Calgary Apraxia Parent Exchange

Calgary Apraxia Parents Exchange (CAPE) is a registered non-profit organization that is 100% volunteer run (NO ADMIN COSTS), and we organize family events to build a network of support for families affected by Apraxia. Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a severe motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. Instead, the brain has problems planning how to move the body parts (e.g. lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. Children with CAS generally have typical comprehension, behavior, and physical development, but have significant difficulty expressing themselves. Children with CAS generally progress slowly in therapy, require years of intensive therapy in order to communicate their wants and needs, and may have co-occurring learning difficulties (such as reading and writing) due to their severe communication challenges.
Our main event is our summer camp program, Camp CHAOS. In 2016, the Calgary Apraxia Parents Exchange successfully held its first ever summer camp for children with Apraxia. No such camps currently exist in the province (or Western Canada), and these children are generally poorly served by summer camps due to their unique communication challenges. In 2017 we expanded our summer camp program to include more than double the number of children. In 2018 we plan to again expand and plan to host over 60 children in our camp program. It is estimated that 1-2 / 1000 children are affected with Apraxia, or approximately 500-1000 children in Calgary.