My Journey from Practitioner to Parent to Advocate Looking back on this journey, I recall the many times I heard, “he will be fine” or “just wait and see, he will talk when he is ready” or “he doesn’t feel the need to talk because you are talking for him”. I don’t think people were…
Parenting Special Needs
My Jack-Attack: An Apraxia Journey
“I had feared the worst with his diagnosis including apraxia and sensory processing disorder but he is proving to me that he is one happy, very smart, successful child. ” Anne Reed, Jack’s mom, studied Psychology at Harvard University and formerly worked in Neurology research at Massachusetts General Hospital. My beautiful, loving and active son,…
Let’s Talk About Poop
“Everybody looks at their poop.” ~Oprah Winfrey Perhaps as a mom who runs a nonprofit for children where poop is a common conversation, it’s not a big deal for me. But I know it’s not like that for most so I’m going to make it easy for you and we are going to talk in…
Apraxia: A Word That Changed My World
The following is the first of a guest blog series by members of the nonprofit Cherab Foundation. “When he got sick, it was hard because he couldn’t tell us what hurt or how bad it hurt.” ~Maria Apraxia… A word that changed my world, but it also gave me answers. It gave a name to…
New Breakthrough In Understanding Apraxia
“People struggle to understand what they say, which has major negative long-term effects on their ability to form social relationships, self-esteem, academic achievements and quality of life.” MCRI speech pathologist Prof Angela Morgan Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The breakthrough isn’t just regarding the FoxP2 gene but prior to sharing the study as it includes information…
Gut Bugs Talk To Your Brain
Is diet the answer to future treatments and even cures for some special needs conditions including apraxia? Research continues to turn up remarkable links between our gut bugs, also known as our microbiome, and the brain. Scientists are finding evidence that microbiome may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, autism, and…
Brain Signals Translated Into Speech
“In this scenario, if the wearer thinks ‘I need a glass of water,’ (or ‘can you help me with this?’) our system could take the brain signals generated by that thought, and turn them into synthesized, verbal speech,” Nima Mesgarani, PhD, senior author for this new study and principal investigator at Columbia University’s Mortimer B. Zuckerman…
Joanna’s Voice For Those Growing Up With Apraxia
“I want people to know that having verbal apraxia doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy your life to the fullest.” ~Joanna Bendel “If you are growing up with apraxia, or you grew up with apraxia, I want you to know that you are not alone. You see, I have it too, which means that we’ve…
Nutrients in blood, in particular, Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, linked to better brain connectivity, cognition
A new study links higher levels of several key nutrients in the blood, in particular, a pattern of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, with more efficient brain connectivity and performance on cognitive tests. There has been misinformation on the internet and in particular by new parents who do not have any background in medicine or…
Microplastics In The Water, Food, And Us Affect Speech Development
Researchers have identified early childhood health impacts including speech and language developmental delays from prenatal exposures to phthalates found in plastic Association of Prenatal Phthalate Exposure With Language Development in Early Childhood Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, PhD et.al, JAMA Pediatr. 2018 Great Pacific Garbage Patch Most of us by now know the ongoing problem of plastics building in our environment and…
