Auditory Processing Disorder?? Anyone familiar with it?

[krcit]

Hi. My ds(7) was just diagnosed with an auditory decoding deficit. I'm glad to have a reason as to the tough time he has had with reading/writing but I'm still not exactly sure what this means. I am calling the audiologist on Thurs. to get more info but was wondering if anyone had experience with this in the meantime. This diagnosis comes after a long year of evaluations and tests, the possibility of epilepsy(he doesn't have it) an overnight video eeg and an MRI, so I'm thrilled that this is the answer, lol. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone knows if this is considered a learning disabilty? What does this mean in regards to school? Will this classify him as special ed? I'm thinking it won't but he will need some extra intervention to help him. Thanks for any info.

 

[c4a]

Your child hears fine...that is what makes it hard to diagnosis. Hearing test kept coming back normal...but ds keeps saying "huh" "what did you say"?Somewhere there is a "gap" between what is actually heard and what the brain thinks it hears.
Problems with reading, spelling, pronunciation, phonics, rhymes-all normal.
I'm going to post you a link of an on-line support group/resources site. These moms are going through the same thing & can answer your questions better.
link

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Hi. My ds(7) was just diagnosed with an auditory decoding deficit. I'm glad to have a reason as to the tough time he has had with reading/writing but I'm still not exactly sure what this means. I am calling the audiologist on Thurs. to get more info but was wondering if anyone had experience with this in the meantime. This diagnosis comes after a long year of evaluations and tests, the possibility of epilepsy(he doesn't have it) an overnight video eeg and an MRI, so I'm thrilled that this is the answer, lol. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone knows if this is considered a learning disabilty? What does this mean in regards to school? Will this classify him as special ed? I'm thinking it won't but he will need some extra intervention to help him. Thanks for any info.

I am a sped teacher and first of all they don't classify anyone as Speical Ed. You would have to attend a team meeting and agree to having your son put on an IEP.

It means that your son needs time processing anything that is presented auditorily and may need repeated exposures to whatever is being taught so he can process it. Most likely he is a visual learner and all material needs to be presented with a visual, in small chunks so he can process a little at a time. It is a specific learning disablility but if you son is functioning in class with no help then there is no need to put him on an IEP. HOWEVER, I am guessing this is not the case. It does NOT mean your son is intellectually impaired which is another diagnosis entirely. Intellectually he may have gaps in his education because he could not process but once he learns strategies and his teachers provide accomodations for him then he should be able to learn with little problem. The beauty of an IEP is that it is a legal document that REQUIRES the teachers to provide accomodations and if necessary modifications to meet his disability.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

My son was diagnoised with APD when he was in 5thgrade. He is currently in 9th grade and is doing well in school. There are many different types of APD so what may help one child may not help another. My state does not recognize APD as a disability but I have worked closely with the school to do everything we can to help make school easier for him.

I definately recommend a book called "When the Brain Can't Hear" by Teri James Bellis.

http://www.amazon.com/When-Brain-Ca...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222800574&sr=8-1

This book helped me to understand the different types of APD and what I could do to help my son.

I've heard many great things about a program called Fast Forward that can help some kids. I had my son tested for this and it wasn't for him but he was recommended for a program called PACE (processing and cognitive enhancement) This really helped him with his learning. He still has some problems here and there and I really have to stay on top of it and keep close tabs with his teachers but he is doing well. Report cards for our first nine weeks come out next week and as long as he does well on his 9 weeks tests he will be on the A/B Honor Roll

 

[Snoopymom]

Wow, ds was diagnosed with Epilepsy first, the evaluations came second, so I'm relieved to hear that you followed through with the EEG and MRI to rule out seizures.

I would suggest that you try to get all the help you can. We had to innitiate the student support meetings that have to take place before the IEP.

And thanks a bunch for asking this, as I have mostly been trying to learn about Epilepsy and ds's severe ADHD that seems to be related to the seizures. I will also be checking out the sites and books. Thanks everyone!

