(Andrea has written several posts about APD
– see the listing at the bottom of this page.)
I am walking across campus when someone stops me. While I am standing there desperately trying to figure out who this out-of-place person is, they ask me, “Are you going to the four-meter spa?”
I blink with confusion, and then realize that I am scrambling these sounds, so ask for a repeat, but it makes no more sense. Apparently this is an important question, so I ask for a re-phrase, and finally it all clicks: this is Elverta and she is asking me, “Are you going to tutor for me this fall?” This kind of auditory miscomprehension is a real problem; I end up answering the wrong questions, and sometimes the person and I do not realize that we are engaged in a dialog about entirely different subjects.
Sometimes although the other person knows what they mean, what I think they mean may not be what they are thinking of. Although I state that I understand the problem, neither of us is aware that we are “not on the same wavelength”. Then the problem continues, and the other person views this confusion as further proof of my inability to learn and perform well rather than as a mutual misunderstanding of the situation! The same scenario has happened a number of times, and been a source of problems with various managers and bosses.
Sometimes it’s the decoding where I bog down, where a conversation progresses normally, but has bad phonemic sectors, “Blah-blah-blah-blah mumble blah-blah-blah.” If I ask them to repeat, it just comes out “Blah-blah-blah-blah mumble blah-blah-blah,” again. It’s like have poor cell phone reception, where the signal gets static or drops out. The subtitles in my head, that mental transcript I mentally read to decode the meaning behind the words I have just heard, looks just fine during the blah-blah-blah-blah part, and then suddenly at the “mumble” section the letters go bad, like the alphanumeric characters on the ophthalmologist’s chart where the line is too small to read clearly. Foreign languages are especially hard to understand, especially French for not being spelled phonetically. I hate drive-through lanes, or pages and announcements at airports because I can’t understand half of what they’re saying.
I’ve had my hearing tested more than once, due to various difficulties with speech. No matter where I have lived, people have always asked me about my “accent” (actually a corrected speech impediment). However, my ears work excellently well; I hear things most people don’t, like computer hard drives and motors that are off-pitch. I have developed hyperacusis and tinnitus, and the latter only worsen my comprehension problems.
Over the years, my family, teachers, graduate school advisor, and employers have complained at me for not understanding what was going on, for forgetting what they told me, for taking things too literally, or for ignoring them. I do what I can in class and meeting situations: I sit up front, do the readings beforehand, and watch what the speaker is saying. But many times I am caught between an air conditioner fan or steam-heat radiators, flickering-buzzing lights, and a whining projector, and thus can barely understand the speaker despite the fact that I am just a few feet away. Sometimes I ask them to speak up, but it really isn’t their volume – it is me having difficulty discriminating between the voice and the background noises, plus my mental decoding of his discussion into these new words, plus my double-time processing of trying figure out what is being said in words and what it means in content. Often I cannot understand people when more than one person is speaking. I’ve tried recording lectures, but generally it’s not any clearer the second time around.
I had never realized just how much of television or movie dialog that I misunderstood until I watched television close-captioned (subtitled in English) with my hard of hearing husband. It wasn’t until later when I tried watching programs that weren’t captioned, that I realised the lapses in dialog comprehension and the strain on my attention the effort requires. I have especial difficulty on the phone or when I am not watching someone speak. When writing for newspapers and magazines I hated doing interviews, and have never been fond of carrying on extended telephone conversations. I really hate checking voice-mail, especially when I have to listen to the same rambling message three or four times just for the fast, slurred phone number at the end! Text messages work much better for me.
Verbal directions are hard to keep straight. A few summers ago I worked at a research farm, and the field boss Terry explained to me how to drive the tractor. At the time I had no trouble understanding what he was talking about, but the next day I was frustrated to find that I was unable to remember all the details and steps of what he had told me, and he was annoyed that a college student should have difficulty remembering something so simple!
Being able to identify or prevent these kinds of occurrences are problematic in school situations, and to my future employment. I needed some way of being able to explain to people how I can have such perfect hearing yet not understand what they’re saying, and that I am not being rude, uncaring, lazy or stupid. I needed better ways of dealing with problems than just “trying harder”. A hearing exam simply showed that my hearing is perfect; Auditory Processing Disorder (sometimes known as CAPD for Central Auditory Processing Disorder) is not readily diagnosable with an ordinary screening hearing exam. It requires specific testing. Once I found someone who specialised in this, the results were illuminating, and having this information has proven to be beneficial for both me and my employers.
This following is the main portion of a letter for instructors and employers describing how Auditory Processing Disorder affects me, and how I cope with it. APD is not a well-known problem, so I post this here for more people to better understand it.
Auditory Processing Disorder is an invisible disability, a developmental condition that interferes with the processing of speech. Although my hearing is perfect, I yet have intermittent problems with perceiving and decoding what people are saying. It’s like having poor cell phone reception, where the signal gets static or drops out. My difficulties have worsened with the tinnitus (a subjective, intermittent whine in my ears) that adds more “noise in the system”.
Testing by a licensed audiologist has revealed that under absolutely quiet conditions my comprehension (i.e., processing of spoken words) is 80% left ear and 86% right ear. Under noisy conditions (e.g. machinery and/or multiple voices), my comprehension is reduced to just 68% left ear and 52% right ear.
HOW IT AFFECTS ME
You can imagine how difficult it might be trying to keep up with conversations or to understand lectures when I am only comprehending half of what is being said. What I have to do is to rely on context to puzzle out what people are saying. I must spend extra mental effort to unscramble new terms and concepts, in addition to my double-time processing of trying to remember what has meanwhile been said while I was busy figuring out the word. Doing all this decoding takes up working memory. Because I have to attend to what is being said in words, I have less attention for figuring out what is meant in conceptual content. I often have to ask questions or post comments during lectures and meetings to verify what I think has been said.
My working and short-term memory are used to process the conversation, rather than to remember what I’ve heard. The result of this is that for many classes I leave the room without any clear idea of what the whole lecture was about, because I’ve not had much extra short-term memory left for storage. I have to read my notes afterwards to do the learning part from the lecture.
Verbal directions can be difficult. I have trouble understanding, recalling, and keeping straight a series of commands. For example, directions on how to get somewhere, the steps involved in operating machinery, or even the steps involved doing calculations can be quite difficult. Additionally, numbers like five and nine, or fifteen and fifty sound very similar.
Discriminating between voices and background noises is difficult. Situations with multiple people speaking are especially challenging because all the conversations and the background noise keep weaving together. This includes not just restaurants and conferences, but also conversations in offices, hallways, and in classes where people break into “small-group discussions”.
Most environments can be more mechanically noisy for me than others perceive them to be, because I can hear a greater range of high-frequency noises than many people. Window air-conditioning units, steam heat radiators, LCD projector fans, computer hard drives and fluorescent lights all create rooms that are substantially noisy for me. Hyperacusis (a medical condition causing increased sensitivity to sound) makes the high-frequency noises subjectively even louder.
STRATEGIES THAT HELP
I have developed a variety of compensatory strategies, as I must deal with this disorder all through the day. Outlined below are a few strategies that would be helpful for me and for us when communicating. However, these are only partially successful, and my abilities to compensate for the APD deteriorate when I am tired or sick
- Provide me agendas and notes ahead of time, an hour or day before the lecture, to allow me to both review the concepts, and to cue in to new terms so I can anticipate them.
- Allow preferential seating that is up front and away from machinery. This will allow me to see the speaker, as I do a little lip-reading.
- Temperature-permitting, kindly shut the classroom door to reduce noise from hallway traffic.
- Use the closed-captions (subtitles) option when showing videos.
