CD Gives Song to Kids With Speech Disorder

Julie Andrews said it in “The Sound of Music”: When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything.

Now some Pittsburgh musicians are trying to prove it is true, even for youths with a speech disorder that keeps them from singing when the songs are too fast or the words too complex.

Two parents of children with the disorder apraxia rounded up musicians, including the musical director at public television’s “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” to produce a compact disc, “Time to Sing.”

Some words were changed to make the songs easier. For example, “shoulders” was changed to “tummy” in the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” because the “sh” sound in “shoulders” is hard to make.

The songs have been slowed down to make them easier for youths with apraxia to sing. The disorder makes it difficult to put words in order and to move muscles to make the sounds for songs.

Robert Moir, one of the producers, said his 2-year-old son, Colin, was heartbroken when he could not sing the “I Love You” song from purple dinosaur Barney’s show. Colin’s speech therapist, David Hammer, helped pick the songs for the CD.

“We wanted to make this a tape where many of the songs were as easily singable to kids with speech and language problems as possible,” Hammer said.

Money from the sales of the CD will go to the Center for Creative Play, a Pittsburgh nonprofit that runs support groups for parents.

Moir said youths with apraxia should be able to speed up gradually once they learn songs at a slower speed.

“They may never be able to sing it at the fastest tempo, but once they learn it they can sing it with their friends,” he said.

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Childhood Apraxia Speech Assn.: https://www.apraxia-kids.org