Also, I've been finding episodes of The Electric Company very helpful for ds. It's slow and repetitive. I get them through Netflix.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest going over to the disABILIITES Community Boards, which is a subforum of disABILITIES! This particular subject is often addressed there.

 

[binny]

my dd has this (although they discovered it isnt her main problem) the best person that I have found is Dr Jay Lucker. he is considered one of the leading Drs in this field.

I dont have time to post a lot but if you want to PM me later I would be glad to talk to you about it

 

[dcentity2000]

Take a look at the Wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_Processing_Disorder



Rich::

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

My son was diagnoised with APD when he was in 5thgrade. He is currently in 9th grade and is doing well in school. There are many different types of APD so what may help one child may not help another. My state does not recognize APD as a disability but I have worked closely with the school to do everything we can to help make school easier for him.

I definately recommend a book called "When the Brain Can't Hear" by Teri James Bellis.

http://www.amazon.com/When-Brain-Ca...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222800574&sr=8-1

This book helped me to understand the different types of APD and what I could do to help my son.

I've heard many great things about a program called Fast Forward that can help some kids. I had my son tested for this and it wasn't for him but he was recommended for a program called PACE (processing and cognitive enhancement) This really helped him with his learning. He still has some problems here and there and I really have to stay on top of it and keep close tabs with his teachers but he is doing well. Report cards for our first nine weeks come out next week and as long as he does well on his 9 weeks tests he will be on the A/B Honor Roll

The 10 classifications for disabilities includes Specific Learning Disabilities. Your state has no say in it it is federally mandated. I do not understand why they would say your child cannot qualify for an IEP unless the testing indicates he is making progess despite the disability.

 

[famofsix]

I think NYS lables this under "other health impaired" for an IEP but I am not sure. Is it a central processing disorder?

 

[E-I-E-I-O]

There's a great book called "Like Sound Through Water" written by a parent whose son has it. Interestingly or coincidentally, the parents are a psychologist (maybe psychiatrist) dad and mom who is a nurse holding PhD in communication of all things.

 

[ORMom2Four]

I have this, as does my oldest (she is 16). Most people do not know I have it.

I often need to watch a person's lips as they speak, and might need a few seconds to comprehend what they have said. Someone might say to me, "What are we having for dinner?" and I hear, "Whum al an anner?"

Like others have said, I don't believe it is a hearing problem. It's a problem between hearing what is said and the brain processing the sounds into words.

 

[binny]

I have this, as does my oldest (she is 16). Most people do not know I have it.

I often need to watch a person's lips as they speak, and might need a few seconds to comprehend what they have said. Someone might say to me, "What are we having for dinner?" and I hear, "Whum al an anner?"

Like others have said, I don't believe it is a hearing problem. It's a problem between hearing what is said and the brain processing the sounds into words.

Thank you for sharing that!!! It isnt often parents get to talk with an adult who has CAPD.

So can I ask you a few questions? My dd is 9 and while I know there is more to her issues I would love to hear your perspective on a couple of issues, especially as you deal with them with your child as well.

 

[KirstenB]

Our 3 yr old has been dx'd with mild autism, but her speech therapist said instead of that she has auditory processing disorder (along with other impairments). Anyway, I thought she was deaf when she was younger. Her speech therapist said it just took her longer to process what she was hearing than the average kid.

 

[ORMom2Four]

Thank you for sharing that!!! It isnt often parents get to talk with an adult who has CAPD.

So can I ask you a few questions? My dd is 9 and while I know there is more to her issues I would love to hear your perspective on a couple of issues, especially as you deal with them with your child as well.

Feel free to PM me

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I think NYS lables this under "other health impaired" for an IEP but I am not sure. Is it a central processing disorder?

Well it is tricky because other health used to be ADD but now ADD is neurological.

 

[famofsix]

Well it is tricky because other health used to be ADD but now ADD is neurological.

