So tell me what you think...

I mentioned in my last blog that I will be co-coordinating the Baltimore Area Apraxia walk this year.  This is something that is so near and dear to my heart because of my son.  I was asked to write a "blurb" to put on the main Area Website that tells about Avery and Apraxia with a picture of him.  This is what I came up with.  I'd LOVE any comments you can share! Good, bad, or ugly!  I know I can count on you!

This is Avery.  Avery is a bright, sweet, loving 3 year old boy.  Avery loves all the typical boy things.  He loves to wrestle, rough house, climb, dig, and play with trucks.  Like a typical child Avery loves all things Curious George and trains. What sets Avery apart from the typical child you would never know unless you tried speaking to him.

At 3 years old Avery has the expressive language of a 1 1/2 year old.  Avery receives private speech therapy and will require intensive private speech therapy for quite some time.  Avery talks up a storm, but a perfect stranger can only understand 10-20% of any of the words Avery says.  Avery has Speech Apraxia.

Speech Apraxia is a neurologically based motor speech disorder.  Apraxia causes children to have difficulty making sounds, syllables, and words. The brain knows what the child wants to say, but there is a problem getting the signals needed to move the child’s lips, jaw, and tongue in order to produce speech. Children with apraxia of speech require frequent and intensive speech therapy designed to improve the planning, sequencing, and coordination of oral muscle movements for speech.

Think how wonderful it is to hear the first time your child's gentle little voice says 'I love you'. My son Avery has yet to say those three sweet words but with the help of CASANA (Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America) and many others he is on his way to learning how. Please help us raise awareness.

In addition, all proceeds from this walk-a-thon will benefit CASANA research and projects for children like Avery


So?!  Tell me what you think.