Auditory Processing Disorder

Masta

Member
my 15yr difficult child has just been diagnosed with c.a.p.d

i would like to learn as much as possible about it so if anyone has any urls they would like to recommend please let me know.

also if anyone on here knows of any Special Education/accomadations i should ask the sd for, that would be helpful.
 

Sheila

Moderator
My son has Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) (aka) Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) (Auditory Processing Disroder).

Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20041127231038/http://www.sbm121693.homestead.com/Auditory Processing Disorders (APD).html/

There's more in the General Parenting Archives.

I just popped in for a minute. Will check your thread later to night or in the morning.
 

sio64

New Member
Here are the names of two great Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) books:

*When the Brain Can't Hear* by Teri Bellis (sp)

*Like Sound Through Water* by Karen Foli This one reads like a novel, and your daughter will probably enjoy it.

Also, I just have to ask, when it was determined that your 15 yo has Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), was the testing done by an Audiologist who specializes in Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)? If not, I'd suggest that you push for this. It will give you very specific information as to how Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) is affecting your daughter.

I have a great board for you, but I'm afraid to list it, as I don't know the rules about competitors boards on this list-serve.

However if you do a google search looking for

Maxine Young Yahoo group auditoryprocessing (one word).

That should get you there. If not, email me and I'll give you the addie. You have to join it, but Maxine is a very knowledgeable Audiologist and well published in the field of Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)'s.

HTH
 

Masta

Member
sio64 ... yes she was tested by a audiologist who specialises in Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). this lady is doing her doct-degree and is very knowledgable.

my daughter was tested friday. she will give me the written report this week but she showed me my daughters scores and they did not look good.

thank you guys for helping me out here.

i would also like to know what sort of accomodations i should ask for when she returns back to school.
 

Masta

Member
ohh and i have read if this was caught at a earlier age is would be easier to remedy.

my difficult child had a whole ehap of testing done a yr ago and her verbal iq and her performance iq indicated something was wrong coz there was a 10+ score difference between them but the school did not care. the hospital my difficult child is in now told me they should of done the Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) testing a yr ago.

since my daughter was 4yrs old i have been asked many times if she was deaf and i have had so many hearing tests done on ehr as well as taken her to specialists to find nothing. finally we have some answers!

my difficult child is 15yr so her nuero-transmitters are mature so the only thing we can do is modify her schooling. cant retrain those nuero-transmitters like we could if she was under 10yrs old.

correct me if im wrong!!
 

Sheila

Moderator
I don't know whether treatment via a Speech-Language Pathologist would be of benefit at this age. At the least, maybe there are some adaptive measures your daughter can learn. Check with the audiologist also to see if a program such as Earobics would be of benefit.

I'm wanting to think that there may be a therapy, it's just that it takes longer to work when children are older. But there's never a guarantee it will work even when a child is below the age of 10 -- depends on the individual situation. Again, check it out with-the Audiologist.

As far as modifications, there could be several that would be of benefit to your daughter. They should be spelled out in the Audiologist's report. Off the top of my head, I'd request:

1) an auditory trainer be provided for use in school
2) preferential seating so that student is near the instructor
3) instructor should slow speech pattern down
4) student should be provided with written instructions

Might want to do a search for Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)/Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) modifications.

There are several areas of Auditory Processing Disorder. Do you have any idea at this point what the primary problem(s) are?
 

sio64

New Member
If you get to Maxine's Board, she'll probably recommend a program called FastForWord (yes, that is how you spell it). Brace yourself as it isn't cheap at all, but it may be her best hope. We did it this summer with my son and it really "lifted the fog" IYKWIM. But it was six weeks with an initial startup of $850 and a $25.00 a day fee to my audiologist. As we had to do it 5 days a week, that was $125 a week. Even though it hurt my pocket book in a major way, we are going to do another round this coming summer, it was that effective.

We are now doing Earobics through his school with not nearly as good a result. If the report indicates she'd be appropriate, I would do FFW. Ask your audiologist about it, or look for a provider off the website. Also, brain plasticity has been shown to go on into our senior years, just not with as great of results as when we are young, so your daughter can benefit from therapy and treatments for her Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). ( I think I said that right).

HTH
 

Masta

Member
thank you both for your input.

