How did the Walk for Apraxia® begin? Sean Freiburger, who has had over 650 hours of speech therapy for his diagnosis of severe speech apraxia, saw a sign for a walk-a-thon and asked his mother what it was. Sue Freiburger, Sean’s mom, told him that people were gathering together to walk and help others. Sean immediately said, “Why can’t we do that for apraxia?” Given that just a few years earlier,
Sue was not sure she would ever hear Sean speak at all, much less understand his questions, she told him with a teary-eyed smile, “Yes, we can!”
The first Walk for Apraxia happened on October 18, 2008 in Pittsburgh, PA with Sean leading over 300 walkers in his effort to raise awareness about childhood apraxia of speech and funds for the apraxia programs and research sponsored by CASANA, the only national nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to children with apraxia and their families. Since then, the Walk for Apraxia® has grown to nearly 15,000 walkers throughout North America! The 2022 Walk for Apraxia promises to be our biggest year yet while celebrating 15 years of walking for children with apraxia. We hope you will join in this amazing event! No matter if you want to participate in our virtual walk or join one of our in-person walk communities, we can assist you. This is a great way to spread awareness no matter where you live.
