Delayed Auditory Processing? Any info?

[Mishetta]

My 2 y/o DS (well, he'll be 2 in 2 weeks) was just diagnosed with Delayed Auditory Processing, along with what he was diagnosed with last year ~ Cognitively Impaired & naturally Developmentally Delayed....what more??? (He still just babbles, & the only thing he says is "Bye", not even "Mama" yet. )

I don't know anything about that, if anyone could help shed some light, I would so much appreciate it.

DS 8 suffers ADHD & ODD. 2 kids & both have neurological disorders...what's up with that??? Where does this stuff come from?

I think I need a valium & some rest....

 

[CEDmom]

I don't have any first hand information for you I just really wanted to send a

I do know that the early a child get help with language difficulties the better. Having your son diagnosed before his 2nd birthday should prove very beneficial in the long run. I hope you can find a great early intervention program. They've been known to work wonders.

 

[RitaZ.]

Rose, I don't have any advice to offer. I just wanted to give you a {{{hug}}} and to tell you to hang in there.

 

[Mishetta]

Thank you for your hugs. I guess if you're a Mom, you certainly understand where my heart is right now.....anyway, he looks normal, acts normal but his words are trapped in his cute little head. I did a 'search' on Delayed Auditory Processing & after reading it, I can see that often times it does co-exist with ADHD (oh no...not another one!! ) but what I am really looking for here is success stories of "real people" who have DAP or CAP (Central Auditory Processing) disorders. I'm hoping someone will tell me, it was a tough go but all is well now...just anything to give me hope, I suppose.

I've had the little guy in Speech & Occupational Therapy since last March through the school system. We missed quite a few sessions due to my Mom who was dying of cancer at the time but we resumed sessions when school went back in session. So I'm doing all I can. I work with him at home too (follow what we did in therapy). I'm just hoping for some feed back on how someone's child overcame this disorder or was able to overcome any language disorders. Are there any success stories out there?

 

[RitaZ.]

I remember my best friend's son had a processing problem (I'm not sure if he still does), he was diagnosed at age 3. I will ask her in more detail about it. He also said very little as far as words/communication when he was your son's age. I remember my friend asking him if he wanted juice or milk and he couldn't answer. She would tell him to go get something like his shoes and he didn't understand her request. The good news is that he made tremendous progress with his language and speech and he now communicates like any typical 11 year old.

I'll pm you after I talk to my friend and ask her for details. It's always difficult on us moms when we are told that there may be a developmental delay or any problem with our children. Hang in there.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Success? Well I can't tell you that my son is cured, because he fights to overcome his difficulties every single day. At age 10 he still has an extremely hard time in school. At times I almost want to compare him to an ESL student who goes through the school day really only understanding about 50% of what people are saying to him. Still, his goal this school year is to make the Honor Roll, and he brought home 3 A's and 3 B's on his 5 week Progress report -- so he is making good progress.

I don't have time for a huge long post right now because the baby is .... ooops as I return from pulling Baby away from the light socket....

BOMBARD him with language. Read to him all the time. As soon as he gets old enough to write, make him write every day. Don't correct his spelling or grammar etc etc -- just encourage words to flow out of his brain.

DON'T let his older sibling talk for him. My husband swears that I must say 20 times a day "Yes Steven, but I didn't ask you, I asked Brad, please let him talk." Even if he can only come up with one word... "good" pay attention to it and make it seem like he is making a worthwhile contribution to the family dinner table conversation.

Really encourage them to stay connected with the world. It's hard to explain to people who don't see kids like this, but they really do tend to just live in their own minds. They don't pay attention in groups, they don't try to make friends unless encouraged -- they just create their own life in their head where they can hear and understand everything that's going on.

It's very difficult to get these kids to talk to people outside the family. Make a huge deal of it when they make an attempt. Practice with them the answers to questions ... "What's your name?" "How old are you?" "How are you?" "What are you doing" things that people ask kids all the time. It makes them feel much more secure when they can easily answer those questions and they are more likely to get more adventerous in their speech then.

It's incredible that you've gotten a diagnoses at age 2yo. I don't think I've ever talked to anybody who was able to start therapy that early. I have a feeling that you will be miles ahead of where my son was when he started Kindergarten when the time comes.

oh, and you have my permission to kick in the shins....very very hard....the next "helpful" person who looks at you and says "Albert Einstein didn't talk until he was 5!"

 

[pammypooh]

I would be happy to offer you hugs and to tell you our success with my daughter age 6. She suffered from chronic ear infections as an infant and toddler. We went two rounds with ear tubes. Her speech was a little delayed due to this so we started with speech therapy. Many people - even her grandparents had difficultly understanding her. Her dad and I could usually make it out. After a year or so - we began to look into the C.A.P. issues. It's my understanding that basically because she relied so much on her vision and not her hearing for those important developomental -first 3 years - that she just doesn't hear same as everyone else.

