Paramus Mother Brings Awareness to Apraxia with Children's Book

Jeanne Buesser has seen more than her fair share of life’s difficulties. She perseveres through them by channeling her energy into her work.

Buesser, a Paramus resident, is the president of a non-profit organization, Apraxia Network of Bergen County and is the parent of two special needs children, both whom have Apraxia.

When Buesser’s son was diagnosed with Apraxia at the age of 2, there was very little support and information available. She went to a support group in Central Jersey and began her own in North Jersey about 11 years ago.

Buesser said children have articulation problems and low muscle tone in the face, tongue, cheek and other parts in the body. Other symptoms are feeding issues and sensitivity to light and touch.

According to Buesser, Apraxia is “a weak link in the brain. Children or infants cannot form beginning sounds of speech. Not only do they not have the building blocks to form words but they have very short-term memories.”

Buesser recently released a self-published book entitled, He Talks Funny.

“Children with Apraxia and other speech disorders are often made fun of and bullied,” Buesser said. “He Talks Funny seeks to foster understanding and tolerance for differently abled children with speech disorders.”

Buesser began writing the manuscript for He Talks Funny about three years ago and even illustrated her own pictures in the book.

“There was no story on Apraxia for kids,” Buesser said.

She was rejected by more than 150 publishers and decided to take a chance. However, before she was able to self-publish the book, her husband passed away. Previously, her first son passed away from cancer.

“Sometimes life throws you a curveball,” Buesser said. “I figured I’ve been through everything else. What was I afraid of? I already went to hell and back. If I don’t sell any copies at least I know I’m in print. What did I lose?”

Buesser has articles published in several parent guide magazines such as the Exceptional Parent Magazine, Parentguide Magazine, The Parentpaper.com and Special Child. She has spoken at alltalkradio.com, wfme.com and the Learning Disability Association of New Jersey Conference.

In 2005, Buesser was presented the "Outstanding Volunteer Achievement Award" by the Volunteers of Morris County. In 2009, she was nominated for "Volunteer of the Year" from the Learning Disabilities Association of New Jersey.

“If I can help one person, I’ve done my job,” Buesser said. “The way I see it, someone helped me and if I didn’t know about early intervention before, then I don’t know what I would’ve done."