auditory processing difficulties

We did PACE and liked it so much I got trained. Our dd made big gains with it, but her problems were primarily in the visual processing area. She had phonological awareness deficits, but no auditory processing problems.

How were the auditory processing problems diagnosed? If your child has not been evaluated by a CAPD audiologist, then I would recommend doing this before doing PACE. Depending on the type of auditory processing problem, there may be some auditory training therapies that would ideally be done before PACE.

PACE does have an excellent auditory processing component. However, it addresses cognitive skill development (e.g., phonological skills). If there is an underlying sensory problem with the auditory system, it should be remediated as much as possible before doing PACE. Cognitive skills are developed on a foundation of sensory/motor development.

I could give you better advice if I knew exactly how the auditory processing problem was diagnosed.

Mary

My son was tested through our school district when he was having difficulities in preschool. The tests indicated that he had weak auditory processing, conceptual language, attending skills, fine motor and visual motor skills. He was classified as LD and was provided services through our district. This included working with a OT and Speech and Language Pathologist. His teachers noticed that his attending was weak so we had his hearing checked along with the scan test to rule out Central Auditory Processing Disorder. The scan results showed that he was borderline normal.
He is now in 1st grade, in a class for LD children receiving individualized attention and I am looking for additional remediation for his problems. I don’t know what else to do.

I would recommend taking him to a CAPD audiologist for a CAPD eval, since the SCAN was borderline. You can find qualified audiologists at http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/ If you have a choice, audiologists associated with a major medical center or university tend to be the most up-to-date. Usually the audiologist’s office can provide you with information about medical coverage. A lot of times this eval is covered with a referral from your GP.

Another possible route to take is NeuroNet. The website has excellent information on how auditory processing disorders can impact the ability to learn. The therapy itself requires some testing by an audiologist to determine if the child is a good candidate. Auditory processing deficits can cause problems with attention, sensory integration, gross and fine motor development, balance, vision, etc. Website is http://www.neuroacoustics.com

I would also take him to a developmental optometrist for a developmental vision eval (which includes about 20 tests of visual functioning over and above a regular eye exam). You can find certified developmental optometrists at http://www.covd.org

If you haven’t consulted a private OT and private speech and language pathologist, I would recommend doing so. Private therapy is often much more effective than that offered by schools . The eval’s are often covered by medical insurance, or you can ask for the school district to pay for them via an IIE (see “LD in Depth” section of this website, “assessments” and “IEP” sections for information on how to do this). Be sure the OT is trained to assess sensory integration.

The hardest-hit children are those with multiple issues — auditory, visual, motor, and sensory integration. The key is to address all of the areas as aggressively as possible as early as possible. You want to remediate sensory/motor development as much as possible, and then move into cognitive training via programs such as Audiblox (http://www.audiblox2000.com) or PACE (http://www.learninginfo.com). Cognitive gains are limited by sensory/motor development, so it makes a lot of sense to address sensory/motor issues first.

Mary

My son is one of those “hardest hit” with multiple difficulties. I started reading these boards last year out of desperation when my son did not learn to read in first grade, even though he was in special education. Since then, we have learned that he has CAPD, sensory integration problems, visual efficiency and processing problems, as well as some word retreival problems.

We have hit private therapies hard in the last year and are making much progress. I just want to encourage you to find out what you are really dealing with—and not rely on the school if you have any choice financially.

My son is now 8 and in second grade. He can read second grade material, although not fluently and it tires him out. I feel like we have come a long way but have a ways to go. I have been trained to provide him PACE this summer. But first we did Fast Forward last summer for his decoding problems, vision therapy, and are now doing Neuronet for auditory processing and sensory integration deficits. We did a phono-graphix intensive lfollowing FFW and some vision therapy which taught him basic decoding but his other sensory level problems interferred from him realizing the expected gains.

The AP part of PACE is very good. You must make sure that first your child can distinguish sounds though. My son could not prior to Fast Forward. I would also encourage you to get a private CAPD exam—that will tell you what you are dealing with and thus what will make the most sense to do. My observation from reading these boards is what the school will call borderline is often a moderate problem.

Beth

My son is also one that has it all. Questions to you????? 1. Tell me more about how you do PACE- I have read the web site on it but is it computer based, books and blocks or what?? 2. About Sensory intergration- did your son have therapy with an OT? And if so how did that work? What do you think has helped your child the most?

My son is 11, his visual processing is about age 6, his auditory processing is about age 7. AN OT says that he has Sensory Intergration Disorder and that his vistibular system does not work right. We have seen a OD eye Dr. and he says that his tracking is a little off. So he has gave me a computer therapy to work with my son at home to help fix that. We have made appointments with an ENT and Developmental Dr. to test the vestibular system in depth. I have heard that if this area is damaged it could effect the visual and auditiory processing areas. My dream is that they find something and can fix it and poof, everything is better!! But if not….the next step is to have OT and maybe PACE.
Brenda

Brenda,

Your son does sound like mine. I was told by both an OT and the audiologist we are seeing that his central problem is the vestibular system. My understanding is that it can do all sorts of havoc to other systems. We are doing a multi-disciplinary program called Neuronet (http://www.neuroacoustics.com) which is centered on the vestibular system with the audiologist. She did some sort of testing on his visual system back in January. It was perfect,even though he obviously has visual issues. She told me, as did the OD, that his visual system was messed up by the vestibular but that there are no problems with the “core” system. I didn’t pay that much attention to what she did because it was the only area that came back normal. But I do think this suggests that he should make large gains from PACE’s visual component. As I think I said in the other post, his tracking, fixating still are not automatic.

We are working on his vestibular system as well as fine motor skills and auditory processing through Neuronet. The developer lives in Ft. Lauderdale where I reside and, for us, it was just a more sensible alternative. It is a home based program while the OT really was fairly resistant to that. We also had done Fast Forward last summer and that experience made me think that consistent work was critical to brain development.

One of the things he has done is spin on a rotational board while saying the alphabet. What is interesting is that the therapy is basically retreiving something he knows at some level. Practice alone brings mastery. His siblings could do it without ever practicing—it is like something innate that his development messed up. It is all very fascinating.

PACE is not computer based. It is a series of exercises some involving a ball, others paper and pencil, others repeating sounds. For maximum benefit, I think you need to resolve the sensory integration problems. The trainer I went to told me that they have found that sensory integration problems limit the gains. Mild tracking problems will not prevent him from gaining benefit from pace though. There are even tracking exercises in it.

Have you read “The Out of Sync Child”? It really is oriented towards a preschooler but there is a section in there that talks about the vestibular system and visual and auditory system. You might look at it.

Beth

Thank-you for your response. We have a lot to look into now.
Brenda