But...this can be retrained. Our speech therapist, also a member of our church, was amazing with working with our daughter. She gave us exercises - that were more like games. We worked for about a year through this. We have seen tremendous progress. She started Kindergarten last year and I worked closely with the teacher, so she would understand my daughter's issues. My daughter needs visual clues to help her follow directions. She did great last year. Thankfully the teacher was very receptive to me and also even knew my therapist. We actually even stopped therapy last December.

This year is a challenge, because of the dramatic increase in work. I know my daughter gets frustrated easily. She takes much longer doing homework. We have to go over directions more than once. But once she truly hears what to do - she gets it.

My advice would be to work closely with the therapist and don't give up. You really can improve this and make such a difference for your son. I just remember how upsetting it was for my DD when people could not understand her. When it is time for pre-school, just work closely with the teachers. I think it makes a big difference. We have been blessed with wonderful teachers since she was in pre-school. They also prayed for DD. Meant alot to us.

Sorry so long.

Just know you are not alone. Another thing to keep in mind is all the other strengths your son has!

Pam

 

[Mishetta]

Thank you so much for your responses. At least I don't feel like I'm alone in this struggle. I thought since I've had such struggles with DS 8 being ADHD that this little guy would be a breeze! WRONG!

Anyway, I must work through my sadness/anger/despair & move on to get whatever help I can for my DS (nearly 2). We attend Speech & Occupational Therapy once per week. His speech sessions are one on one & O.T. is in a small group. I do talk to him & sing to him all day long. He watches Teletubbies, Barney & Sesame Street. (I think those shows are wonderful for toddlers.) He looks like he's in a daze when he's watching those shows. He listens so carefully. Now I have to wonder how much of it he's really hearing?

DS never had any ear problems like your DD PammyPooh but I did read on a search that ear problems in infants can cause the delayed speech. Sounds like she's doing wonderfully, just as Toby'sfriend DS!

I'm hoping since we caught it so soon that he will be leaps & bounds ahead of the game. To think, each time I brought my DS to the pediatrician, I'd tell him that my DS was not communicating at all. No words or even "trying" to say words before he was one year old! The doc told me that he's just lazy. Again, I said something at his 1 year check up & same response. Then by 18 months, I TOLD the doctor that I wanted my DS evaluated. He asked me "you mean he's still not saying Mama?" DUH!!??? What had I been trying to tell him each time I saw him???? Water under the bridge...but I'm just so frustrated!!! Thanks for listening!!

 

[slimplaw]

There is some information on central auditory processing disorder on the website for Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. They publish a newsletter called See/Hear and there are 2 articles on CAPD. Go to tsbvi.edu and do a search for central auditory processing disorder.

 

[my3kids]

sent you a PM

 

[jimmytammy]

My son has had developmental problems since early on as well. We had him in a special school for ST, PT and other things by the age of 2 as well. I had him tested last year and he does have CAPD as well. We are now homeschooling and I just had to find a different way to teach him. He is now reading when a year ago, he could barely make out a couple of words. His attention span is getting better and he is enjoying books now. It is still a lot of work, but he is doing so much better.

I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. It is not easy when you are having to watch your children go through all of these things. I'm glad that we got help early on and I'm sure you will be as well.

Here's some {{{Hugs}}} for you.

 

[dtuleya]

My son has processing issues also and I found a great bulletin board where you can chat with other parents. Hope it helps.

http://www.ldonline.org/bulletin_boards/bb2.html

 

[Mishetta]

Looking for more input......bumping for the morning crowd!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by Toby'sFriend
oh, and you have my permission to kick in the shins....very very hard....the next "helpful" person who looks at you and says "Albert Einstein didn't talk until he was 5!"

I thought this comment was so very funny!

No input from me but I hope there's an answer out there. Early intervention is the key I'm sure. Since he is babbling and stuff, there's hope he's just behind schedule and will blossom in time.

Good luck with this!

 

[CEDmom]

I was thinking about your post last night and remembered that 2 friends recently had children evaluated through their local townships because of delayed speech. Both children are girls around 16mo. Anyway, neither were diagnosed with any specific issue causing the delay. However, the Therapist (a different one for each child) did give my friends some tips to stimulate speech that I thought I'd pass on. I'm not sure whether this will help your DS and you are probably already aware of these things. Anyway, they were told to stop using sippy cups. These cups do not help children develop the muscles necessary for speech. My friends were told to make thick shakes or smoothies and have their DD's use a straw to drink them. They were also told to bombard the girls with language through conversation, songs, stories etc. They were also told to get the girls to communicate in any fashion they could by asking questions like where is your cup and having the child point to it.

 

[Dancind]

Mischetta, I'll send you a PM with an address for a mailing list I subscribe to. It's for parents of CAPD kids. My DD didn't get a diagnosis until she was 11, so we're kind of behind. She's gifted, so was able to compensate so well that I wasn't able to convince her elementary school to test her or give her services. She has also been diagnosed as ADD, and I do wonder what went wrong there.

