Apraxia Awareness Day Declared In West Haven

From the City of West Haven: Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, right, presents a proclamation declaring Apraxia Awareness Day in West Haven on May 14 to Forest Elementary School kindergartner Nicholas Gorske, who is held by his mother, Anna Gorske, and joined by his uncle, Daniel Eaton, and family friend, Courtney Schweiger.

Also receiving a mayoral proclamation for Apraxia Awareness Day was Haley Elementary School fourth grader Ethan Kubicko, who was accompanied by his parents, Jason and Maggie Kubicko, and Rossi’s executive assistant, Lou Esposito, who presented the proclamation.

Nicholas and Ethan have childhood apraxia of speech, or CAS, an uncommon speech disorder in which a child has difficulty making accurate movements when speaking.

To raise awareness of the speech disorder for the second straight year, both students recently contacted Rossi about declaring the special day in the city.

Rossi said: “It is imperative that there be greater public awareness about childhood apraxia of speech in our city among community members, physicians, educators, policymakers and elected officials. Our deepest respect goes to the thousands of affected children and their families for their determination and resilience in the face of great adversity.”