The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Son’s battle inspires Monifieth mum to train as speech therapist
A Monifieth mum is to train as a speech therapist after he her son’s battle with speech dyspraxia.
Luke Hutton was born prematurely in July 2015 and mum Ashley, 38, noticed his speech was not developing as normal when he was around one year old.
She said: “I had lots of experiences with two older children of my own and I just knew that Luke’s speech wasn’t developing at the rate I would have expected.”
As Luke grew and his speech did not progress, Ashley decided to research what was happening and also sought medical help.
Ashley became convinced that her son was suffering from verbal dyspraxia – a speech disability caused by a neurological impairment.
She said: “Effectively it means Luke can’t form the proper sounds for the words he wants to say.
“Luke was eventually diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia. Despite what some people try to say, it is not a speech delay and absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. It’s a disability.”
Ashley gave up her job as a beauty salon owner to concentrate on helping Luke and also plans to train to become a speech therapist herself to help other children in similar situations.
She said: “I’ve decided to speak out to end the stigma attached to this rare and not well-known condition.
“Strangers will talk to Luke and when they don’t understand his reply they get nervous and end the conversation abruptly.
“Kids who struggle with any language disorder need to be spoken to more than anyone.”