You need to be prepared for your son's school years. With his early diagnosis, he will probably be in special education services at least part time. But his primary learning style will be visual, kinetic, or maybe musical. My DD is all three, and could never memorize math facts, and phonics made absolutely no sense to her. I am not looking forward to foreign language requirements, and I'm hoping she can meet that requirement somehow with sign language. Again, she is not eligible for services from the school, since she still gets A's and B's.

I noticed the biggest difference in her conversational abilities when she began to read really well. Yep, Harry Potter did it, towards the end of 2nd grade. This was after I basically taught her to read after school using sight methods. We did spend large amounts of money on the Fast Forward program last year, and I think it helped. At least, one on one conversations with her improved. She still has problems in groups, asks lots of questions during TV shows and movies, and uses her photographic memory to remember things I and her teachers say WRONG! She was exactly like your son watching TV when she was little, and she STILL does it! The stimulant medication she takes for ADD seems to help with her ability to process language more quickly and accurately. Without it, she's still pretty much out of it. And I give her high quality fish oil capsules twice a day, I think this helps too. Best of luck to you. Diana

 

[BrerMom]

Welcome to the crowd!

* If his attention span is really short, have many short reading sessions. See if you can get him to point.

* This was the most frustrating this for me when DS started therapy just before turning two: they said he couldn't understand complex sentences, so talk simply. That didn't help, so I was to only say four words or less to him at a time. After a month or so of this, he looked interested, but not understanding. Finally, the hard part: I could only say one word to him at a time. I felt like I was treating him like a dog (and so did strangers who glared at me): "Come!" "Sit!" "Drink!" "Shoe!" But it worked!

* DS couldn't make his mouth into an "o." It was the weirdest thing, but I guess it's pretty common with this condition. We were to take him to Wendy's and have him eat the frosty with a straw. (Getting a straw with through the drive-through was interesting, too. "MOST kids use a spoon." )

* Have him blow bubbles, blow on a kazoo, blow feathers into the air, anything that helps him get air out.

* We bought a large cosmetic mirror and let him look at himself while he tried to make sounds. It really helped later on.

* I was always one to talk non-stop to my kids. These guys need you to ask questions non-stop. My little guy still can't ask why or where questions, so we model them. "Why did that leaf fall down?" "Oh, because the wind blew."

* Between the "one say one word at a time" and when he started talking fairly well, I missed a step. There was a time where I'm pretty sure he could have understood me, but I didn't know it.

* My guy can't rhyme at all. I was told to read Dr. Seuss and more Dr. Seuss and any book with rhythm.

* Music classes have been shown to help the brain make connections. If you have a kindermusik nearby, I'd give it a shot. If not, there are some CDs that are slow enough they have a chance to comprehend (not We Sing!!). I think Discovery Toys had one that was especially good.

* In addition to auditory processing disorder, research apraxia. There are tons of fantastic ideas for helping kids.

Good luck! DS4 is still testing almost a year behind, but we are so thrilled with how well he is doing. So we start him in school a year later. Who cares?

 

[Dancind]

More thoughts. The Fast Forward program works by starting out with language that is slowed down and drawn out, and gradually speeds up as they move through the training. I sort of instinctively did this with DD when she was little, spoke clearly and slowly. She has trouble with "wh" questions too, and still misspells words like "where", even though she's a champion speller. Wonder why that is?

DD took to computer learning games when she was two (Fatty Bear, and the Fish one). I stilll can see her sitting in her Daddy's chair, reaching up for the mouse on the table. So cute (need to keep these cute images in mind, now that she's approaching 13 and I'm ready to strangle her). Anyway, that visual type of learning seems to be right up these kid's alley. I would bet Leap Frog system would be a good thing for them. If we would have had that, I'm positive that learning to read would not have been so traumatic. Diana

 

[Mishetta]

I haven't looked into that "Leapfrog" game....would that be appropriate for my DS who will be 2 later on this month? Or is that for older kids? I'd like to find something age appropriate for our long drive to WDW this December that will help him also...

You all have such wonderful suggestions & BrerMom, I can't get my son to say "O" either. I sing "Old MacDonalds" to him & sometimes I hear him say "E" "I" but never an "O". He babbles but Lord only knows what he's saying. He babbles while he's pointing to things so he's trying to tell me something, I just don't understand. I will have to try Milk Shakes & the frosty at Wendy's to help him. He puts bubble wands IN his mouth, instead of trying to blow on them.

Anyway, thank you all so very much. I appreciate how you've opened your hearts & your knowledge with me. If you think of anything else, please let me know.

Rose

 

[Dancind]

You may be right. Amazon says "My First Leap Pad" is for age 3 and up. I would try it though, before too long. It might interest him. If not, you can save it for later. Diana