things like that.
(11:20):
Though he's in such a better plate to be able
to do the intensive therapy especially has really he's just amazing.
He does so well and he sits through so much
and he can only get better and better. And a
simple cat too is it's a life most likely he
will need it for the rest of his life, so
it's a long road for him, but he's getting better
(11:43):
as the road.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Goes coming up and I heart TAZZI will hear more
about the importance of raising awareness of childhood a praxier
of speech and what must be done to get kids
the support they need when they need it.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
My Heart Zazzy, My Heart Dazzy.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Devenford's Paranapple Center and the Leventh Ridge at Alvaston are
just two of many landmarks across Australia that were lit
up in Flu this week for a Praxia Awareness Day.
Speech of pathologist Nia Michellis says there's not enough awareness
and understanding of childhood a praxia of speech even within
the health system.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
We hold high hopes for when the parents go to
take their child to the pediatrician and then the parents
come to me and they just say that they cry
the whole time, or that the pediatrician just disregarded the
diagnosis and them at speech delay. So there's definitely a
lot more awareness we need to be doing and a
lot more education, especially even with me whul professionals like GPS,
early childhood educators, teachers and pediatricians to help shift this
(12:41):
oh it's just a speech delay to actually this is
a life long motor speech disort us that needs intensive
speech therapy, and that's one of my biggest goals.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
She also believes there's a need for teachers and schools
to be better equipped to identify and support the condition.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
A lot of people the childhood of practice speech as
a speet only problem, but last we know children with
speech disorders are at a much higher risk of literacy difficulties.
So we really do rely on schools to offer some
more teacher aid time or extra support, small groups support,
anything like that to help these little ones with their
(13:15):
literacy because a lot of kids with the praxia get
diagnosed with dyflexia, so you know, spelling, reading difficulties, and
they are aware the psychological impact of a praxia are
not just speech related. The child starts to see that,
they're then behind and they're speaking, Then they're behind in
their reading and they're spelling, and they're not going up
the levels or they're needing extra support, but they're not
(13:36):
getting the extra support, so then they're refusing to do
the school work. It's just really vicious cycle. So they
do need extra support, and unfortunately it's really luck of
the draw. It feels like for parents is what they
say to me. It feels like blocks of the drawer
as to whether the child is going to get support
that year in their school for breeding or spelling, And
(13:56):
it really depends on a school as well as to
how much extra funding poll into the children too, because
the education departments are swamped and I know funding is limited.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
But Bernie Mum Sam, whose son Lincoln has childhood practicier
of speech, says his school has been incredible.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
We have been going to launch him to learning at
this school, so there was previous knowledge the school had
referred him to places, so they're aware of our concerns
and our situation. So we chose to delay him for
twelve months and we've got an exemption for him to
start him that instead of preps this year, that twelve
(14:33):
month solid of focusing on therapies have made a huge
difference and I feel like it gave the school a
little bit more of that prep time and understanding of
what his needs are. And he has a communications device,
so he has a fivepad with a PC that he
takes the school and so if he's struggling to get
(14:56):
his word through or people aren't understanding him, he's still
able to communicate with his needs and with people around
him and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Both Sam and Anthony I believe the best thing a
parent can do is advocate for their child.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Make the phone calls, you know, go to your GP,
go tell your people, and don't take no for an answer,
because so many gets done in the shadows and without
you advocating for your child, they can't do that. It's you.
So you know, jump up and down and talk to
your GP, talk to anyone who will listen to you,
(15:29):
especially if you know something needs to be done. I'm
all about the early intervention. Without it, our kids are
at a disadvantage. So if you know that your kid
needs extra support, whether it's something school, whether at beach,
whether it's something else, just keep at it.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
It just comes down to advocating. We have to keep advocating.
Every year, I say to the parents, you know, have
a chapter the teacher. Find out if their teacher knows
about what child and the practice speech is. If they don't,
I'm happy to do a new meeting with them and
educate them what childhood practice and how it impacts their school.
Actually released a video last year of kids saying what
they wish and therefore what they want teachers to know
(16:09):
about childhood practice speech so that he just can hear
firsthand from a kid, this is what we are feeling,
this is what is missing in our education. So there's
definitely lots of work to do.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
That's it for this week's episode of iHeart Tazzy. If
you'd like to learn more about childhood a practicer of speech,
there's information available through the Royal Children's Hospital, and NIA
has a series of educational videos on her Keys to
Communicate Speech Pathology website and Facebook page. We'll be back
next week, but until then you can find past episodes
on the Iheartazzy podcast feed. I'm fritt Ailen. Thanks for
(16:40):
your company, My heart Uzzy
My heart.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
It makes me sad to think that kids go without
that opportunity of being able to use their voice, because
everyone has a right to their voice, like that's anything
that you want or you need, or you know, things
like Lincoln. I can count the times that Lincoln said
(00:22):
mum on one hand and then he stopped saying it.
