Apraxia of Speech

   At one time, I made regular visits to a child whose tentative diagnosis was apraxia, though another person thought it might be selective mutism.  I don't know if these conditions are in the same spectrum or not. I was only an observer.
   The child was quite beautiful, and seemed to behave normally in other aspects of behavior. She eagerly performed childhood learning activities, which she looked forward to, and sometimes she would cry when I left, as she wanted to do more.
  One day I drove her mother to the store. She was in the back seat with her younger brother. . The day was rainy, so her mother ran into the store, leaving the kids in the car with me. They wanted to go with her, and began protesting, in the manner of young children, whining and crying. 
   In an attempt to calm them, I told them about the rain, and that their mom had wanted them to stay in the car with me. I added, "And you know, Mommy is the boss."   The girl, then about 4 years old, responded, "Mommy's not the boss. I'm the boss." 
   Her voice was raspy and hoarse, but she spoke in complete sentences. Those were the first and only words I'd ever heard her speak, though I visited her home for a while afterwards, before they moved across the country.  I often think of the family and wonder how things turned out.