My son is 2 yrs and 10 months and i've just been told he has Verbal Dyspraxia.

Mylene - posted on 09/09/2010

If you can afford it, I would bring him to a chiropractor. As Nicky said, if the communication between the brain and the mouth is slower or faulty, chiropractic adjustments can improve the communication of the nerves and help improve his speech.

Amy - posted on 09/09/2010

My son had just turned two and had the same diagnosis. He is very bright, but was not speaking the way he should have been. In fact, he had started creating his own language to communicate with me. He is also a perfectionist type personality so he had a hard time trying things he knew he couldn't do well. Speech therapy was a must. He worked so hard to develop every new sound. Be encouraging and postive. Tell him how proud you are of his hard work. Do not correct him on everything, only on what the therapist is currently working on or words you know he can handle. Translate for him when dealing with people that don't understand him so that he can continue to develop relationships with others that might not understand him My son is now about to turn 7, he is in first grade and the speech therapist does not think he needs intervention any longer. You would never know that he spent 4+ years in speech therapy and I am so glad that we started therapy young so there is no social stigma at school. It was one of the best parenting decisions we made. Be patient and good luck.

Shanna - posted on 09/08/2010

Thank you Tracey,Nicky and Amanda.I have him in play group once a week at the moment and he loves it.He is very outgoing and friendly with other people and his teachers say he plays very well with other children.It's other peoples reactions that are upsetting when he talks to people in the supermarket and he gets ignored or they say 'cant understand a word you said'.But at least now i have a name for it and maybe explain it to them.We have exercises to do with him as often as he'll allow.At the moment it's just oo's and ahh's without the g in front.Amanda how does your son talk now?

Amanda - posted on 09/08/2010

My son had this, good rules are.

Always let your son finish what he is trying to say, even if it takes him forever (and it will). When he does say things right make a big deal about it. Do not fill in the blanks for him (no matter how much you like to). If he says anything incorrectly, repeat it back to him correctly (do not ask him to repeat it, he will when he feels comfy with the word).

He will get frustrated (because he knows very well what he wants to say, but the messages aren’t getting to his mouth in a speedy order). When he gets upset, have him relax, and start over again. If he’s to upset to even speak, have him sit down and breath it out.

Don’t dumb things down for him, just because he cant verbally express himself, he fully understands you and others!!

Ask his speech therapist what you can do at home to help him along, she will know whats best for his delay, and every appointment see if theres any changes you need to also change at home.

Nicky - posted on 09/08/2010

Hi Shanna,



In my previous life (BC...Before Children ;-p) I was a teacher of Special Needs children & have taught several children with verbal dyspraxia. The thing with verbal dyspraxia is that the kids know what they want to say, they just can't get their mouths coordinated to actually say it, either due to a lack of communication between the brain & the mouth muscles or due to a planning break down in the communication centre of the brain.

I found two things that really helped my students.

1. Teaching sign language or using a picture cuing system like Compic or Makaton. These things give the kids a way of planning & organising what they want to say without having to rely on speech. They provide language support and go a long way to reduce frustration. When used in conjunction with other therapies they do nothing to stop oral language development so there is no need to worry.

2. Physical training: I'm sure your speech therapist will give you exercises to do with your son. The more you train the muscles of his mouth & tongue, the more he will learn to articulate the sounds that he is having trouble with.

Sneaky - posted on 09/08/2010

Sorry, I don't have any experience with verbal dyspraxia but I want to offer you support anyway! My big baby girl has a receptive language delay (couldn't understand what we were saying to her) so she didn't talk much. The advice I got was to get her into preschool for as many days per week I could afford and start her on speech pathology - she is four now and she is blossoming so well: lots of talking (I have trouble getting her to shut up!) and were she was really shy at pre-school to start with she now has lots of friends and is starting to interact socially at about the right level for her age.

Pre-school is probably a good idea too because they should have the systems in place to be able to refer him onto other support services if needed. Your speech pathologist should be able to give you 'home work' for you and him too :o)

Try not to stress too much. Other kids have gone through this too and at least he has a supporting and caring mum who will help him through it - he will be fine!