When, as an infant, Amber wasn't developing in the way their first child had, her parents looked for answers. Diagnostic testing revealed that low muscle tone was the reason that Amber couldn't hold her head up or hold on to a toy. And the reason she had not started talking the way most children do: Apraxia, a motor speech disorder, was preventing her from planning and pronouncing even small words.
She first came to John Heinz Rehab at six months old, and worked with [therapists] Jean Fredmund, Kristin Sanders and Mary Beth Spellman. Since that time, multiple therapies have helped Amber strengthen her muscles and learn new skills. She has learned to dress herself, to use a crayon to trace the letters of her name, and to speak in two-and three-word sentences. With help from her therapists, and love and support from her family, Amber is succeeding.