Why We walk for Apraxia Kids!
Finding His Words… Sharing His Voice
This is Walker. He's six years old, a first grader, a sports fanatic, a loving little brother, and quite possibly the friendliest person you'll ever meet. He truly doesn't know a stranger.
Walker has Apraxia of Speech, and our family is excited to participate in the Apraxia Kids Walk this October as Team Walkie Talkies.
Walker has been working on his speech since he was 18 months old. Around age 3½, he began working weekly with a speech therapist who specializes in Apraxia, and the progress he's made since then has been incredible.
But when we think about Walker's journey, what stands out most isn't how much his speech has changed.
It's how much Walker has always had to share.
His personality has never been limited by his speech. His expressive face says plenty. His excitement is impossible to miss. He loves sports, school, his sister, his friends, and just about anyone willing to say hello back to him.
And he has worked incredibly hard to give that personality more and more words.
There have been countless hours of therapy, practice, patience, and determination. Walker has put in that work week after week, year after year. Not because anyone told him he had to—but because he wanted to communicate, connect, and be understood.
We're incredibly proud of him.
We're also incredibly grateful for the people who have helped him along the way, especially his speech therapist, Kim, and Walker's mom, Kylie.
Kylie has been the constant throughout this journey. For more than two years, she took Walker to therapy every week, spent countless hours learning about Apraxia, and found ways to bring what he learned in therapy into our home. If Walker is reason 1A for how far he's come, Kylie is undoubtedly reason 1B.
Our family is brand new to the Apraxia Kids community. Until now, we've largely navigated this journey independently. We're excited to join a community of families who understand this experience and, just as importantly, to help make sure other families don't have to navigate it alone.
That's why we're walking.
We're walking for Walker.
We're walking for all of the Apraxia Stars who are working every day to find and share their voices.
We're walking to support the families, professionals, researchers, and advocates working to create better support and opportunities for children with Apraxia.
And we're walking because we believe in something pretty simple:
Every child deserves a voice.
We also believe that if you can, you should.
If our fundraising helps even one family find the support, resources, or a speech therapist like Kim who can make a difference in their child's journey, then every dollar raised will be worth it.
We'd love for you to join Team Walkie Talkies—whether that's by walking alongside us, sharing Walker's story, or making a donation.
Thank you for being part of Walker's voice.