- Provide assignments or other information in writing; this can be done in e-mails, et cetera. Give me directions in writing, as e-mails, or as a summary after a discussion.
- Allow the use of a tape player during meetings, classes and during any private appointments.
- When appropriate, allow the use of an assistive listening device (ALD). These are typically used in large meeting rooms. It consists of a receiver with headphones for myself, and a wireless mike for the speaker. This allows the information to transmit directly through the headphones while eliminating most extraneous noises. Using an ALD such as an FM system may be helpful in large lecture halls.
NOTE: Many people mistakenly think that APD is a volume problem, and that talking louder or repeating what was said will help. Rather, what will really help is to re-phrase what is being communicated.
APD is a very frustrating and misunderstood disorder. There is no cure. I have lived with it my entire life, and it is quite liberating to know that it is a true disorder and that it has a name. This allows me the opportunity to learn more about it, and to be better able to find ways to communicate more clearly and more efficiently.
Please understand that my conversational difficulties do not affect my motivation or abilities to learn and perform. I need people to understand that I am not being rude, uncaring, lazy or stupid.
OTHER POSTS DEALING WITH APD:
Students with various learning disabilities may have processing issues. We have to take information in, make sense of it, retrieve information, and then be able to relay information back. Various kinds of learning disabilities interfere with steps in this process, and the interference can happen at more than one step, especially when a person has more than one kind of difficulty. Let’s take the subject of, “Answering a question asked of you”. Most people assume that this is really simple, and thus, easy. Hah! How Hard Can It Be?
Helping the awkward new student seemed like a good idea, so why did it make everything worse? Help was apparently something that is done to you and for you; I was the passive recipient for help. They were strangely disempowering, these activities that were ostensibly for my benefit: Being the Class Project: Reflections Upon False Inclusion.
Why I only appeared noncompliant and dishonest, and how I got into trouble for cheating on the reading worksheet: Failing to Cheat.
What’s really going on when you ask someone a question and get that familiar, “Huh?” More importantly, what can we do to help prevent such situations? Try using Headlining.
How bad does it have to get? At what point does a student’s difficulties with schoolwork demonstrate that they are having significant problems, and therefore need help? Should a student have to fail classes before someone realizes or decides that there is a problem? A, B, C, D and F.
You know, ALL the students would be able to hear and see the videos and other projected notes if the classroom were just designed better: Classroom Audio/Visual: Spectacular or Just A Spectacle?
Sometimes life has its funny moments. One of the problems with my Auditory Processing Disorder is that I cannot understand most song lyrics. There are only a few performers whose vocal range, diction and instrumental styles mesh to create songs that have intelligible lyrics, rather than what I usually hear, which is music with words mingled (or mangled) into the sounds of the instruments. There are some songs that are notorious for being misunderstood by lots of people; apparently entire audiences mis-heard Jimi Hendrix sing, ‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy in “Purple Haze”. The difference is that I misunderstand almost every song I’ve heard, like this one.
One of the problems we run into, sometimes unexpectedly so, is that our Assistive Devices do not “fix” the problem and make it go away. This is discouraging for the person who is newly diagnosed or newly treated for an issue, and who hoped that simply by getting some snazzy piece of equipment, everything would “be back to normal”. But it’s NOT the same.
Captioned (subtitled) television isn’t just for the Deaf and hard of hearing — it’s also great for people with APD, and those for whom English is a second language: Is it CC?
Those great folks at public television station WGBH in Boston, are going to work on providing captioning for all those teeny-tiny screens, our iPods, PDAs, mobile phones and other hand-helds. More Captions, w00t!
One of our strengths as a couple is that we are so different from each other. It’s not that one of us must “make up for” the deficiencies of the other — that would put us into artificial dichotomies of able and disabled, forever relying upon the other in our respective rôles of an incomplete person needing the other to complete them. Rather, it’s that each of us could manage alone as competent individuals, but that together we enrich the other’s experiences of the world. Social Captioning.
On the home front, we’ve recently adopted a new-to-us AT, and it took some nudging from me to get hubby to participate. Soon we were texting messages instead of talking on the phone. We were actually communicating more information, and doing so more often. We also found that what the missives may have lacked in warm fuzzy voice tones, they made up for in reduced marital stress: Read My Clips.
I hate puzzling out voice-mail! Recess: Sunday Funnies.
Everyone in life has to compensate in some manner or another, because no one excels at everything. In fact, the economy depends upon people’s interdependency — earning your living doing things for others is important to the Gross National Product, is important to a town’s sense of community, and is important to a person’s self-worth from feeling useful. The problem with over-compensation is that although I have at times felt that I had vanquished my personal demons of incompetancy by having overcome various failures with landmark achievements, those successes do not mean that I cannot or will not have future problems! Running With the Red Queen.
The person with APD prepares for a job interview: Welcome to the First Ring of Hell.
STUDENTS NEEDING CITATIONS: here is how you cite this blog posting; for the “cited” space you use whatever date you accessed the page, e.g. 2008 February 9.
Andrea. Andrea’s Buzzing About: Living With (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder [Internet]. San Francisco: Andrea’s Buzzing About: c2006-2008 - [cited ____________ ]. Available from: http://qw88nb88.wordpress.com/living-with-auditory-processing-disorder/ .
More details on citations to blogs may be found here.
Sandra D. said,
13 March 2007 at 5:34
Thank you for explaining this. I have dyslexia, and I thought I had a hearing problem even though volume increase never really helps. This has answered a question that I have had most of my life. Why can I not understand/comprehend what others do in the same way. I use my short term memory to decode! Brilliant. It makes sense to me now. Deep breath…. Thank you. Sandra.
Shelley Kaufman-Young said,
20 March 2007 at 14:25
I want to thank you for this article. I have tinnitus and auditory processing issues and dylexia. I am frustrated regularly by being “almost” right when I try to understand what people are saying to me. Often that means I am doing whatever it is they requested me to do all wrong. Or I have a proofreading error because I thought they told me to do it one way and I did it another. “Almost” and “not careful enough” are the words that run around my head today at review time. Why they just don’t say “broken, not fixable” is beyond me? In my non-business time, I rescue animals because they don’t judge. They just are grateful to be alive. I also write a blog about finding balance between never being enough to others and overcoming their opinions so I matter to myself. But it is (as you have observed) a daily battle. May your day go well for you have certainly brightened mine.
Namaste,
sky
Lou Spitz said,
9 April 2007 at 4:19
To Whom, My grand son Aaron in Chicago has a similar hearing disorder, dificulty processing what people say. He has normal hearing range but has some dylexic like difficulty understanding what is said to him. Also a short term memory problem. I am sending this “living with (central) auditory processing disorder” article to his father, Jeff. Aaron has been attending Montessori since kindergarten and has had much difficulty with academics. He is a superior athlete and struggles with school. We are searching for a school to help him. I appreciate your article and would like your assist. Thanks, Lou Spitz
qw88nb88 said,
10 April 2007 at 0:29
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with professionals in the Chicago area.
Beware of the multitudes of “cures” and “treatments” to be found on the Web, and suggestions from well-intended but clueless neighbors, coworkers, et cetera (doubtless you could write volumes on this already, including outrage over the useless comments that your grandson simply needs to be “disciplined”).
Here is a Web page with further information that you may feel useful, as it deals with school-related issues:
http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.aspx?r=988&f=search
Kindly let me know of other questions that I may be able to help you with,
andrea
Karen said,
2 May 2007 at 18:21
There’s a book that you might find helpful called “When the Brain Can’t Hear.”
