Life, Interrupted: Disciplining a Special Needs Child

What do these words mean?

Apraxia of speech is a neurogenic speech disorder characterized by sensorimotor problems in positioning and sequencing the correct sounds of a word. Apraxia is not caused by muscle weakness of neuromuscular slowness. Individuals with apraxia of speech may have difficulty saying what they would like to say.

Augmentative and Alternative Communitcation (AAC) is any device, system or method that improves the ability of a child with communication impairment to communicate effectively. Although AAC is often used to refer to formal communication devices and systems such as sign language, communication boards or voice output communication aids (VOCAs), it can include less sophisticated means of communication such as facial expressions, non-speech vocalizations, idiosyncratic gestures, etc. AAC is used when a child does not develop communication in the normal fashion, or experiences a significant delay in its development. AAC is not merely a substitute for how the child is currently communicating. It is used to augment that communication, replacing only elements that are unintelligible, socially unacceptable, or harmful to the child or others. Ideally, an AAC system includes more than one mode of communication, with the child using whichever is the most efficient given the persons, setting and activity at hand. Very often one of the modes of communication in an AAC program is natural speech.

Central Auditory Processing Disorder is the impaired ability to attend, discriminate, recognize or comprehend auditory information even though hearing and intelligence are within normal limits. Symptoms of Central Auditory Processing Disorder include but are not limited to:1. Individual easily distracted or bothered by loud noises.2. Individual is upset in noisy environments.3. Individual’s performance improves in quieter enviornments.4. Individual has difficulty following simple and complex commands.5. Individual has difficulties with reading, spelling and writing.6. Individual is disorganized.7. Individual has difficulty following conversations.

Phonological processes are techniques used by children to simplify speech when attempting to produce adult words. The phonological processes include:

Deletion of Final ConsonantsExample: cup becomes cu Syllable ReductionExample: telephone becomes telphoneStoppingExample: soup becomes doupGlidingExample: blue becomes bueExample:chair becomes tairVoicingExample: cup becomes gupExample: fishing becomes bishingDeaffricationExample: chair becomes thairExample: orange becomes orandDevoicingExample: frog becomes frokExample: bathtub becomes bathtupFrontingExample: car becomes tarExample: wagon becomes wadon

Phonological Awareness refers to the awareness of the sound structure of language. It is the ability to manipulate and think about the structure of language. Phonological awareness is the knowledge that words are made from sounds. This can affect the following:

1. Syllabification and rhyming as discussed above are the first skills2. Blending sounds into words such as “f--i---sh” is “fish”3. Isolating the beginning or ending sounds in a word i.e. “fish” starts with “f” “boat” ends with “t” 4. Segmenting words into sounds i.e. “what sounds are in the word ‘dish’-d—i—sh”5. Deleting the beginning or ending sound and telling what word remains i.e. “say ‘beat’ now say it again without the ‘b’---eat

Language is used for talking to and with others, to signal needs, intentions, feelings, and thoughts. Language is also used for self-talking (thinking), and for controlling and directing one's own behavior as well as for controlling and directing the behavior of others. It involves the understanding and use of words and word combinations.

Children with autism and related disorders exhibit deficits in social-communication skills such as language, imitation, emotion sharing, play, and social interaction skills. In addition, they also may have some associated behavioral difficulties such as aggression, severe tantrums, difficulty with transitions, self-stimulatory behavior and may exhibit delayed cognitive or self-help skills. When a child has a confirmed or possible diagnosis of autism, the family plays an especially key role in their child's treatment program. We work together with families to support their child's social-communication, behavioral and emotional growth.

Oral motor skills refers to how articulators such as the tongue, lips and muscles of the face work together to produce effective movements. Oral motor skills affect controlling saliva secretions, eating, drinking and speaking.

A language disorder is the impairment in the ability to understand and/or use words in context, both verbally and nonverbally. Some characteristics of language disorders include improper use of words and their meanings, inability to express ideas, inappropriate grammatical patterns, reduced vocabulary and inability to follow directions. One or a combination of these characteristics may occur in children who are affected by language learning disabilities or developmental language delay. Children may hear or see a word but not be able to understand its meaning. They may have trouble getting others to understand what they are trying to communicate. An evaluation will identify your child's difficulty understanding and/or using language. Therapy will help your child learn to use language appropriately and accurately.

In the beginning

It started with a perfect pregnancy, labor was slow, and finally they gave enough petocin to birth a horse. 18 hours after my water broke, they used forceps and my son was born. 41 1/2 weeks. My son was in fetal distress for a long long time and nobody did anything about it until it was too late. He had neonatal seizures and had a 10 day stay in the NICU. He was referred straight into the Birth to 3 program and was in Physical Therapy at age 5 weeks. Now he has severe brain damage but is doing phenomenally well all things considered as a direct result of the Early Intervention Program.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Disciplining a Special Needs Child

How do we know if a bad behavior is just a bad behavior and not something with a medical cause or a result of their disability?

We have mostly figured out what his triggers are for tantrums. The ones out of nowhere dropping to ground for lengthy periods of ime with extreme exhaustion afterwards are probably seizures or just a complete shut down from sensory overload and the subsequent inability to regain his composure. My son can't tolerate change in a civilized manner. If he likes doing something and that activity is over, he can't process (or wasn't able to when he was younger at all, better now) the idea that he can do that particular activity later. He would also tantrum when we were going to do something he couldn't do or do well. Overstimulation would set him off, as he couldn't process all that stimulation. If he wanted to do something (like press the button for the elevator and his younger brother ran in front of him and pressed it first, that would also start a meltdown(understandably)). We do EVERYTHING possible to divert or avoid these meltdowns altogether. When he does something down right mean like hit his brother for no apparent reason (obvious jealousy) then we discipline. We also do a strong behavior mod. regimine with him. If he acts out we sternly tell him that it is not ok to act like that, explain what is happening and what to expect in certain situations that may be new to him. I am not perfect, I have many parenting faults. Right now, and for the past 3 years we have been toilet training. I have tried every method, read countless books, consulted many specialists. My son does not poop in thepotty at home. I have in sheer desperation scolded him too loudly, and perhaps too often. Figuring out disciplining, not knowing what is behavioral and what is my son's frustration or disabilty or possible seizure...and how to react to it is one of the hardest struggles I have had to face to date.

Life, Interrupted

What do these words mean?

In the beginning

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Disciplining a Special Needs Child

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