Helping Lachlan move forward.

lachlan is a 14 Year old 

with multiple disorders

And needs support moving forward.

1. Autism spectrum disorder.

2. Childhood apraxia of speech disorder.

3. Severe expressive language disorder.

4. Low adaptive functioning.

5. Learning difficulties.

 6.Mysophobia fear of germs

7.Hyperintensities (spots) on frontal lobe of brain.

8. Speech sound disorder.

9. Sleep apnea

10. Panic attacks

11. Social anxiety and depression.

12.Visual-motor integration disorder.

13. Borderline Receptive language disorder 

14. Orbitofrontal syndrome

15. Celiac disease

 Lachlan is needing multiple therapies each week that I just can't afford as I'm trying to also raise four other children.

Due to Lachlan having so many different disorders unfortunately he needs more treatments then normal to target each different disorder. 

The therapies are speech twice a week.

Occupational therapy once a week.

Behavioural therapy twice a week

 psychiatrist once a fortnight.

And the cost don't stop there.

Alot of people say to me I know what autism is but what is Childhood Apraxia?

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is an uncommon speech disorder in which a child has difficulty making accurate movements when speaking. In CAS , the brain struggles to develop plans for speech movement.

In order for speech to occur, messages need to go from your brain to your mouth When a child has apraxia of speech, the messages do not get through correctly.

 The child might not be able to move their lips or tongue in the right ways Sometimes, the child might not even be able to say much at all.

A child with CAS knows what they want to say. The problem is not how the child thinks but how the brain tells the mouth muscles to move.

That would be so frustrating.

C.A.S is not a problem that children outgrow. A child with CAS will not learn speech sounds in typical order and will not make progress without treatment. It can take a lot of work, but the child’s speech can improve.

Signs and Symptoms

does not always say words the same way every time

tends to put the stress on the wrong syllable or word;

distorts or changes sounds; or

can say shorter words more clearly than longer words.

Lachlan is now 14 and can olny talk so many words and the olny way it can get better is from intensive therapies.

As shown in the letters

without the right amount of therapies and treatments Lachlan will just keep falling behind.

It brakes my heart to be honest having to ask for help.

His medication is $125 a week 

To see his specialist is $330 every 3 weeks 

Brain scans every 3 months under anaesthetic to keep a eye on the spots on his brain $450 

The cost of each different therapy 5 times a week is between $170-200 a session.

So around $900 a week sometimes even more if the session goes longer depending on Lachlans mood.

The cost of special needs education is not cheap and it cost $11,897 a year for a social worker to help with his anxieties to help him out in the community once a week.

Therapeutic horseback riding $110 a fortnight.

Cost of psychiatrist every fortnight $380

The app for his iPad to help him communicate with people is $800 a year.

$75 a month to keep internet on the iPad just for him.

And really who can afford all this when you also need to keep up with rent, bills, and the cost of everyday living.

Lachlan has multiple disorders and disabilities and it can be extremely hard to deal with on your own let alone stressing about the cost of his treatments and everything he needs.

Lachlan deserves a voice

Without the right amount of help Lachlan will keep falling backwards.

So I ask please if you are able to help put a smile on Lachlans face help him move forward and reach his fall potential it would be highly appreciated.

Unfortunately I'm unable to do any of this on my own anymore. 

Lachlan will need support for the rest of his life.

 It will take years of hard intensive treatments and therapies to help him have a better understanding of the world and reach his full potential but without support it's not possible 

Any support is highly appreciated dealing with all this on top of cost is just to much for one person to deal with on your own.

More letters in updates.