How do we help children with apraxia become “risk-takers” with their speech and communication?
For most of us, and especially for children with severe speech production disorders, risk taking requires trusting that the situation, or person to whom we are communicating, is safe and predictable. It also generally requires that the effort be worth the risk. If these conditions are met most children will attempt to use what speech or communication they have to interact. The major issue, however, is how to create this environment? One proposition is the creation of boundaries. Boundaries, in this context, refer to the physical, mental and emotional conditions that surround the child and are based upon realistic expectations for performance. As a parent it is difficult to always recognize that providing consistent boundaries and expectations for our child is a “good” thing to do. Especially for children with limited or unintelligible speech we often feel the need to protect them from becoming frustrated. Often for parents, feelings of responsibility for the child’s disability make the
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