6yo with Asperger's & Auditory/Visual processing problem

Monica,

If his teacher feels that he is having visual discrimination problems, you might consider having him checked by a developmental optometrist. Go to www.covd.org. While an auditory processing evaluation is nice to have, usually, you can find out most of what you need to know by having a speech-language evaluation. Once the visual issues are resolved, he just needs a multi-sensory structured language approach to teaching reading. And this is often only found with private tutors and is rarely found in schools with the individualization and intensity needed.

Janis

I think CAPD is considered a medical problem, so the only way you would be likely to get an evaluation through the school system is by means of a speech/language eval. As far as I know, school systems also don’t pay for neuropsychological evaluations. Schools are mandated only for educational assessments, and a neuropsych eval includes much more than that.

A developmental vision eval is the only way to accurately assess possible vision problems, and most parents pay for this out-of-pocket (although a few have gotten it covered by medical insurance). See http://www.childrensvision.com for more information about this kind of assessment, and http://www.covd.org to find board-certified developmental optometrists in your area. If money is a concern, it’s a good idea either to use an optometrist who is also listed at http://www.homevisiontherapy.com or ask the optometrist *before* making the evaluation appointment if he would be willing to design primarily home-based vision therapy (if it is indicated). This keeps costs down.

You might be able to get a private speech/language evaluation covered by medical insurance if you get a referral from your physician. The best way to find out is to first find a good speech/language clinic, and then call them to ask whether your insurance company is likely to cover the eval. They deal with insurance every day, and usually they can tell you exactly what wording needs to be used on the referral to ensure coverage.

Nancy

Thanks for your post. I have thought about an evaluation with a developmental optometrist and I will definitely check out the link. Sometimes I feel like there are so many issues with my son, I don’t know where to start!

Last night I re-read Teri James Ellis book on APD and Zach totally fits with the profile of the Prosodic Deficit which totally lines up with Autism/Aspergers, but he also seems to fit the profile of Integration Deficit
which is related to difficulty coordinating the two hemispheres of the brain and might account for some of his difficulties like problems with word attack and sight words, difficulty with music, and bimanual and bipedal coordination. Visual -motor and visual-auditory integration problems
are often present and multimodality cues often confuse rather than clarify. That sure sounds like my son.

Sorting through all this stuff is a full-time job isn’t it! Thanks again for your help. Monica

I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. I didn’t intend to ask the school for a neuropsych eval or an APD eval. We’ll be going to University of MD at the end of November and I plan to pursue these assessments privately through them if they seem warranted.

I actually had a private SLP eval done for Zach a few months prior to his diagnosis and it wasn’t extremely helpful. Overall the SLP assessed him as having language skills stretching to age 7 which impressed her. It didn’t impress me because he’s been that way since he was 2.5. Great vocabulary, articulation, etc,…BUT try to communicate to him! He’s can’t look at you and formulate a response at the same time, can’t follow more than one direction, very distracted by noise, misinterprets words and meanings (intent), and can’t always express himself clearly (mom, you know that thing, you know the blue thing, I can’t find it!!). The eval did uncover some difficulty with cateorgizing and with spatial concepts (like next to, below, behind). When I told his ped about it her response was
“Well, she totally missed the boat, didn’t she!”.

When Zach qualified for spec ed they just accepted the SLP report. The SLP did add that he has major issues with Pragmatics and “auditory processing problems”.

Thanks for posting the links, I will definitely check them out. Monica

Monica,

I have an 11 year old child who has both auditory and visual processing issues. He was evaluated for Asberger’s at one point but was diagnosed with having a nonverbal learning disability and ADD-inattentive.

So my child is not exactly like yours but we have dealt with some of the same issues. My son’s primary auditory issue has been integration—which is difficult because it impacts everything.

Here are some of things that we have done that may help him.

1. We have done Neuronet which has really made a tremendous difference for him. Unfortunately, it is not widely available so we are fortunate. Occupational Therapy may help some of the integration as well as Balametrics which is incorporated into NN. In any case, you might find the site interesting. http://www.neuronetonline.com/

2. We did Interative Metronome. IM really isn’t recommended for children as young as your son. Mine was 9, I think. We did NN first, reached a plautau, and then went back to NN. We made much progress that had not been possible before. There also was a marked change in my son’s social interactions following IM. I am not sure if it was just IM since we followed up with more NN afterwards. But my family, who lives far away, saw a huge change in how connected he seemed. My son’s social skills are very normal now—the only thing I notice is that he doesn’t get jokes ect as well as other kids.

3. We did The Listening Program. We saw some improvements in integration following it—we did it before IM and it certainly wasn’t as dramatic as IM but some have said IM is easier if you have done TLP first.

4. We did do some vision therapy. It helped some—could handle worksheets afterwards. It was limited though by the fact that the approach did not include significant body work. Children who have integration type deficits need the body work to get the gains in visual processing, in my experience. We have seen more progress with NN.

5. My son is also dyslexic and has received much help here too. We have found that he has become much more teachable as we have improved underlying neurological organization.

He is now in fifth grade (he repeated fourth when we moved him from public school special ed to a parochial school). He is doing well with some modifications (fewer spelling words). He is still clearly LD.

Good luck!

Beth

He is suceeding in a regular classroom right now with modifications (spelling and written work) and support from home.

I don

Because it sounds like this may narrow down some of his Sensory Integration issues and through treatment desensitize him to the things that are most distracting to him.

I did check out the link for Neuronet. It sounds very interesting and worth exploring. I’m glad to hear your son has made so much progress.
Monica

Beth,

You said
<He is suceeding in a regular classroom right now with modifications (spelling and written work) and support from home>

What kind of midifications do you use? Would you mind posting a few examples?

thanks,
Dee

He receives a reduced spelling list. Basically, he does the twenty regular words but not the challenge words.

The teachers don’t count spelling except on tests. This years teacher doesn’t do so for anyone but last years teacher would have. (He tests as 3.0 in spelling and is in 5.0)

He is allowed to type instead of having to do a final copy in cursive. Basically, he is not required to write in cursive at all. Interestingly enough, he is started to do so this year on his own.

And I sometimes act as scribe for him for homework. It has only happened once this year. Last year it was more frequent—maybe once every two weeks. The difference is both the type of homework (more English homework last year that required rewriting sentences) and that he doesn’t seem to be as stressed. He is really keeping up quite well now.

Beth