This October, members of our Apraxia Kids Staff, Board, and Professional Advisory Council traveled from all over the world to meet up with Mikey Akers from “Mikey’s Wish: Verbal Dyspraxia Awareness” and his family in London, England in the United Kingdom. This was such an amazing opportunity to bring further awareness to apraxia on a global stage.

Mikey, with the help of his Parliamentarian Saqib Bhatti, former football star and adult with acquired apraxia Chris Kamara, and the Royal College of Speech Language Therapists (RCSLT) are working to make changes to increase funding and awareness for verbal dyspraxia, and to also change the name from verbal dyspraxia to childhood apraxia of speech. Here in the United States, we know apraxia as Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). In the United Kingdom, apraxia is called Verbal Dyspraxia (VD) instead. The recognition of the diagnosis, treatment, funding, supports, etc. all differ slightly between the UK’s verbal dyspraxia and US’s childhood apraxia of speech, so having one consistent diagnosis and name is a great starting point. 

Apraxia Kids was invited to attend a Parliamentary Reception while in London. Saqib Bhatti, Mikey Akers, and Chris Kamara addressed the audience with impassioned speeches. Apraxia Kids Staff, Board, and Professional Advisory Council members, including researchers and leaders in the apraxia field, spoke with members of the Royal College of Speech Language Therapists and Parliament to convey who Apraxia Kids is, our mission, the programs and services we provide, and why this is so important for the families in the United Kingdom.  

We also enjoyed a boat ride on the River Thames with speech therapists and apraxia families. We had such a wonderful time connecting with apraxia stars and hearing their families’ stories. We learned so much from them and know there is much work to be done to ensure all families can access the same types of helpful education and supports. This push for increased funding and therapy is so important as currently the NHS only provides a limited amount of therapy sessions a year which is not enough to successfully treat apraxia.

Before we parted ways with Mikey, we asked him a few questions to recap our time together. 

Apraxia Kids (AK): How do you see Apraxia Kids supporting Mikey’s Wish and what does that mean to you?
Mikey (M): Having Apraxia Kids support me gives me so much hope that in the future we can work together to get children who are starting their journey with apraxia the supports that they actually need. It can only get better from now on. 

AK: What impact do you think that Apraxia Kids can bring to help your movement forward?
M: I think that Apraxia Kids could bring what you do over in America to the UK and give some research and supports for families and professionals. So hopefully we can bring that here. 

AK: In your words, what does the partnership that we have formed over the last few years mean to you personally?
M: For me it means so much. It makes going over to America for the conference worth it as getting that relationship with you guys formed. It’s been so good, and any support you can give me will be amazing for these children and hopefully give more hope to families who’ve only just started their journey.

We have been lucky enough to develop our relationship with Mikey over the years, as Mikey said, from attending our National Conferences. We have always been in awe of all the incredible awareness, education, support, and advocacy Mikey has worked hard to provide local families, as well as the apraxia community as a whole, but this experience in London just blew us away. We are so proud of the hard work Mikey has already accomplished and are excited to see what comes next. We, too, are full of hope that we can continue to work together to make sure families can all access the supports they need. It can only get better from now on.

Read more from Mikey and follow Mikey’s Wish on Facebook (Mikey’s Wish) and Instagram (@mikey’s_wish). Catch up on Parliament videos as Saqib Bhatti addressed his peers in Parliament on the issues presented and continues to work with Mikey and Chris Kamara to further their advocacy work.