Auditory Processing Disorder

[agedsubaru]

Hi.


Anyone with thoughts on this that aren't a wallet biopsy? DD has seen an audiologist who has found deficiencies in some areas. 

Thanks.

[pipsqueak]

No knowledge but I love your wording - wallet biopsy.

[auntie]

Auditory processing is a thing. But there isn't a whole lot of good research about how best to address it although I'm sure the audiologist has a program s/he can sell you.

Auditory processing is an emerging skill well into puberty for most kids. Even so, there will be some kids who do struggle with this. Your kid may be fast approaching her adult levels.

What deficiencies did they identify? It's complicated because sometimes other factors like IQ, attentional issues, LD can impact how auditory information is obtained, stored and used.

Is she processing slowly? Is her auditory memory poor? Is she struggling with auditory attention?


DS has never done any of the so-called auditory training programs, but pro-auditory processing strategies and listening skills were a big part of his lab reading school's day-to-day. They started the day with a multisensory worksheet to warm up daily. It was a sheet of lines and circles that reinforced the directionality of written English but there were special instructions on what to do beyond that that became more convoluted over time. They also did "clicker" training. Another big piece was that parents were asked to enter a contract which limited their visual input and forced them to rely on auditory channels for information and entertainment. We were to limit screens to 1 hour a day- that means any screen. We did a lot of books on tape to practice listening skills. And I read aloud every night for an hour or so. That and maturity seemed to really help DS.


DS had a classmate who seemed very ADHDish but was never diagnosed. She did eventually get a dx of CAPD and an expressive language disorder. She was/is a bright girl but came off as quite dull as her processing was so slow she struggled to make sense of the rapid-fire verbal skills of her female peers. By kindie, she mostly played with boys. Her vocabulary was almost like someone learning a new language- testing into 9th grade it was so poor (2nd grade vocab) that she was placed in a learning support setting (private school learning cohort was an additional $8K a year on top of the regular tuition- more selective schools wouldn't consider her) I recall one day her telling me about a trip to Tuscany and a meal she had in about 4th grade; she told me it was "duck- it's a kind of chicken" because she couldn't come up with poultry. She did several summers of auditory training costing the big bucks. It did seem to give her a bump for a few months, but the benefit would fade so long as she wasn't actively in treatment.



Mostly, I feel like AT programs border on woo. Especially the ones with the colorful websites and snappy names- Earobics, Interactive Metronome, Fast ForWord. etc. I have known a few kids who were helped- permanently their parents say- by Berard AIT.

[waverly]

DS has hearing loss, not auditory processing disorder. I am aware that several people on this board think that some of the APD treatments are woo.

So it seems like IEP school support would be somewhat similar to hearing loss. Possibility of an FM system maybe. Seated closer to the teacher. Meeting with a school supplied specialist for listening skills. Yearly audiology appointments covered. Additional teaching aids with visual instruction/ input.  Perhaps speech therapy if warranted.

No experience with the additional therapies mentioned above.

[auntie]

Aug 10, 2018 9:54:35 GMT -5 waverly said:

DS has hearing loss, not auditory processing disorder. I am aware that several people on this board think that some of the APD treatments are woo.


Guilty as charged. I've known too many people who have thrown away vast sums of money and entire summers of their kids' childhoods without much success. That said, most of the people I know were those who ended up in lab/reading or therapeutic schools, so perhaps I only met angry parents whose kids weren't successful. 

So it seems like IEP school support would be somewhat similar to hearing loss. Possibility of an FM system maybe. Seated closer to the teacher. Meeting with a school supplied specialist for listening skills. Yearly audiology appointments covered. Additional teaching aids with visual instruction/ input.  Perhaps speech therapy if warranted.


These are great accommodations. I would expect given that agedsubaru ,'s DD has been in a specialized school for specific LD reading, that classroom placement is already happening. I would expect that listening skills are pushed in as a part of the curriculum at this school based on what I have seen in any of the schools I have toured for kids who learn differently. 


It can be really hard for a parent to advocate around CAPD. It's not like a parent who is advocating for deafness and/or hearing loss where you can present data on decibel levels and such. Plus, CAPD can vary greatly depending on the context and even the weather. A child might perform better on a gray humid day or in a 1:1 setting. 

No experience with the additional therapies mentioned above.


I kind of feel like if these programs worked, schools would offer them instead of parents paying out-of-pocket. DS's public elementary has an FM system in all of the mainstream and resource classrooms. His room was wired up in 5th grade; I did not notice an improvement in auditory attention or memory for him but the school's high stakes testing did improve a bit over past years especially for the kids who are identified as English language learners and students with IEPs. 