Alisha Leigh i read her scores on the audio testing paper and wrote them down this was one out of 3 tests she gave my daughter it was done with headphones:

filterword: within normal range but still struggling

auditory figure ground: disordered

Competeing words: questionable

Competence sentence quest:

total test: questionable

total test: disordered

this was done friday afternoon so a report has not been written yet. i will request she puts those ideas in my daughter report.

sio64 thanks for your information as well. i will look into that program.

the audiologist said that my daughter does need to sit up the front of the class. they also have a headphone set she can wear and a teacher has a receiver. my daughter said she will refuse to wear that. since she has so many problems she doesnt want to look abnormal at school and is in denial about all the problems she has. i can understand wanting to fit in, she will be starting 10th grade in august. right now she is in the hospital and they have a private teacher there. ill ask if they can have her sit up the front of class. i am hoping i can get her into a self contained unit for emotionally disturbed once school starts back up. the audiologist wants to know when my daughter gets out of hospital so she can make arrangements for her.

the Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is relatively new to our school district and they said they will be working with speech pathologist workers in the sd to get them started on therapy with them.

what sort of modifications do you both use at home? and how do yu know when its Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) or just defiance?
 

sio64

New Member
There is another FM system that has a speaker that sits on her desk. I'd push for that if I were you. Also ,would push to either have her notes copied from a peer of scribed. People with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) often have a very hard time catching everything as it is said, and need to attend as much as possible without worrying about notes.

I'm going to send you an addie for an adult Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) board. Look for it. At her age, they may have better insight. And, as there seems to be a big genetic component to Auditory Processing Disorders (APD), this group contains a lot of ault Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)'ers with kids who have Auditory Processing Disorders (APD).

Most of the modifications I've seen are geared more to a younger school aged child. As a person with Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) gets older, they make big cognitive leaps around 7 and again at 9. So, altho it isn't outgrown, it often gets more manageable. But then as we age, it comes back!

One thing I did for my son that was monumental, was I got him musicians ear plugs. They block out a lot of the background noise, but not the noise close by, so he found it a lot easier to attend just to what was going on close to him. He still pops them in every once in a while. How doers she do in crowds? This is an area that is very hard on my son. He likes a lot of people to be around, but after a while he gets over stimulated and hyper as a result of sound stimulation, then he seeks out a quiet, alone type place or "the world comes in through my ears" (is what he says)
 

Masta

Member
i got your email thanks!!

my difficult child struggles with sounds from her brothers let alone being in crowds.

right now i wish i could just erase all that has happened with her and all her troubles and start again.

if i would have known about her having Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) yrs ago i am sure things would of been alot different.

now she is a residential facility and things are not looking any better since she was admitted. the doctors took her of ritalin 2 weeks ago but are decided she may need to be put back on it. they are giving me all these diagnosis and how do we know if these are real since her behaviour is effected by Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD).
 

sio64

New Member
One thing you may want to get into the IEP is that, if she has sound sensitivities, she could probably benefit from being able to use a Walkman at lunch, or other noisy times, like gym. Tho, I like Liam's ear plugs as that way he can still interact. make sire not to use ear plugs that eliminate sound, as that will increase her sensitives. Also, my son did a program that most school systems have called Therapeutic Listening. It was done with an Occupational Therapist. It consisted of listening to modulated music for twenty minutes twice a day. It exercised the muscles in his ears so that he could better function within loud environments. A lot of the music is classical. So she'd be OK to listen to it, I suspect.

I feel like I'm throwing too much at you. Still I think you both should read those two books I suggested. They are great. In the Bellis book, there are a lot of references to people of different ages who find out they have an Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). That may be reassuring for you both.
 

Masta

Member
ok... so where do i get those earplugs from?

dont feel like you are overwhelming me. i need to learn as much as i can so i can help my difficult child.

i just informed the residential facility and the workers there dont even know about Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). so ive left a msg with my difficult child therapist to let everyone know how things need to be modified.
 

Sheila

Moderator
Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) is not new. Its symptoms can closely parallel ADHD and is often overlooked, however.

When I was searching for treatment for my son, I looked at the FastForward Program. It is very expensive, and did have more tracking type bells and whistles. Earoboics is very similar and much less expensive. It's designed to where the student can not go forward until they master each level.

Earobics is actually a reading program. With guidance from difficult child's Audiologist and Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), the sessions were kicked up to 1-1/2 hrs per day rather than the 20 min 2-3 times per week. I believe the specifics of one of the Earobics program we used (Step 2) is in one of the Archived threads. I believe I paid about $60 for the program; we did the therapy at home. My difficult child has ADHD as well as Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). It was a very long two months. lol

If you want to check it out the url is http://www.earobics.com .

Our school district never indicated that there was treatment for Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). Their answer to the problem was an auditory trainer. Although Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) is evaluated and diagnosed by an Audiologist, it is treated by a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). The sd was very much aware of that; they just chose not to share the information. I discovered that there was treatment via research and difficult child's Audiologist.

Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) is related to and can impede development of Expressive and Receptive Language skills, which in turn can interfer with reading comprehension (among other things). It's a vicious circle.
 

Masta

Member
thanks Alisha Leigh for the advice.

i know my difficult child has problems with phonics and other problems. spelling & reading.

this is just a small piece to the puzzle. what other tests can the school district do?

the Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) did a hour of testing on friday, we are waiting for the results.

are there other disorders or disabilities (besides a.d.d) that are common that co exist that we can rule out and if so what are they and what sort of testing needs done?
 

sio64

New Member
I was trying to think how I could explain the difference between Earobics and FastForWord eloquently, yet accurately, but then I realized I'd just seen my good friend Mary, who is an educator and in private practice (so she could stay home and home-school her severly dyslexic daughter), had just done this on yahoo's dyslexia2 board. So here is her quote. My child has used both programs, and he is in first grade. Even for him, it is a struggle to get him to do Earobics.

"There is a huge difference between Earobics and FFW. They have
completely different delivery systems, for one thing. Earobics is
simple voice technology. FFW sounds are modulated using
sophisticated equipment that dramatically changes the frequency and
other characteristics of the sounds. Earobics can be duplicated by
simple human interaction, but FFW cannot. Earobics is a simple
click-through the exercises program. FFW interactively adjusts to
the responses. If a student makes 3 correct responses in a row, the
program automatically adjusts the difficulty level upwards
slightly. If a student misses 2 responses in a row, the program
automatically adjusts the difficulty level downwards.

In my opinion, Earobics is suitable only for pre-readers or perhaps
readers at a 1st grade level, and it is primarily suitable for
children under a mental age of 7. Older than that, and it is so
stifling in its boredom that I don't see how anyone could sustain
enough attention to makes its practice worthwhile.

In short, it's not just that FFW is more intense than Earobics. It
really works in a different way than Earobics.

3. The progress from FFW does not actually come from listening more
carefully. Rather, FFW trains the brain to process the sounds of
speech more efficiently. It does this by starting the child out
with very sllooowww sounds (they are actually stretched out by the
modulating technology applied to them), and incrementally adjusting
the speed upwards. For example, the pitch exercise starts out with
the two pitches being sounded out for rather a long time (and the
child has to indicate which is the higher or lower pitch). By the
end of the program, the pitches are sounded for extremely short
intervals and very close together, so that discrimination has to
take place very quickly.

Earobics has a pitch exercise also that works in much the same way.
However, the absence of interactivity makes it less effective for
children who need this kind of work. With FFW, if a child is having
a bad day, the program will automatically drop down to a level at
which he can be successful, and then just slightly challenge him.
Since learning takes place most efficiently when there is just a
slight challenge (one can succeed 80-90% of the time), FFW still
provides a training effect on bad days. Earobics, on the other
hand, will simply stay at the child's frustration level on the bad
day."
 

Masta

Member
sio64.... wow!!!

i am going to send this to the sd audiologist and suggest she gets it for our district.

i doubt she will but who knows!!!!

both you ladies (sio64 and Alisha Leigh) have taught me so much over a short period of time and im grateful!!

thanks ;)
 

Sheila

Moderator
We haven't gone the FastForward route, so I don't know all the specifics.

Somewhat puzzling about the Earobics. I know they have at least three levels of programs. One if for pre-k and kindergarden levels, one is for elementary level students, and one for teens and adults. It's my understanding that where an individual would begin depends on their need.

In any event, do your homework and rely on your Audiologist and Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) to guide you. And just so as not to give the wrong impression, treatment is usually more involved that just using any computer program -- depends on the individual.

Are there any other potential co-existing conditions?
Yes. Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) can co-exist with a lot of things -- just about everything you see in members' signatures.

With the specifics you mentioned above, I'd want Dyslexia ruled out. Same with Receptive and Expressive Language Disorders.

This has a good overview of Dyslexia.
https://web.archive.org/web/2008082...tate.tx.us/reading/products/dyshdbook2001.pdf There are many skills that have to be integrated in order for an individual to be able to read -- the phonics and spelling you mentioned are a couple of the required basic skills.

This link will help explain the difference between dyslexia and reading comprehension disorder. It also helps explain how auditory processing factors in. https://web.archive.org/web/20050212093315/http://sbm121693.homestead.com/reading.html/

Do you have private professionals involved with-your daughter's evaluations?
 

sio64

New Member
I am sorry, I just realized I did not answer your question! I got Liam musicians ear plugs from my audiologist.

Sio
 
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