When the brain can’t hear
Barbara Ellen said,
25 May 2007 at 0:16
Thanks Sandra for explaining APD. I think more people should learn about APD. I have APD and many people assume I’m just hard of hearing. Many people also think I’m just stupid and don’t catch things the first time. Since I am in high school it is extremely difficult to get sympothy or understanding from my class mates. Now I never tell people about my dissorder, and have ran into some problems. My best friend, sometimes accuses me of not listening or ignoring her. I am afraid if I tell her I have APD that she will think I have a hearing problem or attention problem. she might also think I am stupid. It is easy to see I have to tell my friends, but how??
Barbara Ellen said,
25 May 2007 at 0:17
I really need help!!!
-Barbara
Dee said,
25 June 2007 at 16:41
Thanks for explaining APD from your point of view. My elementary school-aged child has it, and I’ve read a lot about it since her diagnosis. But looking through your eyes (or should I say listening through your ears?) really gave me insight. I have a better idea of what’s going on in her head, and I also have a better way of explaining it to her teachers. Thank you!
Sharon Boorum said,
23 August 2007 at 5:43
I have been to so many doctors, Dignosed with so many things including depression and dyslexia Now at age 39 I feel I finaly have hope. It is great to know that there is a term out there for me for which I suffer from .. Thank you so much. I am Just starting to learn about it any advice would be appricated.
Darin said,
12 September 2007 at 17:27
Thank you for your information about APD. I will look more into it, but I think I can diagnose myself with APD. I also have a short-term memory. My employer repeats things to me over and over again in a fast paced restaurant. It’s now been nearly 20 years since it began due a car accident. I’m always taking notes and writing down names to help me remember.
Edna Gerrity said,
26 September 2007 at 15:31
this is an excellent letter which i will share with my clients. It puts you in the place of someone who has APD and offers comfort and support.
Barb said,
24 October 2007 at 0:12
Here is some info on Auditory Processing Disorder.
Lynn
Sue said,
2 November 2007 at 19:37
My daughter and I both have this problem. It is reassuring to see others share methods of coping. Closed caption television is indeed good to have so the two of us can watch tv effectively.
JAB said,
5 November 2007 at 5:29
I have been diagnosed with APD and processing speed since I was a child in grade school. I have always studied pretty hard and have been able to ‘get by’ and earn a fairly difficult college degree. I believe that I have a minor case as the difficulties described in the article above seem similar in nature to my problems but mine are less severe. My problem has become more apparent lately due to necessary communication at work (mainly via telephone/teleconference). I have never told anyone about my problem at work and very few people in my personal life… and have no desire to. I would like to know if anyone has any exercises that I am able to practice daily (15-20 mins a day) that could help make progress on coping. I know there is no true fix. I do not have a tutor or partner to practice with and everything online that I have read seems to be focused for the parents of younger kids struggling in school with parent/teacher interaction. I am a grown adult suffering with APD and need help….can someone offer assistance?
Thanks.
JAB said,
5 November 2007 at 5:42
Referencing Barbara Ellen’s comment: I have found that discovering you have problem is a step in the right direction, but I never feel I have the right to make excuses. If you feel you must tell your friend start with a carefully thought out lead in question such as: Have you noticed how I don’t always catch things on the first time? After her response, dismiss it by saying something like: Yeah I hate when that happens and leave it at that. Carefully review what her response is and think about how she reacts. After a few days of thinking about her response decide if you still have a desire to tell her. This will really help you gage 1. what she truly thinks of you (intelligence) 2. how understanding she is to your situation 3. how severe it is to your relationship and 4. how to rationally proceed with telling her. I have sometimes had an urge to tell some and it passed with time. FYI by no means am not a professional.
Holly said,
26 November 2007 at 1:32
Thank you for a great blog. My 9 year old son struggles daily with APD. But worse yet he struggles with adults and classmates who think he is stubborn and lazy. I have sent a copy to his school to be shared by all that work with him each day. I have also forwarded this to our relatives so that they can better understand him. You did a beautiful job putting in to words what I am sure he would say if he could. Thank you and best of luck to you. Holly
Linda said, said,
5 December 2007 at 17:11
Thank you so much for your sharing-it opened my mind and my heart. I am study for my teaching credential. I chose CAPD as the subject for my research project because I had no idea what it was. I want to know so that, as a teacher, I can be sensitive to its manifestations and try to help remediate when I can.
All day I have been online doing research and except for a site, “Ladle Rat Rotten Hut” http://ww.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/ladle/index.html, the comprehension of what it might feel like eluded me…until I read your letter. It made a huge difference in my understanding, of course, I can’t say that I know what you feel like. I just appreciate what you are dealing with. Thank you for your helping to gain a better grasp.
Tammy said,
13 December 2007 at 20:53
Wow, it is so helpful to read something in the first person. My 16 year old daughter has CAPD, as well as Apraxia of Speech and Visual Processing Disorder. She is high functioning, works hard just like you did in school, etc. She has good friends too, I am so thankful for many things in her life. But I don’t know what life feels like for her, and she doesn’t like discussing it. Your blog is very helpful to those of us with loved ones with CAPD. I hope eventually my daughter will read your blog.
Tammy said,
14 December 2007 at 15:19
Andrea,
Did you ever have a period in your life, especially your teens, where you were in denial of your CAPD? My daughter is in that place. Love to hear your comments.
qw88nb88 said,
15 December 2007 at 2:05
Tammy, I didn’t even learn what the problem was until I was in my 40’s! So there was no denial, just relief.
On the other hand, I wasn’t really aware of how much it permeated everything in life until a few things happened. Firstly my work supervisor, and later an advisor made complaints about me. Secondly, after I got used to watching captioned television programmes, and then watched some without, I realised just how much I was missing or strained to understand.
Closed captions are described in this post.
andrea
Tammy said,
27 December 2007 at 16:26
Your comments are very helpful. At this point my older daughter loves captions and if she has a CAPD it is very minor since she is in her 20’s and has had very little problems. My younger daughter (in her teens) resists the captions and is diagnoses with CAPD. I don’t know if it is a sibling issue, denial, or what that causes the restance. She also has some visual processing issues as well, so maybe it complicates things for her. Only time will tell. She is a young woman with tenacity for sure. I’m very proud of her, but I need to understand “her world” better and you have helped a great deal. Thanks for all the time you put into this blog.
Jan Cogan said,
29 December 2007 at 14:24
After reading this article, I feel that I have a much better grasp on the difficulties faced by the student diagnosed with CAPD. I am a French teacher, and found the comments on learning a foreign language very enlightening. All teachers should have the opportunity to read this article. Merci beaucoup for sharing!
qw88nb88 said,
29 December 2007 at 15:47
De rien. Spanish in high school was difficult, as words like cuanto (how much) and cuando (when) were very similar. My youngest also has APD and likewise found his two years of foreign language to be difficult. Like Tammy’s youngest, there is some denial about the level of difficulty present, possibly because the home environment is easier with the closed captions and whatnot.
I’ve found that some languages are easier for lipreading than others; German and Dutch are more in the front of the mouth (and thus visible) whereas French is softer because it’s more at the back of the mouth. French sounds lovely because of this softer quality, but it’s more difficult to distinguish; a lot of people with APD issues do some (unconscious) lipreading.
andrea
Karen said,
7 January 2008 at 15:49
Thanks Andrea for a such informative posting. My daughter was diagosed with CAPD and ADHD, she is in 3rd grade. She is in an inclusion class at school, and the elementary school is aware of her problem. The teacher said she would be glad to use an ALD with her. But my daughter is very sensitive and doesn’t want to become the class (as she says) wierdo. Kids aren’t very nice and she wants to fit in. I have a question for anyone, do these ALD’s really work and are they worth the money.