The district where we used to live offered Fast ForWord for a couple of years. One of the teachers from DS's private reading school had moved there to teach after having kids. She was the building's reading specialist and administered the program; she was not impressed by the results she saw either. It was used for kids who were in the developmental 1st grade (kids who weren't on target for regular 1st after kindie), kids who weren't reading at grade level and were getting reading support. They stopped offering it routinely after about 2 years. 

[akafred]

We are not doing anything for DD’s APD, in terms of programs or even accommodations. We have changed our interactions somewhat which has helped a LOT. I am also trying to build her auditory working memory. For example, let’s say she asks how do you spell “horse.” I give her all the letters at once, slowly and with spacing, whereas DH who is not as cognizant of this strategy, feeds them to her one at a time. I actually think these strategies have made a big difference.

I keep seeing that there is a very strong correlation between dyslexia and APD. I believe it.

[agedsubaru]

We are just exploring this. My dev pedi has always poo'd poo'd it waving off as adhd related auditory processing delays.
But it is more than that. We did have an audiology eval. I am not in love with his recommendations and met (separately) an audiologist who is trialing low gain amplification hearing aids (knocks out the background noise). THis had an immediate calming effect and improvement in speech articulation (dd has a complex speech and language profile). Her SLP (PROMPT bridging level) noticed independent of me. So exciting.

There is a great discrepancy in the field of audiology in how APD is treated. There isn't a bunch of great studies out there either. Just getting someone to test properly was interesting and a challenge.

We also (luckily) had a free trial to Fast ForWord. It might help some but brought nothing to our table (no results). ILS has brought nothing to our table either. I don't regret trying it. I may try with the hearing aids to see if we see any results.


APD isn't recognized by all school districts. Ours does not recognize it. We are on our own on this one.


akafred there is definitely a connection between APD and dyslexia. For sure. The auditory memory is something we have to work on.

[origami]

My DS2 likely has APD. I was going to pull the trigger with an audiologist’s test to dx him but the test was ~$800 and the treatment if he had it was Fast Forword, which is $$$$$$$ and a huge time commitment. Our district does nothing for APD dx’s and neither does our insurance. I was very discouraged by the studies of the effectiveness of FFW so I ended up skipping the dx test. He gets ST regardless so they have him working on auditory memory, among other things. I won’t lie, I feel guilty to have basically shrugged this off since his SLP is convinced he has it. But the money and time commitment were a non-starter, on top of his other therapies. We’re using the random home strategies recommended by our SLP and stuff I read online.

[agedsubaru]

www.audiologyonline.com/articles/maximizing-outcomes-for-children-with-16321

Interesting article. The author is in Ohio.

[agedsubaru]

We tried hearing aids and it has been a game changer. These are low gain amplification. Normal hearing with apd. Dd is now responding slowly to OG. Her speech is clearer. Her attention has improved. She is happier.

There is a facebook group if anyone is interested.

Aug 18, 2018 21:09:50 GMT -5 origami said:

My DS2 likely has APD. I was going to pull the trigger with an audiologist’s test to dx him but the test was ~$800 and the treatment if he had it was Fast Forword, which is $$$$$$$ and a huge time commitment. Our district does nothing for APD dx’s and neither does our insurance. I was very discouraged by the studies of the effectiveness of FFW so I ended up skipping the dx test. He gets ST regardless so they have him working on auditory memory, among other things. I won’t lie, I feel guilty to have basically shrugged this off since his SLP is convinced he has it. But the money and time commitment were a non-starter, on top of his other therapies. We’re using the random home strategies recommended by our SLP and stuff I read online.

[origami]

May 5, 2019 21:30:17 GMT -5 agedsubaru said:

We tried hearing aids and it has been a game changer. These are low gain amplification. Normal hearing with apd. Dd is now responding slowly to OG. Her speech is clearer. Her attention has improved. She is happier.

There is a facebook group if anyone is interested.

Aug 18, 2018 21:09:50 GMT -5 origami said:

My DS2 likely has APD. I was going to pull the trigger with an audiologist’s test to dx him but the test was ~$800 and the treatment if he had it was Fast Forword, which is $$$$$$$ and a huge time commitment. Our district does nothing for APD dx’s and neither does our insurance. I was very discouraged by the studies of the effectiveness of FFW so I ended up skipping the dx test. He gets ST regardless so they have him working on auditory memory, among other things. I won’t lie, I feel guilty to have basically shrugged this off since his SLP is convinced he has it. But the money and time commitment were a non-starter, on top of his other therapies. We’re using the random home strategies recommended by our SLP and stuff I read online.

Interesting!! I’m so happy this is working for you guys. What is OG?