The Rhea County Commission stands behind the family of County Assessor of Property Debbie Byrd whose grandchild Oliver Byrd has been diagnosed with Apraxia. From left, Mrs. Byrd, her son Brandon Byrd, his wife Catrina holding their son Oliver, County Executive Jim Vincent, Abigayle Byrd, Danny Byrd, Jimmy Byrd, Connie Byrd and Ryan Byrd.
The Rhea County Commission has set May 14 as Childhood Apraxia Speech Day in Rhea County.
The proclamation signed by the commission and County Executive Jim Vincent was presented to the Byrd family.
Childhood apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult for children to speak. Children with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech generally have a good understanding of the language and know what they want to say. However, they have difficulty learning or carrying out the complex sequence pf movements that are necessary for intelligible speech. In other words, they don’t know what muscles are needed to move which mouth parts in what order to be able to speak. This is the hardest part for kids with apraxia.
Childhood apraxia of speech is an extremely challenging speech disorder that affects 1-in-1,000 children. Childhood apraxia of speech causes children to have significant difficulty learning to speak and is among the most severe speech deficits in children. The act of learning to speak comes effortlessly to most children, those with apraxia require early, appropriate, and intensive speech therapy, often for many years to learn to speak. Children with apraxia will have diminished communication skills, but are also placed at high risk for secondary impacts in reading, writing, spelling, and other school-related skills.