Thanks, Karen
qw88nb88 said,
12 January 2008 at 18:04
Karen,
ALDs do work to an extent, but they may not be the best choice for the situation.
For example, an FM system involves a microphone (for the teacher) and receiver headphones (for the student). Naturally this is highly visible, so not everyone wants to be singled out in this manner.
The microphone must be positioned correctly, so the speaker’s voice does not fade in and out of range (you may have experienced this yourself when sitting in presentations or conferences). Of course, both pieces of the equipment needs to have fresh batteries and be in good repair, or it’s useless.
Sometimes microphones with speakers are recommended for teachers so they can broadcast better to the students in the back of the room. Usually the speakers are not high quality, and such systems just add to the amount of noise, rather than improving the clarity of communication!
Because the microphone is used by the primary speaker, it presents problems if anyone else in the classroom speaks. Either the mike is passed around when there are group discussions or questions, or the listener does not get comments and queries by the other students in the room. The latter not only removes a layer of information, but can also lead to reduce social inclusiveness because the person with the headphones loses the small commentaries that may not be part of the formal instruction but are part of the socialisation and informal culture of the classroom.
I will say that there are special situations when an ALD such as this would be especially good, such as when the teacher is doing instruction during a bus ride, in noisy places like zoos, factory tours, science museums and so on. It should also be made clear (and probably reminded) to the teacher that PA announcements are often unintelligible to people with APD (or hearing loss) — this means that messages will need to be passed on, and the teacher should not rely on the student being able to follow those announcements, except where they are simply following the herd of students. (I’ve had my family page me at airports and places, and I not only couldn’t understand the page, I couldn’t even tell that I was the one being paged!)
There are alternatives to using an ALD, which should be considered and probably tried before deciding to use the ALD.
Your daughter should get “preferential seating”, which is often used for ADHD students as well. This means sitting near the teacher and/or instruction board or instruction area. The point is to reduce the amount of space and distractions between the student and the source of information.
The teacher should be careful to not address the students when writing on the board. (Unfortunately, most teachers start out very conscientious, and then after a few days revert back to their old habits.) Your daughter will have to get in the habit of asking, “What was that?” or “Can you repeat that?” or she may have to advocate after the fact. Meaning, when everyone has started on the work, raising her hand, and then when the teacher comes by to talk with her, point out that the teacher was talking to the board (again) and she couldn’t understand everything. She could also have a special hand-signal to make when the teacher turns back around from the board, to alert the teacher of the missed communication.
“Noise” is composed of a number of factors. Most people just think of the volume (measured in decibels). But there is also the complexity factor — it’s hard to focus on one sound source when there are other sound sources going on at the same time. There is also the noise-to-signal-ratio factor where clarity is important, and clarity can be lost from not just background noise, but also echoes, unclear speech, and poor transmission equipment (fuzzy speakers, tinny receivers and so on).
ALDs are often recommended because the student (or employee) is having trouble hearing or understanding because the room is atmospherically noisy. This is in large part due to bad environmental design — too many hard surfaces, noisy HVAC, various kinds of equipment, lots of voices at once and so on. Please note that “noisy equipment” does not mean it has to be loud by OSHA standards — students who are distractible and/or have APD problems and/or hyperacussis will find the noise levels in an average classroom to be more of a problem than many of their peers. (This also applies to many students with autism.)
Things like area rugs, draperies and acoustic tiles (or new, much more effective acoustic tiles) will help muffle a lot of the echo and reverberation. Turning off equipment when it’s not being used helps more than people think, and is also important to save energy. If there are times when multiple instruction is going on (for example, an aide helping a few students) then setting up an area with a couple of those portable, upholstered cubicle-type dividers will help not only your student, but also be more effective for the aide and the other students. (It’s always easier to “sell” an idea when the benefits to numbers of people are described.)
Students with ADHD or APD should not even be in the “open classroom” design that was in vogue some decades ago, as having several different classes and multiple instructions and larger numbers of students milling around is just too much to deal with effectively.
Have the instructor turn on captions to broadcast media — these are good for the ESL students, and they help the other students catch the terms and spelling of details they need from the program. It’s best for the teacher to not point out that they are turning on the captions for your daughter specifically — just turn them on, and if anyone asks, simply explain that they are on so everyone can more easily understand the dialog. That’s the truth; there’s no one need for one person to be singled out.
Hope this feedback helps! (pun not intended)
Further discussion on this issue in this post, ALDs in the Classroom.
andrea
TamB said,
15 January 2008 at 20:36
Andrea - thank you for your information. My now freshman in college has struggled and worked SO HARD since she was diagnosed in kindergarten. There was so little in the way of information at that time and now I am able to find so much more, but the frustration still exists. You have mentioned the computer programs to help - can you recommend something. It is so overwhelming to see so much and not know where to go. She did well in college, as in high school and middle school, on daily work with pretutoring and using resources available - total success story, but testing has always been her downfall and we have to find a way to help her with this. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks again for your site. Tam
qw88nb88 said,
15 January 2008 at 22:15
TamB,
I did not mention any computer programs. What are you looking for?
And, what sorts of difficulties does she have on exams?
andrea
Chris said,
17 January 2008 at 2:41
Hello,
I just stumbled across your site as my daughter who is in 3rd grade has been diagnosed with APD. She is currently undergoing Auditory Integration Training as recommended by her Speech Pathologist to retrain her ears to even out frequency sensitivities and to hear symmentrically (she is currently left ear dominant and also has ear confusion). When she was tested she was shown to have 90% hearing under perfect conditions and that dropped to 60% when background noise was present.
I was wondering if anyone here has undergone Auditory Integration Training, experienced any results, or has even heard of it.
Thanks,
Chris
Sarah said,
18 January 2008 at 20:00
I just want to say to everyone, “KEEP UP THE FIGHT”. I have two sons and a husband all dx with severe Central Auditory Processing Disorder, and even though the school wont use the word “dyslexia”, they ALL have all the symptoms. They get a lot of help at school. It seems as though we are in front of the CSE every other month, to request a new service, or ammend thiers IEP’s. But we go, we document what we need, why we need it, and they have never said no. My husband dropped out of school when he was 15, because it was too hard and no one advocated for him. We know what can happen if you don’t fight. On the plus side he is in a full time program earning his highschool diploma in his 30’s. I am very proud of him. And he is very empowered by this experience. To quote him, ” This is first time in his life that he does not feel retarded”. Just keep advocating for your family and enjoy your life. There is no program that will “fix” this “disability”. My best advice is to learn to work with in it. Good luck everyone.
Sarah
qw88nb88 said,
19 January 2008 at 1:02
That’s awesome Sarah, thank you for sharing this, especially your husband’s story!
andrea
TamB said,
21 January 2008 at 1:28
Andrea - as per above, I had read somewhere on the site about auditory integration/training and computer programs that could possibly help with this. I have read about Lindamood and some others, but at age almost 19, I was not sure if this was a training that needed to be started earlier. She does great on daily work because of repetition, pretutoring, definitely more time, etc., but when she has tests, especially multiple choice and/or story problems especially, she does very poorly, even if she knows the process and can work through the problems, etc. I feel this is still a comprehension and expressive disorder for sure. We are working with the disability department at college, but as you know, there is not a lot of documented accomodations to help with APD specifically. We have the preferential seating, note taking, microphone, etc., but it seems to be more the recall on testing is the issue. For example, she did great in math class, worked with tutors and her teacher, did great, but when she would go to the testing center for quizzes and tests, she always struggled SEVERELY, but I cannot pinpoint the reason for this, whether it is confusion with reading the answers that are similar or another aspect, almost like she does not understand what they are asking for. She is an avid reader, but who knows what she comprehends for sure. She has come miles and miles, but just wondering if others struggle with this situation. This has been typical since 3rd grade, but I cannot understand and was hoping there is something I have not considered. Confused I guess. Thank you for your site again. TamB
qw88nb88 said,
21 January 2008 at 22:31
Unfortunately, AIT does not hold up well under controlled studies. I’m planning on doing a post on this sometime soon, but meanwhile here’s the American Speech-Hearing-Language Association’s Position Statement on Auditory Integration Training (C)2004:
andrea
Chris said,
22 January 2008 at 3:43
Thank you, Andrea. Did you ever undergo AIT yourself or know of others who did?
