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08-10-2015, 01:57 PM
kicking, feeling, compassion, communication, unable, speaking
The Mighty
When We Asked Ronda Rousey If She Had Apraxia of Speech
Laura Smith Laura Smith Aug 05, 2015
It started with an intriguing title — “Ronda Rousey: The World’s Most Dangerous Woman” — and then a picture of a “James Bond”-type beauty.
“In her first six years, nobody knew whether she’d ever speak an intelligent sentence, such were the after effects of being born with an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. It could be that her gibberish and mumblings were signs of brain damage. No one knew, and her parents — Ron, an aerospace-industry executive, and De Mars, an educational psychologist and statistician — moved when she was three from Riverside, California, to Jamestown, North Dakota, in part to be near the Minot State University speech therapists, who set about bringing her vocal cords to their senses. It wasn’t easy, and it took time. And it was especially frustrating for Ronda given how advanced her sisters were. ‘I’m dumb, Mom,’ she once said. ‘Maria and Jennifer have the words. I don’t have the words.’ ‘No, you’re not, you’re very smart,’ her mother told her.”
One problem: Ronda Rousey is incredibly famous. What could I even write that her PR people would read and then pass on to her? Could I try her FB page? Twitter? I settled on the “contact me” form on her website. I started writing to her PR people, but it emphatically turned into me writing to her. I didn’t hold out much hope, but hey, might as well put it out there. Apraxia needs a face, and what better face then this badass female! She’s smart, talented, driven, resilient… Doesn’t she sound like our kids with apraxia?
http://themighty.com/2015/08/when-we-ask...e=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pubexchange_facebook
The Mighty
When We Asked Ronda Rousey If She Had Apraxia of Speech
Laura Smith Laura Smith Aug 05, 2015
It started with an intriguing title — “Ronda Rousey: The World’s Most Dangerous Woman” — and then a picture of a “James Bond”-type beauty.
“In her first six years, nobody knew whether she’d ever speak an intelligent sentence, such were the after effects of being born with an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. It could be that her gibberish and mumblings were signs of brain damage. No one knew, and her parents — Ron, an aerospace-industry executive, and De Mars, an educational psychologist and statistician — moved when she was three from Riverside, California, to Jamestown, North Dakota, in part to be near the Minot State University speech therapists, who set about bringing her vocal cords to their senses. It wasn’t easy, and it took time. And it was especially frustrating for Ronda given how advanced her sisters were. ‘I’m dumb, Mom,’ she once said. ‘Maria and Jennifer have the words. I don’t have the words.’ ‘No, you’re not, you’re very smart,’ her mother told her.”
One problem: Ronda Rousey is incredibly famous. What could I even write that her PR people would read and then pass on to her? Could I try her FB page? Twitter? I settled on the “contact me” form on her website. I started writing to her PR people, but it emphatically turned into me writing to her. I didn’t hold out much hope, but hey, might as well put it out there. Apraxia needs a face, and what better face then this badass female! She’s smart, talented, driven, resilient… Doesn’t she sound like our kids with apraxia?
http://themighty.com/2015/08/when-we-ask...e=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pubexchange_facebook