In part one I was telling you about my daughter’s speech problems with enunciation, sentence structure, and using the correct form of a noun or a verb in her sentences. Sometimes it can be very frustrating for her when she is trying to communicate a thought, but it can also be very frustrating for the listener, which is usually me, trying to figure out what she is saying.

So I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that these problems also show up in her written work. She will frequently leave out words in her sentences. One of her favorite words to leave out is am. For example, her sentence would say, “I singing beautifully.”

She also will forget to use the plural form of a noun or forget to use the past tense of a verb, etc. An example might be, “I walk yesterday to all my friend house.” I’ve tried to get her to read her sentences out loud to herself to see if they make sense. When I read them out loud to her she immediately knows what they need to sound right. She either doesn’t remember to read them out loud to herself, or when she reads them out loud, she reads them the way she meant them and not the way she actually wrote them.

Another problem is spelling. You don’t know how many times I’ve given her the spelling word “what.” If I ask her to spell it verbally, she can get it right every time. But when she uses it in a sentence inevitable her sentence will say “Whut time is it?” I know that is the way it sounds. So at least if you read her sentence you’ll be able to figure out what she is trying to say and that is a benefit.

The problem seems to also affect her reading ability. Maybe it’s because she frequently reads words phonetically and thinks they mean something different than they do. I can’t be exactly sure, but she really struggles with following written directions, especially if there is more than one. She also struggles with pulling information from one or two paragraphs to answer a specific question about the paragraph. Because of these factors her oral reading skills are not very good, so one would expect that she would shy away from chances to read in public. She however has no such qualms.

When she attended public school her teachers mentioned it to me more that once. She doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks of her reading skills, she just wants her turn to read. She’s read a Bible passage to the congregation, and reads her paragraph during Sunday school. Other child ask to have their reading turn skipped, but not her she’s very happy as long as she gets her turn. Since she is thirteen and participates in the junior high class you’d think that would be embarrassing, but I guess not to her.

You can read more about developmental Aprxia at:
verbal Apraxia
Developmental Apraxia of Speech