Walk aims to raise awareness of speech disorder in children

The 2018 Texarkana Walk for Apraxia takes place at 10:15 a.m. Oct. 6 at Wright Patman Lake, Sportsman’s Cover in Texarkana, Texas. Registration starts at 9 a.m.

The purpose of the walk is to raise awareness of apraxia of speech, a severe neurological speech disorder that affects a person’s ability to clearly and correctly produce syllables and words despite having a good understanding of language. Approximately one in 1,000 children has apraxia.

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,” said Carla Wood, walk coordinator. “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, they say.

Collective increased awareness means that children will be diagnosed faster, resulting in better, earlier intervention.

For more information, visit 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, a national 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity 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.