Kids with apraxia have a hard time speaking, but at a new camp in Calgary, they can take it at their own pace.
The disorder is rare, only one or two cases in a thousand, and for the eight kids enrolled in the program, making new friends can be a challenge.
“The part of their brain that typically sequences all the really precise movements of the lips, tongue and jaw in order to make speech isn't working properly for whatever reason,” said Julianne Le Quelenec, Speech Language Pathologist.
As a result, their speech comes out garbled, which is frustrating because the children generally have normal intelligence and want to communicate.
Five year old Fox Kostenuk has apraxia, which is why his mother organized the camp. She says he didn’t benefit from a regular camp last year, but is making huge strides at the new camp this year.
“I was commenting at the end of the week that he made a leap, I've never heard him speak so much in one week, and we had new words coming,” said Natasha Kostenuk. “They leap and plateau throughout their therapy and it was a big leap.”
Fox and his mom are already looking forward to next year's camp. You can learn more about apraxia here.
