Our 7-year-old daughter has a mild auditory processing problem. It is most apparent when you are having a conversation with her. If you ask her a question, she oftentimes provides an answer that’s not related to the question.
Or she sounds mad when there’s no reason to be. We’ve had her hearing checked and there doesn’t seem to be a problem there. I am concerned because having a conversation with her is oftentimes a bizarre experience.
I am afraid she is going to start running into some social problems if she is unable to carry on a normal conversation. Does anyone have any
thoughts? Does anyone have a child who has a similar problem? I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Re: Auditory Processing
Sounds like she could really benefit from working with a good speech therapist who understands pragmatic language issues. (social use of language). My daughter also had a lot of tone of voice issues (due to her non-verbal ld) and working with speech therapist helped a lot, both in awareness and ability.
Re: Auditory Processing
Dear lwieland, Our kids should get together! Your daughter sounds like she shares alot in common with our son, who is also 7. He was diagnosed with a mild auditory processing disorder when he was 3, at which time he was barely talking.He’s had some speech therapy, including Fast Forward, which made a huge difference. However, it continues to be a challenge to hold a conversation with him. Many times we don’t understand what he’s talking about; it doesn’t seem to ‘fit’ in the conversation. Oftentimes I’ve dug deeper to discover it does fit, only at an angle noone else would have thought of. For instance, last week while watching The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy begins following the yellow brick road, our son said, “I wonder where the red part leads to?” The surrounding ground underneath the yellow road is red. Interesting perspective. Our son, Alex, also has a hard time reading social cues. He’s a sweet kid and really desires friends, and is sweet to the few he has. However, when surrounded in a group situation, he finds it difficult to fit in. He has created his own ‘series’ of books with an established cast of characters, and talks about it ALOT, which is sweet and yet very challenging at times. I don’t know if he’s just being creative or if he’s trying to ‘create’ his own little social scene. Does your daughter do any of these things, and how is school going for her? We are looking at some alternatives for school for Alex, but the private schools for LD have astronomical tuition! More than our mortgage payment! What are you doing for your daughter and do you have any good suggestions? Thanks!
Re: Auditory Processing
If she has trouble with abstract but social situations are becoming a problem. Does she have sensory issues also? If so and her IQ is normal or above normal you might want to look into a dx of Aspergers which is on the autistic spectrum.
Re: Auditory Processing
Lisa when you say has problems with abstract, could that mean the
same as the grey areas? I have a gifted 7 yr old . Who thinks only
in black and white or right and wrong. Does not understand inferences.
Has a terrible time reading conversations in books. I’ve been very
concerned about her. She also has problems with spatial relations.
I was just wondering if this is the same type of thing with conversations?
Thanks KellyLisa wrote:
>
> If she has trouble with abstract but social situations are
> becoming a problem. Does she have sensory issues also? If
> so and her IQ is normal or above normal you might want to
> look into a dx of Aspergers which is on the autistic spectrum.
The “tone of voice” thing is tricky. Can she tell whether or not *you* have a mad tone of voice or not? Try saying someting “mad” and “regular” and see if she can tell the difference. Maybe even tape record her voice (but that is kinda painful to the listener!)
Do you knkow whether or not her bizarre answers are the result of not discriminating what words have been said (so she misinterprets the actual word), or whether she hears the right words but does fascinating things to their comprehension?
It took my mother *years* of giving me the same advice, again and again, that “sometimes it isn’t what you say, it’s how you say it.” However, eventually it did sink in and I learned not to shriek at people (the world is grateful, it put ROseanne Barr to shame ;))