Chris
lisa said,
28 January 2008 at 22:22
Hello I have an eight year old child with APD, and he is trying to understand his dissorder, while I work with children with LD I find myself reading up alot and I understand and help as much as I can. I think it’s much harder to try and get other people around us to understand about APD , and for them not to think of him as just a naughty boy. We have lots to learn but it’s nice to know that were not the only ones.
Chris said,
30 January 2008 at 1:05
Hello Everyone-
We completed Auditory Integration Training last week and my daughter’s reading teacher told me today that she has seen a notable difference in my daughter who seems to be “with her” now. She also apparently wrote this amazing summary of something she read in class that just floored her reading teacher. I too have noticed her focus and attention has changed and that she is really listening to me when I speak to her. I also had a big observation last week that really hit me….
She was bent over her desk changing her music player while I was sitting on her bed. She was not facing me and was totally engaged in what she was doing. I said to her “why don’t you take the things you need out of that bag (which was on her floor) and throw the bag away.” She finished what she was doing on her music player, picked up the bag, took out what she wanted, and threw the bag away all the while carrying on an unrelated conversation with me!!!!! This was SO out of character for her I couldn’t even believe it. I am so encouraged.
I just wanted to share this information with everyone. I have no affiliation with any therapists, groups or training techniques. I am simply a mom who would do anything to help her kid. In my case, we have seen some success. I am told I can expect to continue to see results over several months.
Chris
Jennifer said,
30 January 2008 at 23:19
Thank you for this wonderful information. Our 3 1/2 year old daughter was recently “red-flagged” by her preschool teacher for processing delays. The teacher reports a 2-3 second delay between the time she is given a directive and follows it. In addition, she has difficulty following 3 step directives. We’ve scheduled an evaluation by a pediatric audiologist next week. We want to do all we can to support her and maximize her learning potential. I would appreciate others input on therapies, programs, or activities that will help her. Someone recently recommended the “Fast ForWord” program. Has anyone used this?
Jennifer
Chris said,
31 January 2008 at 5:06
Jennifer-
Here is what I know from experience with my daughter (almost 9) who was also flagged in preschool with processing issues at age 4.
You have to see the audiologist to rule out any problems with the hearing mechanics. The audiologist can also tell you if your daughter has trouble hearing in the presence of background noise. This will indicate that she has a heightened sensitivity to certain frequencies. But it is a speech pathologist that can help you diagnose the problem and recommend therapy or a series of therapies.
We saw a speech therapist when my daughter was 4. She did a series of tests, recommended short term therapy and began working on the “symptoms” of the APD — e.g, trying to build her ability to execute multi-step directions, auditory comprehension exercises, etc. Basically after 6 months and much money spent, she “released” my daughter. I never saw any change in my daughter and really feel it was a complete waste of time.
My daughter is now in 3rd grade, and after tutors and outside help, her 3rd grade teacher told me at our parent teacher conference that she is really starting to be affected academically. After that conference, I did a lot of research and sought out the most highly regarded speech pathologist in our area. She tested my daughter in a number of different ways. The final test that she administered was a different kind of hearing test (different from an audiologist). This test revealed that my daughter has heightened sensitivity to certain frequencies (you want an even level of sensitivity to the frequencies that occur most often in speech), left ear dominance (apparently you want right ear dominance for efficient language processing) and also some ear confusion. The sensitivity to the certain frequencies correlated to what we found out through our audiologist test — that under perfect conditions, my daughter hears at a rate of 90%. In the presence of background noise, her hearing drops to 60%.
You can imagine how shocked and grateful I was to finally have found out exactly what the underlying problems were with my daughter. I was also exasperated that we hadn’t found out about this sooner! Why hadn’t the first speech therapist tested her for this? Anyway, most importantly, I was thrilled to have found someone who I believed could help her. She recommended Berard Auditory Integration Training (which she is licensed for) to even out my daughter’s sensitivities to certain frequencies and help her achieve more symmetric hearing.
Because the senses are all integrated, I was told I may see changes in not only her “listening” and comprehending, but in other motor skills as well although we had never had a motor skills problem that I detected. Lo and behold today as she was doing her homework, I had to do a double take because the work was sooooooooooooo much neater and organized. She was very sloppy with her handwriting before. That has completely changed. I guess internally she was just “disorganized” before — but not anymore! The other thing I have noticed is that her expressive language is much better. When she is retelling an event, it is much easier to follow her. She has definitely made some great strides.
One thing to note, when I asked my speech pathologist why our old speech therapist never tested for the underlying problems and recommended the AIT, she told me that apparently something like less than 2% of speech pathologists are even trained in this. I guess that is because ASHA has not had conclusive results in the research in order to officially recommend this. In our case, it has shown great promise but I don’t know if it works for everyone. I would just recommend that you go to a speech pathologist that is very highly regarded in your area and has all of the latest available therapies to offer you and to address the underlying problems before addressing the symptoms.
Good luck and keep me posted on your progress!
Chris
Judy said,
8 February 2008 at 11:23
I have an IEP meeting for my daughter next week. She was diagnosed with APD when she was in first grade. She’s now in 5th and will be going onto middle school next year. So the IEP we’ll be meeting about will impact next year more that this. Can anyone recommend accomodations we should ask for concerning middle school? Also, we live in Pennsylvania, where APD is not one of the disabilities that will get you an IEP or a 504. My daughter has one only because she has speech issues, because of the APD. Thanks.
Krissa Anderson said,
9 February 2008 at 20:36
Hello
I am writing a college paper in regards to the realities of auditory processing and to try to refute popular opinion that APD does not exist. I believe your blog would be invaluable to my paper and would love to use this and be able to cite it accurately, Is it possible to get your full name and date of this blog? Again, I would much appreciate this. Thank you.
qw88nb88 said,
9 February 2008 at 21:14
Krissa et al:
See note added to the end of the article regarding how to cite this post.
andrea
Fishing With the Wrong bAIT « Andrea’s Buzzing About: said,
9 February 2008 at 23:43
[...] Processing Disorder, Autism/Asperger’s, Tinnitus, hyperacussis) The other day (er, week) I promised to post some thoughts on AIT, so here they [...]
SamO said,
21 February 2008 at 20:14
TamB, I am a 21yr college student born with CAPD. I also had difficulty with tests. Knowing I would struggle with tests I would work extra hard doing homework, classwork, and extra credit to make up for poor test scores. On tests I knew I knew the answers but would make misstakes under the time limit. My 8th grade year I requested extra time for tests. Having extra time on tests allowed me to concentrate better to work out difficult question, read and re-read and re-re-read word problems, short stories, and multiple choice questions. My test scores increased and my overall grade. Not to mention I became less anxious and nervious about tests causing my face to clear up and be a much more happy me.
