Posted by Irene Kraft at 03:05:27 PM on August 31, 2012
Last year, to promote the inaugural Allentown Walk for Children with Apraxia of Speech, I wrote a blog about the Roeske family of Fogelsville. Christine and Alexander Roeske have two young boys with apraxia, a little known motor speech disorder that affects a child?s ability to produce speech. The child understands what is said but has an extremely difficult or impossible time reproducing the words.
?There?s no paralysis of the mouth muscles. Instead, it?s a neurological disconnect between the brain and the mouth,? Christine explains. Usually, children need to hear a word about 100 times to repeat it. But a child with apraxia must hear it 1,000 times, a speech therapist told her.
Last year at this time, Ethan, who was going on 3, had been diagnosed with a severe case of apraxia and already was undergoing therapy to develop his speech. Jacob, then 20 months old, had recently been diagnosed. ?
Christine is the driving force behind the Apraxia walk, which she organized to raise awareness and funds for research. A self-proclaimed researcher at heart, she devotes hours to ?digging? for new information on the disorder and its treatments. Early intervention, she learned, could have a great impact on the speech development of a child with apraxia.
With the 2nd annual Allentown Walk for Apraxia of Speech approaching on Saturday, Sept. 8, I spoke with Christine ?Roeske for an update on the boys? progress. And I learned just how important therapy has been for them.
?Ethan has made amazing progress,? says Christine. ?He?s now talking in short sentences.? And Jacob ?already has a handful of words.? Ethan has therapy five times a week and Jacob, four. And for both boys, now nearly 4 and 3, respectively, therapy will need to continue for years.
By raising awareness, Christine hopes to help parents whose children have been newly diagnosed with apraxia seek the help their children need. The Roeskes struggled before Ethan was diagnosed. They knew something wasn?t right during his first year of life. He didn?t even babble, yet alone say the much-anticipated words ?mama? and ?papa.? She repeatedly expressed concerns during Ethan?s well visits at the pediatrician. He finally was referred to Dr. Cheryl Tierney, a developmental pediatrician at Hershey medical center, who diagnosed his severe apraxia.
That lead to early intervention with a speech pathologist for Ethan when he was 16 months old. He also learned sign language to communicate his basic needs.
The Allentown Walk for Children with Apraxia of Speech ?is so important to build awareness in the Lehigh Valley for families with newly diagnosed children and those just starting therapy,? says Christine. This year?s walk is 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, at Lone Lane Park, 30 Lone Lane in Upper Macungie Township. Registration begins at 9 a.m. cost is $20 for walkers 18 and older and $10 for walkers under 18.? There also will be games for kids as well as a DJ playing children?s music. Info: www.apraxia-kids.org/allentownwalk.
Last year?s walk raised more than $7,500.
?We?re aiming at least that high again this year,? says Christine.
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