Amy sits in the waiting room as her then 2½-year-old son, Auggie, attends speech therapy and a weekly preschool class at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

Auggie has apraxia of speech, a neurological disorder that affects a child’s ability to produce syllables and words. Amy hasn’t heard him say “mama” or “papa.” She hasn’t heard him say any word, even his own name.

Auggie works with speech-language pathologist Jennifer ("Jenn") Ziemak. They achieve a big breakthrough after just a few visits.

“She came back to the waiting room and told me that Auggie was sounding out both syllables of his name,” Amy says.

“That’s when I cried.”