I agree. This is what is defined in NYS

(zz) Student with a disability means a student with a disability as defined in section 4401(1) of Education Law, who has not attained the age of 21 prior to September 1st and who is entitled to attend public schools pursuant to section 3202 of the Education Law and who, because of mental, physical or emotional reasons, has been identified as having a disability and who requires special services and programs approved by the department. The terms used in this definition are defined as follows:

(1) Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3, that adversely affects a student’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a student's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the student has an emotional disturbance as defined in paragraph 4 of this subdivision. A student who manifests the characteristics of autism after age 3 could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria in this paragraph are otherwise satisfied.

(2) Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the student is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a student’s educational performance.

(3) Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for students with deafness or students with blindness.

(4)Emotional disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a student’s educational performance:

(i) an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.

(ii) an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers;

(iii) inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;

(iv) a generally pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or

(v) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

The term includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to students who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance.

(5) Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects the child's educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.

(6) Learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which manifests itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations as determined in accordance with section 200.4(c)(6) of this Part. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage.

(7) Mental retardation means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a student’s educational performance.

(8) Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness, mental retardation-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which cause such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in a special education program solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include deaf-blindness.

(9) Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a student's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputation, and fractures or burns which cause contractures).

(10) Other health-impairment means having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems, including but not limited to a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, diabetes, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or tourette syndrome, which adversely affects a student's educational performance.

(11) Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a student's educational performance.

(12) Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force or by certain medical conditions such as stroke, encephalitis, aneurysm, anoxia or brain tumors with resulting impairments that adversely affect educational performance. The term includes open or closed head injuries or brain injuries from certain medical conditions resulting in mild, moderate or severe impairments in one or more areas, including cognition, language, memory, attention, reasoning, abstract thinking, judgement, problem solving, sensory, perceptual and motor abilities, psychosocial behavior, physical functions, information processing, and speech. The term does not include injuries that are congenital or caused by birth trauma.

(13) Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a student's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

 

[KirstenB]

DisneyGlobeGirl and EIEIO, thanks for the book recommendation. I've ordered it. Our dd is so young, and my opinion changes from day to day on what is really going on with her. I hope this will help me more clearly identify how we can help her.

 

[krcit]

Thanks everyone for the input. I am ordering the books suggested and checking out all the websites I am just trying to understand this a bit better so that I can help him. We had a CSE meeting last year and they didn't give him an IEP, but recommended another meeting in the fall. I didn't want to schedule it until I had the APD eval done so I will get that going on Thurs also(schools here are closed for the Jewish holidays until Thurs) I am thinking that maybe they will give him a 504 w/ the accomodations he needs I have some research to do before the next meeting, I guess, lol. It's so hard to understand this disorder. I really hope the books help me 'get it' Last year in first grade he really held his own-got 90's and 100's on all his spelling tests and his math is great but this year already I'm seeing struggles. He writes sentences that I can't even make sense out of.An example on his last math test was...A srvay is a trow stamite. The question was What problem solving strategy was used to create this chart? My poor baby Anyway, thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it.

Oh, SnoopyMom-I had an initial nuero eval b/c his teacher said he 'zoned out' sometimes. The Neuro sent us for an eeg and then called to tell me that he didn't have a seizure during it but that there was slowing on the left side of his brain that could be caused by an obstruction in his brain That led to the overnight Veeg and the MRI and thankfully everything is a-ok. I'm sorry about your sons diagnosis. When I was in the midst of all the testing. I posted on the Dis and there are some very knowledgable people on here so you might want to post any questions you have.

 

[Huggles]

Our younger child has Semantic Pragmatic Disorder which the speech and language therapist described to us as the hearing form of dyslexia. It is thus, I believe, an APD.

We decided to try Johansen Sound therapy with her and it made an amazing difference. Not only did her speech improve, (expressive and receptive) but also her hand writing and general confidence. We were sceptical when we read up about it but were willing to give it a go as it is non- invasive ( they listen to a special music tape each day) and we are delighted with the results.

http://www.johansensoundtherapy.com