SuZir
Well-Known Member
First things first. Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) is very little known issue there I live. It's mostly considered a part of/related to dyslexia and not commonly known at all outside of professional cycles for that. I have to say I didn't know much of anything about it before I came to this board. There was small somethings in difficult child's childhood evaluation reports about it, but that was all I had heard about it.
However I have started to wonder if this may be part of his issues and would appreciate both links to good sites about it and especially about things that could help. Especially easy to try things that wouldn't draw attention (yeah, I know, not a small order.)
difficult child will most likely be moving during the summer and will have a new team. His old one has been extremely understanding and patient with him, but there ever he may end up, it is unlikely they would be as understanding. And difficult child is also growing up. Next fall he won't even be teen any more and he will not be getting so much leeway. He absolutely needs to learn to survive with less help than he has been getting.
He has progressed with some areas of executive functions and necessary off field skills of an athlete. He is more tidy and doesn't forget his stuff any more like he used to. He has become more punctual etc. That is progress, but there are few things that still cause him a lot of unnecessary trouble. It seems that he doesn't catch instructions given to him like he should. The team may be told that this or that is happening at this and that time at this and that day. And somehow difficult child manages to stay totally unaware while certainly being present when it was told.
In difficult child's evaluations he didn't have problems with understanding heard information. Neither have I noticed anything in one-on-one situations. He learned to speak normally, he speaks two languages in level of native speaker, one more fluently and two more somewhat. He has always been able to follow even complicated verbal instructions if he wants to. He learned to read when he was supposed to and quickly and was always much better than average reader. His academic work has always been on high level. He doesn't have any traditional learning difficulties. He can easily memorize lyrics from songs, understand and remember what is talked in tv or radio, he doesn't have much problem with talking in phone (though he may prefer texts.)
However I have started to wonder about that auditory figure-ground thingy. When he was small and doing sports, his coaches always kept him close enough to grab hold of him when giving instructions. And often they did need to do so and repeat instructions separately to him - usually with making him to look at him and getting down to his level. While difficult child always hit all the goals in academics, he was so much truant or not paying attention to the teacher he certainly wasn't learning those things while at school. However he is incredibly quick on taking in information from books. I always thought it was just that he preferred books to lessons because that was quicker and his little different approach on how he takes in that information (he goes from big to small, not building a big from small like school usually teaches.)
Now to me it seems that instructions he is currently easily missing are ones, that are given over loud locker room hassle etc. He also does have some difficulties doing what he is told during practises (situation is basically that there is a lot loud background noise but he is instructed one-on-one by coach who is either close or shouting from farther away.) That can of course be just him being oppositional, belligerent and stubborn but his positional coach did describe it "difficult child needing more time to process and think through his (coach's) suggestions." If I haven't understood totally wrong, that could be also Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) issue and not just difficult child being difficult in purpose.
However I have started to wonder if this may be part of his issues and would appreciate both links to good sites about it and especially about things that could help. Especially easy to try things that wouldn't draw attention (yeah, I know, not a small order.)
difficult child will most likely be moving during the summer and will have a new team. His old one has been extremely understanding and patient with him, but there ever he may end up, it is unlikely they would be as understanding. And difficult child is also growing up. Next fall he won't even be teen any more and he will not be getting so much leeway. He absolutely needs to learn to survive with less help than he has been getting.
He has progressed with some areas of executive functions and necessary off field skills of an athlete. He is more tidy and doesn't forget his stuff any more like he used to. He has become more punctual etc. That is progress, but there are few things that still cause him a lot of unnecessary trouble. It seems that he doesn't catch instructions given to him like he should. The team may be told that this or that is happening at this and that time at this and that day. And somehow difficult child manages to stay totally unaware while certainly being present when it was told.
In difficult child's evaluations he didn't have problems with understanding heard information. Neither have I noticed anything in one-on-one situations. He learned to speak normally, he speaks two languages in level of native speaker, one more fluently and two more somewhat. He has always been able to follow even complicated verbal instructions if he wants to. He learned to read when he was supposed to and quickly and was always much better than average reader. His academic work has always been on high level. He doesn't have any traditional learning difficulties. He can easily memorize lyrics from songs, understand and remember what is talked in tv or radio, he doesn't have much problem with talking in phone (though he may prefer texts.)
However I have started to wonder about that auditory figure-ground thingy. When he was small and doing sports, his coaches always kept him close enough to grab hold of him when giving instructions. And often they did need to do so and repeat instructions separately to him - usually with making him to look at him and getting down to his level. While difficult child always hit all the goals in academics, he was so much truant or not paying attention to the teacher he certainly wasn't learning those things while at school. However he is incredibly quick on taking in information from books. I always thought it was just that he preferred books to lessons because that was quicker and his little different approach on how he takes in that information (he goes from big to small, not building a big from small like school usually teaches.)
Now to me it seems that instructions he is currently easily missing are ones, that are given over loud locker room hassle etc. He also does have some difficulties doing what he is told during practises (situation is basically that there is a lot loud background noise but he is instructed one-on-one by coach who is either close or shouting from farther away.) That can of course be just him being oppositional, belligerent and stubborn but his positional coach did describe it "difficult child needing more time to process and think through his (coach's) suggestions." If I haven't understood totally wrong, that could be also Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) issue and not just difficult child being difficult in purpose.