2009 Wrangell, Alaska Walk for Children with Apraxia of Speech
UNLOCK OUR VOICES; OPEN OUR FUTURE!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
12:00 PM
Shoemaker Park
5 Mile Zimovia Highway
Wrangell, AK. 99929
The CAS Walk is appropriate for children, adults, and families. Choose your distance: 1 Mile, 2 Miles, 3 Miles, 4 Miles (cones/signs marking each turnaround point)
“I came across a picture of a little boy and it spoke to my heart so I just sat down and painted him.”
-Local Painter, Lynda Chadwick
Shortly after my parents surprised us with a painting of Carter, he was diagnosed with CAS, Childhood Apraxia of Speech. At that time, Carter was 3 years old and I had never even heard of CAS, let alone know how to treat it. I just knew that Carter was having difficulty learning how to talk and getting frustrated in the process.
It wasn’t until I found the CASANA website and DVD’s did I start to realize the severity of what we were dealing with. I found out that CAS is a motor speech disorder that 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. It was also recommended that children with CAS receive frequent and intensive speech therapy.
Living on a small island in Southeast Alaska(population of 2000) without specialized services, we’ve had to think outside the box and CASANA continues to help us do that. I personally am thankful for CASANA’s monthly newsletters, online parent message boards, apraxia library, and yearly conferences with CAS Specialists.
Now, at the age of 5, Carter’s favorite saying is “Oh Yea” and we continue to push forward. From time to time I look up at that painting of Carter on our wall “Bubbers” and have faith that he will talk someday. No, it hasn’t been easy…at times it’s been truly difficult, but without the resources and information at my fingertips that CASANA provides, I don’t know where we’d be. I do believe we are on the right path, I only wish we would have been aware of the speech disorder; CAS, when Carter first showed signs of having difficulty speaking.
My hope for the Wrangell, Alaska walk is to bring awareness of CAS to our close knit community and outlying areas one step at a time. Come walk with us to help Carter and other children with CAS…Reach For The Stars!
All proceeds benefit CASANA’s Apraxia Programs and Research.
Register by August 18, 2009 to receive your Apraxia Walk T-shirt!
Wrangell Alaska Walk Coordinators:
Holly Hammer (Carter’s Mom) 874-2652 or 305-0179 hammer6@gci.net
Vicci Martin, 470-4547, viccimac@hotmail.com
