Five years ago, a Pittsburgh child named Sean Freiburger, diagnosed with the motor speech disorder apraxia, helped launch the first Walk for Children with Apraxia of Speech.
On Saturday, Sept.22, at 10 a.m., local mom Angela Baublitz and her daughter with apraxia, Emma Baublitz, will host a walk at Sandymount Park in Finksburg to help bring awareness to this disorder as well as raise funds to benefit the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a neurological disorder in children that makes it difficult or impossible to accurately produce sounds, syllables and/or words despite having a good understanding of language.
"Emma was diagnosed in April of 2010 when she was four-and-a-half-years-old. She has been in speech therapy since she was 18 months old ... but with many hours of speech therapy, occupational therapy, and the correct diagnosis, she is starting to make improvements," said Angela Baublitz.
"We want to be advocates to other families who are struggling with the news that their child has Apraxia and to help educate our community about what Apraxia is," she said.
The walk is open to all adults and children. On-site registration and check-in will begin at 9:30 a.m., with the walk starting at 10 a.m.
Anyone interested in participating, walking as individuals or team members, may contact Angela Baublitz, at rabaublitz@msn.com, or go to http://www.apraxia-kids.org/baltimorewalk for more information, to register, or to make a donation.