And I didn't get mum till he was five, And
just basic things like that you don't think of. And
I think we need the early intervention because these kids
grow up to be adults and without it, they're lot.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
May is a Praxier Awareness month, bringing attention to a
condition believed to affect as many as two in every
thousand children. Childhood practicier of speech can often be misdiagnosed
and misunderstood, something Tasmanian speech pathologist Nia Michellis is hoping
to change. I'm free Ailen, and in this episode of
My Heart Tazzy, I'll be chatting to Nia about the
symptoms of childhooded practier of speech as well as the
(01:00):
best methods of treatment, and we'll also hear from local mums,
Sam about her experience raising a child with the condition.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's hard because he knows what she wants to say,
and as far as he knows, his words come out
the way that he wants them to come out, but
we don't understand them, and that that's hard to both
of us, so all of us involved, really we're very
frustrating in that sense of it took a long time
to get there. It's rare too, so a lot of
the time the speeches don't have the capacity to actually say, oh,
(01:33):
this is what it is because they're not trained in that.
We were so lucky to find a speech therapist and
she has been with us through the like everything, and
she's so supportive and just so good at what she's does.
She's just amazing. And he's so far like he's he's
almost sticks now and he can say a sentence with
(01:55):
multiple work and the severity of what he started with.
That's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Sam a mum of three living in Bernie. Sam's youngest son, Lincoln,
was diagnosed with childhood a praxia of speech when he
was four years old. The condition is a rare speech
disorder where children and later adults have trouble directing the lipjaw,
and tongue movements needed for speech. It's often treated with
extensive therapy performed by speech pathologists like Nia, who is
also based in the state's northwest.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
A praxia, known in Australia as childhood appraxia of speech,
is when a child knows exactly what they want to say,
but their brain struggles to correctly move their lips and
their tongue vocal cords to speak clearly. So they can
be very hard to understand and very very frustrated because
in their brain and in their minds, they know exactly
(02:42):
what they want to say, so when they go to
say it, words can come out jumbles, sounds don't come
out right, and they're left feeling like no one is
understanding what they are saying. They often end up relying
on gestures or Some children with childhood practice seech have
alternative and augentive communications, so they might have a device
that helps them speech where they can communicate their message
that way to successfully communicate what they.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Want to say.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So it's like being trapped. They know what they want
to say, they go to say it and it doesn't
come out the way that they had planned, so they
have trouble planning and programming the movements for speech. It
is a lifelong speech disorder. Unlike other speech disorders, childhood
A practice of speech diagnosed in childhood and continues through adulthood.
They need intensive speech therapy to rewire the brain so
(03:28):
that the brain can learn the new mode of patterns
plans to be able to speak the words clearly.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Nia says often the symptoms of childhood A practice are
of speech and misinterpreted as signs of speech delay.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Very early on, a lot of parents are saying their
child didn't babble so like bad bad bad mamma, or
they did limited babbling, or they only did reduplicated babbling
like bad bad bad ma mamma instead of like bada
masoga where they're combining different consonant of our sounds. They
have difficulty in making sounds, so sometimes their mouth can
look quite up, or lots of like trial and error
(04:02):
behavior where they go to say an m sand and
they try to get their lips together and their lips
don't come together the way that they want, or they
go to make up the letter key sound and it
comes at a too much effort, too much movement. They
have trouble imitating for repeating sequences, sounds or words. They
are often making errors on the same word. So one
(04:23):
of the diagnostic criteria for a praxia is inconsistency of speak.
So they might say mummy one way and then go
to say it again and it might come out as
mummy or mama, so that inconsistency of speech. They can
develop speech quite slowly. You know, we might see a
child come to the clinic at the age of two
and only have a handful of words, but receptively comprehension
(04:44):
wise be able to follow instructions and show us through
gesture what they're wanting to communicate verbally, So we can
see that there's a big discrepancy between their receptive communication
and their expressive communications and what they unverstand versus what
they can say. Some kids with a practice who have
whole occurring gross motor and fine motor difficulties, but speeches
areten one of the first things that the parents pick
(05:05):
up in the early years.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
She recommends parents seek advice from a speech pathologist as
soon as they have any concerns about their child.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
So us speech pathologists are really crucial in helping the
children and helping the parent understand the child's overall development
because at the end of the day, the parents are
coming to us for help, and speech may be the
main thing that the parents have noticed that they're not
talking as much as their peers or their siblings work,
or that they're not making many sounds. And then you know,
as we go through therapy, we might start to notice
(05:32):
some attention difficulties, or might start to notice some fine
motor difficulties with their fingers or gross movements as well.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
The condition can be treated through the public health system,
but Nia says the long waiting lists can make it
difficult for early intervention, which she believes is crucial.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Because it is a motor speech to sort do we
need to rewire their brain And so these adults, whilst
they are around in our community, I haven't met heaps
of adults with childhood are active speech. And I think
that is because their speech is so severely they want
to respond to, you know, once a week therapy, which
would have been what was happening back in the day.