SamO said,
21 February 2008 at 20:18
To my previous comment. Extra time on tests worked for me, but I do not claim it will work for everyone. Extra test time is not the quick fix for CAPD education problems.
Kate said,
24 February 2008 at 17:47
Andrea,
I have CAPD also. How do you cope with it on the job? I am a college student going into graphic design and am terrified (or convinced) my chances at keeping a job are slim. I can’t block out background noise at all, so my performance at most everything is compromised when there is the slightest amount of background noise.
I sometimes think the better solution would be to forget my dreams and go into an easier job like house cleaning.
qw88nb88 said,
24 February 2008 at 18:22
I cope in several ways.
Some of it relies upon setting up supporting work environment, meaning finding places away from excess noise when possible.
Other times I have to self-advocate, and that seems to work best by framing my needs request as something for the other person’s benefit, such as, “I really want to hear what you have to say, but we need to move someplace that’s not so noisy so I can understand you better.” The good news is that when working with students with various disabilities, what works for me also works for them — all those ADD people need fewer distractions, too!
Sometimes when I need to focus on something I will wear headphones and listen to music (instrumental; no vocals) to block out the background noises and give my brain something familiar to process that doesn’t really need my attention.
andrea
Kate said,
29 February 2008 at 18:39
Andrea,
Thank you for the information. I try headphones but they don’t seem to work well enough. I don’t have Bose noise cancellation headphones, though. Do you?
How did you get a supporting noise environment? I would have a difficult time trying to explain this in a job interview. (Working in a cubicle or even in the room with other people talking on the phone would be difficult.)
I actually use the fan strategy at home. I used to not sleep for maybe 4 or 5 nights in a row just because I couldn’t filter out the noise around me. Now, I sleep very soundly. :)
Thanks so much! It is good to see there are other people out there with CAPD.
Kate said,
29 February 2008 at 18:49
Also–
I forgot to mention this but if you ever want to improve or get rid of part of your CAPD, there is a possibility you can. I used to have memory and comprehension issues-not the worst case in the world, but I definitely gave people a lot of blank stares when they were talking to me, and understanding a movie or lecture was out of the question. To my luck, I found the simplest way to overcome this problem: a cheap program called Brainbuilder. I did it for about 6 monthes, 15-30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. My digit span used to be a 4 and is now a 9 or 10! Plus, those closest to me say it seems I now understand what they say.
It took me a while to notice the change because I am so distractible with my ADD and severe auditory figure ground issues. However, in quiet environments, such as listening to movies online with headphones, I understand everything.
Kate
qw88nb88 said,
29 February 2008 at 22:28
Kate,
Sound-cancelling headphones (such as the Bose brand) only work to block out constant and consistent noises. This means that they will block out things like the roar of the jet engines, or machinery hums in your office. They will not block out intermittent sounds that change in pitch, like people talking.
One asks for accommodations after getting the job, rather than in the interview. It’s helpful to phrase such requests in ways that show the benefit to the employer, such as, “I would be much more focused and productive with my desk away from where others are talking.”
You can also ask co-workers to e-mail or IM you instead of phoning — if you make that request reminder to individuals in an e-mail, then they will have your e-mail to reply to (and won’t have to look up your internal e-mail address).
Maybe you could even become the company’s representative who answers calls on the TDD line (Telephone Device for the Deaf, also known as TTY).
andrea
Cathy said,
4 April 2008 at 17:03
My 17 yr old son has CAPD. He works extremely hard and has excellent grades but I’m concerned about college. He spends tons of time on schoolwork as it is. Does anyone have advice about colleges, such as, is smaller class size better? Should he pursue getting extra time on college exams? Thanks
Shari said,
9 April 2008 at 18:49
Can you tell me the best place to go for a diagnosis? I have an 8 yr. old daughter that struggles with these issues. We are in the Northeast, but I would travel anywhere to help her. Thank you!
qw88nb88 said,
10 April 2008 at 0:27
Cathy,
Contact the disability access services department of the college to discuss with them what they may need in the way of documentation, and what they can offer in the way of accommodations.
Shari,
Contact an audiologist and enquire with them about APD specialists.
andrea
maureen said,
22 April 2008 at 17:32
would you mind if i shared your story with my class mates during a class presentation ?
Tammy said,
22 April 2008 at 19:54
Andrea,
My 16 year old listens to music, and has the TV on when she does her homework. She has mild/moderate CAPD. It seems to me that she is “overloading the system” with all that noise but she swears she studies better and I really think at this age if she gets it done then it isn’t worth the fight of forcing her to study “my way”. Is there a chance it actually helps her in any way?
Tammy
qw88nb88 said,
26 April 2008 at 14:46
Tammy,
My apologies for the delay in responding (I have had ten times as many comments this week as usual).
I would say that listening to music while doing homework is not going to be a problem (I do it, as does my kid with APD). You are probably worrying that your daughter is using part of her cognitive processing for decoding the lyrics, rather than attending to the homework. But in fact, when someone is listening to familiar things, less attention is needed because you already know what it sounds like.
Many students (such as those with AD/HD) will have background music on because it helps filter out some of the distracting noises. It also gives the auditory processing part brain something easy and familiar to focus upon. Think of it as a good distraction, like when you give a toddler a toy in a waiting room so they aren’t wandering around getting into things.
Personally, I find a classroom full of people to be a more difficult place to take a test in, because all the random sniffles, sighs, foot shuffles, pencil scritching, eraser rubbing and consequent crumb-brushing, paper shuffling et cetera to be distracting. New or unfamiliar music would also be distracting. But listening to something well-known covers over the small environmental noises in a room (on campus or at home), and makes it easier to stay focused.
You also know that when you make a long car drive, listening to your music makes it easier to stay engaged on the task because it keeps you from getting bored or sleepy.
I’m not keen on the television + homework thing unless the student is just going through worksheets that they find easy. But the music + homework thing is rarely a problem.
andrea
qw88nb88 said,
26 April 2008 at 14:59
Maureen, you may share this — please do include the citation (source) information, which you will find at the end of my post (before the comments).
andrea
Tammy said,
26 April 2008 at 15:13
Wow, this is very helpful. Thanks SO MUCH for your replies. I know you are a busy lady.
Tammy
Carole said,
30 April 2008 at 18:55
My granddaughter has finally been diagnosed correctly and has learned to deal with it. She is on a national championship cheerleading squad at her high school and will be attending college this fall majoring in photography and minoring in business. We expect great things from her.
Christina W. said,
13 May 2008 at 2:01
My son is to enter middle school in the fall. Has APD. We did the Lindemood Bell program (I think that was the name of it) when he was in 1st grade and part of 2nd then he “graduated” from that program & we thought all was well. Reads well above grade level, much better at sounding out words, etc. However, this year he’s really struggled with spelling. This is a GT child, high IQ, can memorize passages after reading 1 time, but cannot spell correctly and consistently. Still has some trouble reading aloud - will mix up the words or say the wrong word. Another thing his teacher has mentioned several times is that he will come up to her and ask for directions on a particular project - and she will say, I just covered that with the entire class 5 minutes ago. Apparently he never even clued into the fact that she was up, talking, giving directions, etc. and this year (5th grade) his nice teacher will explain to him what she just said. However, next year, I know that probably won’t happen - multiple teachers, etc. and I am concerned.
Should we return for more auditory training? Is there something else I could/should do for my son to help him?
Any thought/help would be greatly appreciated. I just thought this was “cured” and we were done w/ it since we had completed that program….
Christina W. said,
13 May 2008 at 2:10
One more thing….(see post 58. for previous info) - he had a heck of a time memorizing multiplication tables. I remember learning them in 3rd grade easily. He finally has them now at the end of 5th!
