Fite, thanks so much for your thoughts on this--very interesting. I will have to do some research on apraxia as I know nothing about it other than what I've gleaned here from your posts.
You mention yourself not speaking until age 3--my DS8 is very different in that regard. Of my three kids, he spoke the earliest. Amazingly early, especially for a boy--and extra especially for a preemie (I was told to expect all of his development to be slightly delayed; instead he did everything early). He said his first word at six months, spoke something like 25 words at 8-9 months, simple sentences by 11 months, long and complex sentences by 18 months, and they were clear and fluent too. (Example: "Mommy, what is that man doing over there by the car?" or "The girl in this book saw a funny monkey eating a banana at the zoo.")
His hesitation/stumbling in speech is not something I notice all the time. Most of the time it's not there, just sometimes. I notice it mostly when he's reading aloud. And the gasping for breath tends to happen when he's telling a "story" or describing something that is long and involved.
Also, he tends to make descriptions far more involved than necessary! For example, where another child might say "I fell and bumped my knee and it hurts a lot," this is what DS8 might say:
"I was starting to go upstairs because I wanted to put these Legos away in my room like you ask me to because I'm trying to be, be, you know, more responsible, and I was hurrying (gasp for air) because I didn't want it to take so long because there's a new Avatar on soon and I want to see it because if I don't see it tonight I don't know when it will be on again. I mean, I know they always show reruns but I don't (gasp for air) know exactly when and I don't want to miss it, and, and then [sister's name] yelled really loud to come see something in her room and distracted me, and she didn't need to yell because I was right there on the (gasp for air) stairs. I hate when she does that because she doesn't always have to be so loud and how many times have you and Dad told her that already? And, um, but, so she yelled and I was going upstairs and I had my hands full of Legos and I didn't, didn't, um, notice that someone (gasp for air) left a shoe on the steps, it was my shoe, one of my blue sneakers, not the old sneakers with, with the laces missing but those new ones, um, Nana got me before, before school started, I think, you know which ones I mean? Okay, and I don't know who left it there 'cause I know I put them (gasp for air) away like I'm supposed to. And then, uh, I, uh, I was yelling back at [sister] to wait a minute and then I tripped over the shoe and fell and (gasp for air) I hit my knee on the step, the third step from the top or it might have been the fourth, and I hit it really hard. I almost hit my nose, too, but I lifted my head up at the last second so, so, uh, it wouldn't be a big catastrophe and you'd have to take me to the hospital and get stitches (gasp for air) or something, like when you had that bike accident and hit your nose on the street. But I hit my knee really hard and I pulled up my pant leg and looked and there's some skin scraped off and it's bleeding a little, not a lot, but I (gasp for air) I think I should get a bandaid and some Neosporin, because it really hurts a lot, and I'll probably have a big bruise there tomorrow. And now there's Legos all over the stairs and I think [sister] should have to pick them up because she's probably the one who left my shoe there because I remember yesterday she was (gasp for air) using it as a boat for her pink unicorn, the one she got for Christmas in her stocking. This year, not last year. And can you get, um, get me the baidand because it hurts when I walk."
Whew!
GG
