Girl With A Funny Accent

At first thought of a disability or a disorder, what do you think of? Personally, like most, it's natural to associate it with a deformity, a fault, and generally a weakness. Right? After the past National Conference with CASANA along with the popularity of this blog, others asked my parents and myself how I grew my confidence, especially with a speech disorder like Apraxia. Note that this isn't my favorite topic, my confidence is just a part of who I am as a person and frankly, it's just life. To me it's not really "special," it just simply is present. However, I can recognize the fact that my confidence is something that is hard to come by on an Apraxia Journey. When you can't speak until 7, it sets you on a certain, challenging path. Then, to make things better, speaking for the rest of your life with an accent you can't seem to get rid of...It's understandable to be shy, reserved, and specifically intimidated about public speaking a

There have even several posts lately about other children asking yours why they speak funny, why they have an accent, or-basically- why they speak the way that they do. The child is left humiliated and the parent bamboozled as to why anyone would ask such a thing. This period is usually after the child is no longer nonverbal, but just before completely clear articulation. It's when, personally, I find other kids to be the harshest critics and they lack what we know as a 'filter.' For instance, as adults, we know not to ask the guy in the wheelchair, why he's in a wheelchair. As children, we see a guy in a wheelchair and want to know why he needs it, how he uses it, and often proceed to ask him aloud, "Hey dude, why are you in that and why can't you walk?" Kids say the darndest things, right? Anyways, as far as your own children who may encounter this awkward situation, it's probably helpful for you to understand what it's like to be asked,