WALK IN OCTOBER TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CHILDREN WITH APRAXIA
Apraxia of Speech is a severe neurological speech disorder that affects roughly 1 in 1000 children. It affects the child’s ability to clearly and correctly produce syllables and words.
The 2018 Texarkana Walk for Apraxia event will be held on October 6, 2018 at the Lake Wright Patman, Sportsman's Cove to benefit children with apraxia of speech. Registration begins at 9:00 AM with the Walk beginning at 10:15 AM.
According to the Press Release, Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a very challenging and complicated neurological speech disorder in children. This little-known disorder makes it difficult or impossible for children to accurately produce sounds, syllables, and/or words despite having a good understanding of language. The Walk for Apraxia® is held across the country as a means to heighten awareness and funding in the hopes that all children with apraxia may have access to the support they need to find their voices.
“My husband and I decided to coordinate a walk because we wanted to educate our community on Apraxia and develop a circle of support for those families that were experiencing what we were,” shared Walk Coordinator, Carla Wood. “The Walk has done exactly as we had hoped. It has created a local support network, not only for us but for other families like us. It has also created a network of support across the community through education and awareness, something that the community was in desperate need of.”
Raising awareness is one of the most tangible ways that communities at large can help children with apraxia thrive. Collective increased awareness means that children will be diagnosed faster, resulting in better, earlier intervention. Anyone interested in covering this event or the story of the Walk Coordinator can contact carlap.wood@icloud.com or visit the event website at http://community.apraxia-kids.org/texarkanawalk. The Walk is open to all adults and children. All proceeds will benefit important apraxia programs and research of Apraxia Kids.
About Apraxia Kids
Apraxia Kids, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and founded in 2000, is the only national 501(c)3 non-profit public charity exclusively dedicated to the needs and interests of children with apraxia of speech and their families. Apraxia Kid’s mission is to improve the systems of support in the lives of children with apraxia so that each child is afforded their best opportunity to develop speech. Apraxia Kids supports this mission by promoting awareness through Walks held all over North America; providing high quality information and support through the Apraxia Kids website and online communities; conducting multiple educational events; and funding apraxia research. For more information on Apraxia Kids and Childhood Apraxia of Speech, visit the Apraxia Kids website at http://www.apraxia-kids.org.