One more question for everyone: he is considering taking band as a class next year…and is supposed to play the tuba. He loves music - at least listening to it on his Ipod. Would band be a good idea, bad idea? Would his APD make any difference one way or another? Thank you!!
Tammy T said,
23 May 2008 at 3:19
I would just like to say, that this is great information. I have been diagnosed with CAPD since grade one, I am now at university. Elementry school was the worsted for myself. My grade one teacher said that I wasn’t paying attention and just day dreaming, not working hard, etc. Finally after much push from my parents the school gave me a labell, that I just had a auditory processing problem, but our family friend who was a teacher said that I should be tested my the provincial government since the label the school gave me was just a label. After much testing they had a clear diagnoses for my disability, and could now work with it. It was a huge relief just to know exactly what I had. The problem there after was most of my teachers did not want to let the word out that I had a disability. So I was getting called stupid from other children, a lot of teasing, and usually then I would just find a place to hide. I was about to be taken out of that school by my parents if the school didn’t do something. My mom was then allowed to come into the class and speak to my class mates about my disability, and that showed them , that I was just as able as they were. This helped me a lot, I got teased less, the teachers knew how to teach me, better seating arrangments, I used the FM (I did not like to wear it) it made me feel singled out so I only wore the thing for 2 years. If you do know someone with this disability I don’t think they should be ashamed of it. I was lucky enough to get extra help in my school by a person that teaches the deaf, since I was at the same reading level as another person with a hearing problem and this Teacher taught me how to sound out word, since most kids are not taught this aspect of language, and with my disability I was unable to catch the sounds of these words I was hearing. If you know someone with this disability it would be a good investment to teach them how the words sound. It has helped me and I still use their techniques.
When I reached junior high, I did not need much help after that, I had some how development my own mechanisms to deal with my problem, I worked my butt off to get average marks, I would come home exhausted just because I was so hard of focusing on what was being said to me. It drains you out. Right now, I don’t notice my coping mechanisms, but I still work really hard, more than others would, I am taking less courses at my university than the majority, just because of the workload, it takes me a long time to get through it all, since I am a slow reader. In elementry during reading times, I can remember pretending to read, because I just could not read, I was unable to sound out the words, because I didn’t know how they sounded like.
I am a very sociable person, I don’t normally talk about my disability to people , no one has asked me if I have a problem, I just ask a ton of questions, and also people ask me where I got my accent from, I don’t notice that myself, but if I have been hearing words wrong for so long I bet it would sound strange to people I talk to. As for my professors I don’t tell them, I like to do things on my own, but if you are struggling in university, I know at my school they offer a ton of resources for people with LD’s which is a great help. Don’t be shameful of it, everybody processes information differently.
lastcrazyhorn said,
25 May 2008 at 2:45
I’ve just recently started to realize my burgeoning ability to lip read. *rolls eyes* I despise phone calls. And I despise answering machine messages too. To the point that I sometimes unplug my machine to erase the messages so I don’t have to worry about hearing and deciphering them. That sounds really bad doesn’t it.
Regina Crockett said,
28 May 2008 at 2:28
As a mom of a 21 year old daughter who was not diagnosed properly for CAPD (Central Auditory Processing Disorder) until the age of 15, I can say that the Fast ForWord products by Scientific Learning changed her life. She had severe CAPD, Dyslexia, severe expressive and receptive language delays and all this started at the age of 7 months. She was in a retained Special Education class through the 5th grade. She ended up graduating from High School with a “regular diploma” and a GPA of 3.043 for her four years of high school. She is now a student at Memphis College of Art working towards an animation degree. She still has many challenges, but, the six years we have spent using this program has been worth every bit of time and money. There is a hope….God Bless to all of you who are struggling, but, never give up….
Astrid said,
5 June 2008 at 10:41
Hi,
I really wanted to say thank you for posting all of this. I’m trying to look up information on CAPD, especially what it actually feels like for the person who has it (the information geared at parents is interesting but not all that useful) because I think I may have it. I’ve always known I had some kind of hearing issue, especially regarding background noises (when 99.9% of your age group want to socialise in places that destroy your ability to understand spoken language, aka pubs and clubs, you figure that out quite quickly) but I’ve never been able to figure it out exactly. I’m still not sure this is right, because a lot of the things I read aren’t familiar at all (I didn’t have any trouble with school, have always been exceptional at reading, writing and spelling. I still don’t have any problems with lectures, although I should point out maths lectures are strongly visually based.) and it doesn’t seem to impact my life nearly as much as people have been describing. Also, some of the things that are similar aren’t quite the same. For instance, I get processing delays occasionally but I’m also unable to /speak/ while they happen - it’s less being unable to process a particular phrase as it is forgetting what language is for a few seconds - and that hasn’t shown up in any of the material I’ve looked at.
Do you happen to know any links that would be helpful to an adult who’s trying to figure out whether they have CAPD? If not, that’s fine - this has been immensely helpful already.
May I Help You? - lastcrazyhorn said,
21 June 2008 at 15:42
[...] accompanied by various comorbidities, including (but not limited to): sensory processing disorder, auditory processing disorder, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, motor coordination difficulties, hyperacusis, hypermobility, [...]
Tangential Thinking « Odd One Out said,
25 June 2008 at 12:48
[...] #2 I had a run-in with Auditory Processing Disorder yesterday; yet another reason why I think it’s likely that I have it. Andrea’s Buzzing has a really post about it here. [...]
Dorothy said,
26 June 2008 at 1:37
Hi Andrea,
I am so happy that I found your website when I was looking up “colleges that help APD students.” I am going to be a senior in high school this fall and I am really nervous for college especially having this disability. My father has fought for me at school to get an IEP. I feel the IEP is good; however, for me, I can read perfectly and a lot of my friends treat me just like a normal human being. For me, I find it VERY difficult understanding texts and following lectures. Because of this, my father is looking into schools that have LD programs. My father and I also asked the child study team at my school to help find a reading teacher for me in order to sit down and read and make sure I understand it. My case manager and the speech therapist at my school refuses. To me, I believe they look at my grades and depend on it. Truthfully, those grades is good to them because of the help of many tutors. I even tried to tell my case manager and speech therapist that without these tutors, I would not be able to get these grades. I am really scared that when I go to college, I would need to depend on someone. I have one year left of high school and I was wondering if you can give me any suggestions on how to build up my reading skills and any colleges that you think is beneficial.
Thank you for your time,
Dorothy
qw88nb88 said,
30 June 2008 at 23:44
Dorothy,
Just about every university or college has some sort of Disability Access office. When you get to college, you don’t really have an IEP per se. Instead, you meet with the access counselors, who can recommend (and help provide) various accommodations for you. For APD issues, these may include such things as note-takers (usually a student in your class who volunteers), preferential seating close to the lecturer, a quiet testing environment, and/or extra test-taking time (such accommodations are often recommended for students with AD/HD as well).
There are also a number of courses that may be taken on-line, even at “regular” colleges. With online classes, there is more reading of material in PowerPoint, in papers, and in books, rather than sitting in lectures and trying to listen and take notes. Online classes are also scholastically demanding, but in other ways — your reading and writing skills are important, not your listening skills.
In addition to any of those accommodations, one of the most important can be tutors. These may be either peer tutors (more experienced students who have had the class and received A or B grades) or older adults (teachers and other professionals, such as myself). Tutors who work for the access departments are usually experienced in working with students who have various disabilities. They don’t assume that you are “stupid” because you don’t get everything the first time you read or hear it.