They need intensive speech therapy to help rewire their brains.
(06:10):
So to adults, unfortunately, it looks pretty grant now and
that I'm so passionate about early intervention because adults who
don't receive intensive speech therapy with childhood taxive speech will
struggle to find the job of their dreams or they'll
start to withdraw from social situation. So the impacts are
not only speech if it's not treated intensively early on
(06:32):
in childhood, but then it also starts to seep into
the psychological and emotional well being of the whole person.
And they're just their self esteem and willingness to communicate,
like you can just see them withdraw and it is
absolutely heartbreaking. So intensive speech therapy is the most important
thing we need to be getting these children funded from
(06:54):
the number three or four times a week. Really they
have intensive motor speech therapy. And I've said to parents before,
have a chap TOI you speech pathologist, ask them if
they have treated children with childhood the practice speech before,
ask them if they've affessed kids with a praxier And
if they haven't, have a chat to them. Are they
willing to get supervision around it? Are they willing to
do trainings on the evidence based approaches or are you
(07:16):
going to need to look for another speech pathologist Because
we've got to get the early years right. If we
don't get the early years right, and we don't get
that early intervention, it is even harder later on. We
know that the World's Health Organization says that nine and
under is early intervention. So really that is our critical
window to help rewire these children's brains when they are
(07:36):
the most able to be changed and moved, rather than
waiting until they, you know, in high school, trying to
get that intensive therapy in then it's a lot harder
to do because the motor plans, the motor patterns are
just so much stronger and just harder to shift.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
The sam She was grateful to get Lincoln diagnosed and
beginning treatment as early as she did. However, she did
feel the need to transition from the public health system
into private practice.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
You know, your kids there, you want to advocate them
and you want them to do the best that they
can do, and whatever that takes you get there, you
find what needs to be found. And I know, for me,
I've had to advocate a lot for Lincoln because his
works they come out, he can't face up. So it's
been a bit of.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
A ride, and that's not an option for everyone with childs.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Perhaps your speech you need intensive speech therapy, and you know,
if you don't have funding, especially towards the start, like
you're out of pocket for that speech therapy. We started
with the one therapy session a week and that piles
up to thousands and thousands for the year if you
don't have that funding. But in the end it is
(08:45):
that to be that they actually need intensive therapy, which
is up to three times a week. So you're juggling
multiple appointments and we were face to face at this
stage and we had to travel about thirty minutes, so
you know, especially family, multiple kids, jobs, things of life,
it can get tough. Some plants. You have to have
a really good schedule and calendar to do it.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Nia says it can be hard to find a provider
to treat conditions like childhood a practicier of speech here
in Tasmania.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
So at the moment, there aren't heaps of clinicians in
Tazzi with experience or confidence freeting childhood a practice of speech,
which is our first barrier. Because I've got families across
the state who reach out to me as our email
and say who can I be in Hobart or who
can I see between Loncesteron and Hobart. There are very
limited options that I can be giving them because the
(09:35):
knowledge and the expertise just isn't there with childhood a
practice your speech. Thankfully, due to Teley Health, quite a
few families across the state that accessing services up on
the Northwest, like with myself or interstate because a practice
of therapy can be effective via Telly Health. And that's
one of the best things that did come out of
the COVID pandemic is that parents and speeches started to
(09:55):
see that Teleyhealth was an option and can be an
option to help support our families. But as far as
speech pathologists fell in Tasmania, there's myself in the Northwest
and a few others who feel comfortable treating child with
a practice of speech. I think there is a couple
of month sencens and maybe one or two in Hobart.
This is privately that I'm aware of, which makes it really,
(10:16):
really tricky. So we've got these parents who are desperate
to help their children to arrive communicate, just the communication
is a basic human rights. They're basic need of communication
and they're trying to meet their child's basic needs to
help make their child's life easier and communication easier. And
then they go to look for speech plogist and their
heart to find.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
And extensive speech therapy has made a world of difference
for Lincoln.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
We'll have a conversation with you now, so we're going
to get better from here. Like a lot of people
haven't staining for a little while, we'll be like, oh
my gosh, he hasn't stopped talking because now that he
has this new confidence about himself. Because when we started
this journey it was really hard for him. A lot
of people don't take the time to try and understand
(10:59):
him because he was hard to understand. But the amount
of speech that he's had and all that time and
effort that he puts in on a weekly face, it
is really pay for him and he can only move
forward and people just listen to him now is nice.
