I have a little boy.  A cute little boy who arrived a month early, couldn’t breathe for two years through his nose, and couldn’t hear for one year..well he heard you but as if he was swimming under water, that jumbled kind of talking, and we found out he had sleep apnea.

This little boy had surgery and it fixed his breathing and it fixed his hearing.  It didn’t fix the fact he had been keeping his mouth open the last two years and so his mouth muscles were very weak and it didn’t fix his mild hypotonia either.

We got our little boy into speech and mommy went back to work full time to make sure we could pay for it.  He was originally diagnosed with Apraxia and Mild Hypotonia.

Today his diagnosis is different…..Mild Hypotonia and Dysarthria which does make more sense.  He really does try and talk to you and he is so smart but he can’t form the words because his mouth muscles are very weak.  Did you know the two can play hand in hand with each other as well?

Does this mean no more speech?  Actually quite the opposite.  It means that even though we are trying to receive services through LAUSD that I’m also thinking of keeping him in speech for the two days a week as well.

Is this good news?  Yes, this means if at home and in speech we work with him on talking and using his mouth muscles correctly because boy can he talk to us not only will his one or two word answers sound great but so will his long sentences.

It was seen at the assessment at LAUSD that his Mild Hypotonia was showing and THEY yes, LAUSD request an OT assessment.  This made me happy because he is a clumsy little boy but you wouldn’t know with his lack of fear to climb up and jump off everything.

So Super Secret Liam Pants has a few set backs….He’s still doing so much better then before….He can breathe….He can hear…..and for that I’m so grateful!

To find out more on Dysarthria here is a link to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association  and to find out more about Hypotonia you can visit this link at Healthline