Our National Conference this past July was a huge success with our theme being “Find Hope, Give Hope”. One of the most inspiring stories shared at the conference comes from our friend in the UK, Mikey Akers! Mikey was one of our speakers and he brought his mother, brother Ben, and best friend Josh, to Texas with him. Mikey, Ben, and Josh’s session was titled “Apraxia: A Lived Experience of the Impact it has on Relationships with Siblings and Friends.” We were thrilled to see that Mikey has such a great and supportive friend joining him as he raises awareness and helps educate our community on being a young adult with apraxia.

We asked Mikey to share more about his friendship to help celebrate Friendship Month!

How did you meet Josh?

I met Josh at school through mutual friends when we were 8 years old. We would play tig, football (soccer), and other playground games in a larger friendship group. We have been inseparable ever since, making us best friends for 14 years!

What makes Josh such a great friend?

What initially made Josh such a great friend was that he never gave in, even when the conversation was just one sided with him putting all the work in. He just kept chipping away and gaining my trust. Now it is how he supports me with my ‘wish’ to raise awareness of apraxia. He has traveled to America with me twice to speak at the Apraxia Kids Conference and he attends all my events.

What is your favorite thing about your friendship with Josh?

Josh and I share our love of football, both playing and watching, but I guess my favorite thing that makes him a great friend is that I can be 100% myself in front of him. We can be in each other’s company and be silent for a prolonged amount of time when it’s too much effort to talk without it feeling awkward. He just understands.

What advice would you give to children with apraxia of speech regarding making friends?

That’s a hard one to answer because making friends when you have apraxia of speech can be hard. Talking to people when you know that they are probably not going to understand you is not easy so my advice would be to try to be friends with the children who have similar interests and take the time to talk to you. If you want to be friends with someone and attempt to talk to them, if they persevere with the communication difficulties then they are the friends you want. All my friends had to make the first move. They had to painstakingly break down the protective wall I put up and gain my trust. Not everyone persevered but that meant the ones who did really were true friends.

What do you wish everyone knew about children with apraxia?

One thing that I wish people knew about children with apraxia is that they are the same as every other child. They have the same wants, needs, and desires. They can do everything any other child can do. They can be amazing friends. They just struggle to talk.

How can friends without apraxia of speech support their Apraxia Star friends?

That’s easy, just treat us the same as any other friend. Celebrate our successes and support us when things are hard. Be there for us and give us the time we need to talk. Most importantly, accept us for who we are.

What would you say to parents who want to help their children make friends?

I would recommend that they encourage their child to join a club of some sort, anything that their child is interested in (I joined a football team with Josh). Then they will have something in common with other children which will help enable some form of communication. It was football that Josh and I managed to bond over and 14 years after we first met, we still play on the same team today (when I’m not injured).

Thank you to Mikey for sharing his story with us! We are absolutely thrilled to be coming to the U.K. later in October!

To follow Mikey and learn more about his advocacy follow him at: https://www.facebook.com/mikeyswish/