United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My son Alec is 10 and was in speech therapy from 1 1/2 years until kindergarten. Many other children with the injury have also required speech therapy. Keep plugging away and your child should show progress!

Jeanne

My son Brandon has had speech since he as 3. Still has speech in school, he's in 2nd grade. They say the speech has nothing to do with the Erbs Palsy.
So why do alot of the children have speech problems?

My child doesnt have speech problems but my OT just left and she mentioned something intertesting. She has 2yr old twins who were premies and are in Speech Therapy. SHe just started taking them to cranio something therapy. She said there is a school of thought that children who had a traumatic birth have speech problems and their lobes need to be aligned. I am not too sure on the details but most of our kids had traumatic entries to the worls.

I have 6 yr old twin grandchildren (not affected by BPI) both very prem. and the boy did have pretty bad speech problems from the start right up until he started nursery school at three..we used to make a joke that his sister did all his talking for him as she has always been a real chatterbox from a very early age...18 months or so.

Hearing tests did reveal that he had very minor hearing problems in lower registers; he also suffers pretty badly with throat and nose problems every winter, possibly linked to the ear problems.

It is always, in my experience, worth getting your childs hearing thoroughly tested out by a specialist if you are seeing some speech problems.

My elder son (now 37! where did THAT time go...!) also had very bad speech problems that later proved to be due to quite severe hearing problems which none of us picked up on at the time.

Lizzy B

its craniosacral therapy. Here's one description of what it is...http://www.craniosacraltherapy.org/Whatis.htm

I don't know if this is a direct result of the birth injury, but my son who is 2 now did have delayes onset of vocalization while trying to cry sometimes when he was an infant. his face would make a crying face, and he would try to cry, but no sound came out. it was strained. He talks well now for a two year old, but I always keep me eyes open for any strained speech.

My 2 cents on this:
I had mild to moderate speech problems all thru childhood and into my teens...you'd NEVER know it now, though!!..... I never had therapy,just kinda outgrew it by shear will power, I guess. At Camp 2005 I talked with the keynote speaker Rear Admiral ??[sorry blanked on the name],who also has OBPI and he told me he had servere speech problems too all thru childhood and lots of speech therapy, grit & determined to go to the Naval Academy,which he did!

I believe it does depend on the nerve damaged,the phrenic nerve sounds about right for me. It never stopped me in my social services career as an adult.
(I'm retired now).
Hugs all around,
Carolyn J
LOBPI, age 67