Our Nephew, Ben

I have one of the cutest, most loving nephew's out there. Actually, we are lucky because all of our nieces and nephews are pretty amazing but I may be biased.

However, right now I want to talk a little about Ben. He is such a cute kid. His parents were excited to know they were having another child. Ben seemed like a needy child. He always wanted to be held, be close to someone. Knowing him now, I believe it is because of his loving nature.

Ben loves to play with other kids. He loves his family. One of my favorite things is to watch how excited he gets when Sammi or any other cousin comes to play. I love when he runs over to give me a hug.

Ben is a little older than Sammi. Sammi started making noises, sounds, and speaking what is considered about average for her age. Ben would make a few noises but really struggled when it came to forming sounds and words. I know it was hard for his parents, especially to hear Sammi ask for things and express herself and not have Ben do the same.

After a lot of stressing, worrying, tests, and doctors' visits, he has been given a preliminary diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech. "Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder that first becomes apparent as a young child is learning speech. For reasons not yet fully understood, children with apraxia of speech have great difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for intelligible speech. Apraxia of speech is sometimes called verbal apraxia, developmental apraxia of speech, or verbal dyspraxia. No matter what name is used, the most important concept is the root word “praxis.” Praxis means planned movement. To some degree or another, a child with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech has difficulty programming and planning speech movements. Apraxia of speech is a specific speech disorder. This difficulty in planning speech movements is the hallmark or “signature” of childhood apraxia of speech." (www.apraxia-kids.org)

Ben says very little. There are stories of success and hope that one day he will speak like other kids.  However, there are some stories with a different outcome. Whatever happens in Ben's life, I know that he will be loved and he will be giving love to others because that is the kind of boy he is.

I hope Ben and his parents know how much they are loved and I want to do what I can to help so I wanted to share a little with you and ask that if you can help, go to www.apraxia-kids.org to learn and help.

The easiest way to donate to the group is to shop through Amazon using this link. Please help as they continue to search for ways to help these kids looking for ways to best express themselves.

Helping out

Here is my annual post about helping out in the community. I have added to my donation and volunteer website list. I haven't added it but if you have ever attended the Festival of Trees and wanted to help out, here is the link to see how you can help.

Side note: I heard from one of the events organizers that the Utah Festival of Trees for Primary Children's Hospital is the only one that runs on all donations and volunteers. Other states and locations have trouble receiving support and many times have tried to see what this one does and offers that makes it so popular.

I think now it this perfect time to start thinking about this stuff. You still have plenty of time to work any costs into budgets or plan or whatever. I know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are the big giving times but shouldn't we always be willing to help out.

Season of Giving

Lately I have felt a great desire to give and donate towards a good cause. I'm not sure what the trigger was but I have really just wanted to buy stuff to give away for those in true need. So I did a little research and found some websites with good information about donations they accept or ways to volunteers. Most of these even go on year round.

Candy Cane Corner and their wish list this season. I hear this place is great because you tour the facility when you drop off your donation.
Primary Children's Hospital is always looking for items to help children and their families who have extended stays.
The Road Home takes care of homeless families.
United Way has tons of resources for volunteering throughout the community.
Utah Food Bank
Also, many hospitals and first responders accept new or gently used stuffed animals to give to children involved in a trauma.

I like these because they are simple for an individual or great for larger groups.

Please let me know of any other places or ideas you know of or like to donate to.