Most colleges will require fairly recent assessments; the figure commonly cited is three years or less — this means that a student’s assessment that was done in second grade will no longer be useful, except as proof for needing re-assessment. A person’s skills will change over the years, as coping mechanisms are developed, but as you have noted, the scholastic demands also increase. So a recent re-assessment is not just for bureaucratic reasons!
The Learning Disabilities Association of America has a bunch of pdf links on this page on adults going to college and entering work. This other page by Schwab Learning also has a number of information links, including those for specific colleges (I think that Schwab Learning is a great site, but cannot personally vouch for all those links, so surf thoughtfully).
As far as improving academic skills, some colleges have extra classes for students to improve various scholastic skills, including reading, spelling, mathematics, and time-management & organisational skills. Although you may feel that you’ve already been through similar programs in your youth, do remember that at this stage in your life you have a much better understanding of what you specifically have trouble with, what you need to improve in, and can appreciate how going through such courses will help you do better with less stress.
Right now it sounds like much of the anxiety is a combination of fear of the unknown, and feeling like your struggles are not being taken seriously. Please remember that college is not like high school — I know, you hear that all the time! But I mean that in good ways, too. And don’t let anyone tell you that you need to learn how to do everything yourself and that you can’t expect any help in college or at work, because those statements are NOT true. There’s a difference between challenging students, and just making things difficult on them.
Meanwhile, you are planning ahead and gathering information to make informed choices, and having more information and talking with the access people will help allay many of those concerns. And don’t worry about depending on people, because everyone depends on other people! (Try this post for food for thought.)
andrea
Kristi said,
6 July 2008 at 13:50
Thank you so much. My son’s preschool teacher said she thought he had CAPD but that we could not test until he was older. Now he is 7, I just got the results Thursday and your explination helps so much. I get frustrated when I simply state something to him and he acts like he doesn’t understand. I don’t want to be frustrated, but I will try to rephrase until he can grasp what I am say. I know we have a long road to haul, but with help, I know we can do it!
qw88nb88 said,
6 July 2008 at 19:43
Kristi,
[1] Rephrasing helps!
[2] So does asking one thing at a time, instead of several — this includes asking questions and asking for him to do things.
[3] You can also preface requests by including alerts for enumeration, “Would you please get the THREE things you need to go to school: your jacket, your backpack, and your lunch,”
then you pause to let that process while he thinks of these things and when and why he needs them, and general thoughts about seeing his friends at school,
and then before he dashes off, you ask him, “What three things do you need?”
this allows him to retrieve the list from active memory and get it into short-term memory and having him repeat them back provides another route for the list to get routed into short-term memory as well.
Please check out these posts on “Headlining” and “How hard can it be?”
This recent post on, “Are you ’slow’?” may also be helpful as you and your son run into others’ attribution errors about his abilities.
andrea
Ms N said,
9 July 2008 at 2:48
My 17 yr old son has a job as a cashier at a grocery store. He wants to quit because he said his CAPD is making it hard to do the job. It is giving him headaches. Is there any suggestions for good kinds of jobs for these kids. He quit everything in seventh grade because he did not make the middle school basketball team. He is a great athlete. He won’t do anything anymore. How long do I tolerate the low motivation? Quitting the job will only add to a long line of quitting. HELP!
qw88nb88 said,
11 July 2008 at 1:03
There are plenty of other positions at a grocery besides the noisy realm of cashiering! (Besides, standing all day is really hard on the feet.)
It may be time to check with the doctor or someone about assessment for depression. But as for the big picture, instead of trying to do things that are going to be inherently difficult, start looking for alternatives that use skills but don’t create additional hardship. If he didn’t make the team, would he be interested in coaching younger kids in basketball at summer camps or other organisations? Would he be interested in office work instead of retail?
andrea
Brittany said,
10 August 2008 at 2:29
Hello Andrea,
I have a six year old son who was recently diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder and will be entering Kindergarten this Fall. We are concerned about the fact that his class will have 25 students. Should we look for another Kindergarten program with a smaller class size (under 20). I’d really appreciate any thoughts or comments on this.
Thank you.
Ezzie J said,
10 August 2008 at 4:07
Where do I start! Halleluia! Yours is pretty much the best resource I’ve come upon.
I bit the bullet and bought a radio aid for myself and I wouldn’t be without it. Half my bag contents is hearing equipment - I luv it when someone else is using the loop system at meetings because that means I can get the use of it too. You can find these little receiver things which are great.
I have a 20 decibel loss in my left ear and am 10 decibels above normal in my right. I would like to go to one of these speech, hearing and balance centres to see what they think because I think a hearing aid might be good for me generally. To top it all I’m blind so this is very frustrating and hazardous. Anyways enough ranting.
any good makes of cheap converence mics?i don’t particularly want my £300 radio aid to get dropped in the drink in a pub somewhere smile.
Cheers,
Erica.
qw88nb88 said,
10 August 2008 at 20:32
Brittany,
What are you specific concerns about your son, with respect to the class size? A smaller class might help, but does not guarantee anything with regards to the teacher or the room or the schedule et cetera.
andrea
Brittany said,
10 August 2008 at 21:16
Hi Andrea,
Thank you for your quick reply. In answer to your question, I am concerned that the size of the class will totally overwhelm him and that he will be unable to focus or concentrate. I am new to all of this and don’t know if I will be making him miserable by putting him in such a large class. If the teacher is willing to work with him does that mean that the size of the class shouldn’t matter? I have met with his new teacher and she doesn’t know much about the disorder but seems willing to learn and help.
Thanks.
Brittany
qw88nb88 said,
10 August 2008 at 22:15
Brittany,
It depends partly upon the teacher’s style of classroom management (some teachers have higher noise-level standards if they feel it is “happy, productive noise”), and partly upon your son’s own preferences and needs.
It’s really hard to generalise about teachers; sometimes older women will have calmer classrooms, sometimes older women will be less easily adaptable to different routines, sometimes new teachers are a bit overwhelmed and either too lax or strict, sometimes newer teachers are more amenable to doing things differently, and so on.
If the two of you can visit the classroom and teacher before school starts, and she goes over where things are, and what the routine will be, that will help.
All Kindergarteners have a period of adjustment to the new surroundings, people, and routine. Once the two of you feel that adjustment stage has passed, then it would probably help to individually assess how he is doing with regards to his stress levels, social adjustment, and learning progress, and then get together to discuss those and any adaptations that need to be made. Don’t forget, if your boy is a bright lad and already knows a bunch of the early material that is being taught, any lapses in comprehension will not necessarily show at the beginning.
In general, classrooms that are quieter, that have consistent routines, that focus on having the students help each other as part of the class culture, and that are focused upon results rather than everyone following the same procedures, will all be more amenable to students with various difficulties that affect learning.
If the class is in a regular district school setting and your son has an official diagnosis, then the school’s SpEd team can offer suggestions, even if a 504 or IEP isn’t drawn up at this point.
andrea
Brittany said,
10 August 2008 at 23:03
Andrea,
Thank you for your insight and advice. We have met with the teacher and visited the classroom which seems to have helped my son get excited about school. I suppose I will just see how things unfold and go from there.
Brittany
Merle said,
25 August 2008 at 15:55
Unlike most of the others who’ve posted messages, I am a 67 year-old woman who was diagnosed with severe APD about 10 years ago (finally)!
The condition most noticeably affects my behaviour, i.e. hyper-sensitivty to any negative comments, overreaction to events, extreme depression. I have alienated my children and (former) friends by my behaviour, which is oftern inappropriate. I live in the UK and feel that I desperately need help before I become a complete hermit! Any suggestions????