You know, he's making friends at cool and he's talking
to his teachers and other staff members and things like that.
(11:20):
Though he's in such a better plate to be able
to do the intensive therapy especially has really he's just amazing.
He does so well and he sits through so much
and he can only get better and better. And a
simple cat too is it's a life most likely he
will need it for the rest of his life, so
it's a long road for him, but he's getting better
(11:43):
as the road.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Goes coming up and I heart TAZZI will hear more
about the importance of raising awareness of childhood a praxier
of speech and what must be done to get kids
the support they need when they need it.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
My Heart Zazzy, My Heart Dazzy.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Devenford's Paranapple Center and the Leventh Ridge at Alvaston are
just two of many landmarks across Australia that were lit
up in Flu this week for a Praxia Awareness Day.
Speech of pathologist Nia Michellis says there's not enough awareness
and understanding of childhood a praxia of speech even within
the health system.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
We hold high hopes for when the parents go to
take their child to the pediatrician and then the parents
come to me and they just say that they cry
the whole time, or that the pediatrician just disregarded the
diagnosis and them at speech delay. So there's definitely a
lot more awareness we need to be doing and a
lot more education, especially even with me whul professionals like GPS,
early childhood educators, teachers and pediatricians to help shift this
(12:41):
oh it's just a speech delay to actually this is
a life long motor speech disort us that needs intensive
speech therapy, and that's one of my biggest goals.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
She also believes there's a need for teachers and schools
to be better equipped to identify and support the condition.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
A lot of people the childhood of practice speech as
a speet only problem, but last we know children with
speech disorders are at a much higher risk of literacy difficulties.
So we really do rely on schools to offer some
more teacher aid time or extra support, small groups support,
anything like that to help these little ones with their
(13:15):
literacy because a lot of kids with the praxia get
diagnosed with dyflexia, so you know, spelling, reading difficulties, and
they are aware the psychological impact of a praxia are
not just speech related. The child starts to see that,
they're then behind and they're speaking, Then they're behind in
their reading and they're spelling, and they're not going up
the levels or they're needing extra support, but they're not
(13:36):
getting the extra support, so then they're refusing to do
the school work. It's just really vicious cycle. So they
do need extra support, and unfortunately it's really luck of
the draw. It feels like for parents is what they
say to me. It feels like blocks of the drawer
as to whether the child is going to get support
that year in their school for breeding or spelling, And
(13:56):
it really depends on a school as well as to
how much extra funding poll into the children too, because
the education departments are swamped and I know funding is limited.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
But Bernie Mum Sam, whose son Lincoln has childhood practicier
of speech, says his school has been incredible.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
We have been going to launch him to learning at
this school, so there was previous knowledge the school had
referred him to places, so they're aware of our concerns
and our situation. So we chose to delay him for
twelve months and we've got an exemption for him to
start him that instead of preps this year, that twelve
(14:33):
month solid of focusing on therapies have made a huge
difference and I feel like it gave the school a
little bit more of that prep time and understanding of
what his needs are. And he has a communications device,
so he has a fivepad with a PC that he
takes the school and so if he's struggling to get
(14:56):
his word through or people aren't understanding him, he's still
able to communicate with his needs and with people around
him and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Both Sam and Anthony I believe the best thing a
parent can do is advocate for their child.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Make the phone calls, you know, go to your GP,
go tell your people, and don't take no for an answer,
because so many gets done in the shadows and without
you advocating for your child, they can't do that. It's you.
So you know, jump up and down and talk to
your GP, talk to anyone who will listen to you,
(15:29):
especially if you know something needs to be done. I'm
all about the early intervention. Without it, our kids are
at a disadvantage. So if you know that your kid
needs extra support, whether it's something school, whether at beach,
whether it's something else, just keep at it.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
It just comes down to advocating. We have to keep advocating.
Every year, I say to the parents, you know, have
a chapter the teacher. Find out if their teacher knows
about what child and the practice speech is. If they don't,
I'm happy to do a new meeting with them and
educate them what childhood practice and how it impacts their school.
Actually released a video last year of kids saying what
they wish and therefore what they want teachers to know
(16:09):
about childhood practice speech so that he just can hear
firsthand from a kid, this is what we are feeling,
this is what is missing in our education. So there's
definitely lots of work to do.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
That's it for this week's episode of iHeart Tazzy. If
you'd like to learn more about childhood a practicer of speech,
there's information available through the Royal Children's Hospital, and NIA
has a series of educational videos on her Keys to
Communicate Speech Pathology website and Facebook page. We'll be back
next week, but until then you can find past episodes
on the Iheartazzy podcast feed. I'm fritt Ailen. Thanks for
(16:40):
your company, My heart Uzzy
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