Possible undiagnosed Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)

[SmallTownMom]

After being on this site and reading so many posts from so many amazing parents, I have learnt many things.

I have been watching my difficult child closely to watch for hidden triggers that i may not be aware of. I have noticed the following things:

1) When he wants to talk to me in the car the windows have to be up, the radio has to be off and my easy child has to be silent. He is not able to get his thoughts out if there is any noise.
2) He has always hated the sound of motorbikes passing the car.
3) With family gatherings when there is lot of noise he has meltdowns a lot.
4) When I do respite with an autistic boy that makes constant noise, after a full weekend my difficult child is in constant meltdown mode.

Could this be Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)?

 

[soapbox]

Could this be Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)? Yes.

It may not account for all of the above, but... two things stick out.
1) wanting things quiet in order to communicate
2) melt-downs if exposed to significant background noise

Chances are it will be one of the "other" APDs - not the spoken language processing disorder, but something like auditory figure ground (there are 3 or 4 others). With auditory figure ground, the person doesn't have the mental "filters", so it becomes very difficult to focus on the important sounds.... to the point that burn-out can happen rapidly. For my difficult child, that used to be before lunch on Monday... school was taking that much out of him due to background noise. The rest of the week went rapidly downhill from there. The mental fatigue accumulates. A good night's rest may not be enough.

Do you know how to pursue the testing?

 

[SmallTownMom]

We have an appointment with his psychiatrist on friday, I was going to ask him about it. Other then that I am not to sure what to do.

 

[soapbox]

Usually, first line of testing is Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) - a speech-language pathologist. They can screen for all sorts of hearing and listening related disorders, but do not (generally) diagnose. However, if their screening indicates a problem, it is grounds for seeing a specialist - usually a PhD level audiologist with a specific interest in auditory processing disorders.

Not all SLPs screen for all the APDs - make sure you ask about whether they are testing for "auditory figure ground" - as this is one of the more recently added sets of tests, if they test for this one they will also be testing for the others.

Your son is 9. At that age, it is sometimes still possible to get Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) services through the schools, but not always, especially if there is no associated language delay (and with auditory figure ground, the language impact is usually small).

However... at 9, he is at the "right" age for testing for Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)... can't really do it at all before about age 7.

 

[confuzzled]

it could also just be a sensory issue. if you are going the spT route for screening, it would be worth asking if its an actual Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) or its sensory--they could probably do some limited testing to get an idea which is which. if its sensory, an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation is really important.

if you are using a specialized audiologist, they probably wont have much of an idea about sensory issues--i'd still schedule with a good Occupational Therapist (OT) for an evaluation.

actually, i'd get an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation period. in my opinion, it was one of the best things i ever did for my daughter--it was so comprehensive that i was actually MORE impressed with the testing than i was with a neuropsychologist. we did a short run of therapy that was very targeted (mainly fine motor stuff) and it was well worth it.

i actually think its well worth it for just about all of our difficult children ;-)

 

[BusynMember]

Sounds like Sensory Integration Disorder to me...sensitivity to noise. Usually that goes along with other things. You say he has Tourettes Syndrome?