CAPD - CONCERTA

CAPD is on my dd’s list of dx’s. She takes a different medication, Aricept, for cognitive processing issues because she has other issues that complicate medical treatment.

She was dx’d in 4th grade and is now in 8th. To help with the CAPD in a non-medical fashion we used Earobics ( http://www.earobics.com/ ) and The Listening Program ( http://www.advancedbrain.com/tlp_intro.asp ). The training definitely helped. Her issues are not nearly as severe and she compensates pretty well. She does prefer to sit at the front of the class so that she can hear the teacher better. This has been a good strategy for her.

There is a lot of info available on different therapies and accommodations.

Hi…my daughter is 16 years old. She has been on Concerta for about 7 years now…She has a moderate to severe hearing loss with an auditory processing disorder accompanied by ADHD. When we first started Concerta…she looked at me and said: “Mommy, is this what it feels like when you tell me to focus, because things are making a lot more sense now.” Out of the mouth of babes…It made a huge difference in her ability to learn and retain what she learned. She has passed her high school exit exams, she plays Athletic water polo and swimming and is on her way to college…Doing meds for her was the best thing we could have done…She has come into her own..as a beautiful, talented and articulate young woman.

That’s great to hear things are moving along. I feel more comfortable about concerta. I haven’t heard from many parents that have used it for a long period of time.

My daughter does attend a good public school. I don’t think there is a private school that could do any better. When 4th grade started this year, they wanted to move her back immediately to 3rd grade. I said no way. We moved over the summer. Before she was at the same school from K-3. But, the move has worked out. I still think our other school was better, but moving to a different state is challenging.

I don’t think repeating a grade and CAPD makes sense. She learns different than the average, but she can learn. I have always worried about her self confidence and even more as she gets older (middle school).

Thanks for sharing your information, it helps a lot…………….

scifunut,

Hello, I am new to this site, happened to come across this topic and have a question or two about this Aricept you mentioned. I have never heard of it , something for cognitive processing, jackpot! My daughter has processing issues along with a speech deficit and I would love to know more about this drug. I have always been under the assumption that there is a fine line with CAPD/ADHD and if and when or if you should medicate. I know there is no medication strictly for CAPD but if Aricept is helping your daughter than I certainly would like to know more about it.

Thank you. :D

Aricept is actually a drug used for Alzheimer’s, however there have been a very few small studies done with ADHD, Autism and Down’s Syndrome. Some of the following sites require free registration.

ADHD Symptoms Respond To Cholinergic Drugs - http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/38/22/25?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Aricept&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1073426760535_1034&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=1&journalcode=psychnews

News - AACAP: Donepezil (Aricept) May Improve Executive Functioning in ADHD -
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/8525697700573E1885256C6100530185

Donepezil Improves Cognitive Performance in Healthy Pilots -
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/438315?src=search

Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Promise As Treatment for Autism - http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/36/22/16-a?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Aricept&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1073426914100_1039&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=10&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=1&journalcode=psychnews

I did a lot of reading on this before I brought it to my dd’s pdoc. She has quite the list of issues which can make treating very difficult. Some of the meds she takes can also cause cognitive issues. Our pdoc finally gave it a try 2 years ago and we’ve been very happy with the results. She still has memory issues but not nearly what they were. She’s been able to make a lot of progress because she can now think and hear more clearly.

Thank you kindly. I will research this and see if it something we should look into.

I think the reason that kids with CAPD do better on ADHD medications is that you cannot process if you can’t attend. Once you attend to the stimuli, your brain can try to process what you have heard. I teach LD kids, many of whom have auditory processing problems, and I have one at home. I have seen huge improvements in processing for kids on Concerta, Ritalin, and Adderall. Research has also shown that medication alone is better than therapy alone for ADHD, but the combination is the best way to go. It’s not magic medicine: students need to learn strategies to improve their weak areas and compensate for deficits that continue. There is no “cure” for LD, but sometimes time allows for maturation of the neurological system, and things continue to get better into adolescence. Given appropriate medication, good training in compensatory strategies and a lot of time, our kids do improve.

I haven’t heard that Aricept is being used for kids with CAPD. I’ve only heard of its use in Alzheimer’s patients. Gotta look that up!

Fern

“I haven’t heard that Aricept is being used for kids with CAPD. I’ve only heard of its use in Alzheimer’s patients. Gotta look that up! ”

I am going to say with very strong certainty that this drug is not being used for APD! Maybe the person meant it was being used in place of an ADHD drug.

ADHD and APD are two different disorders. A child with untreated ADHD might score poorly on an APD test (as Fern mentions). So that wouldn’t necessarily confirm an APD diagnosis. There are auditory and continuous performance tests, and I have been told by an APD specialist that children with APD will pass the auditory continuous performance test while children with ADHD will fail it. It is very important to have a child evaluated by a team that can differentiate between the two disorders. There are children who have both. But I wouldn’t trust the APD testing unless the child was on ADHD medication at the time of the test.

I haven’t logged on here or visited in several years now. I was just going back over some old boards I used to use to use back when I first started advocating and looking for answers to why our son wasn’t learning. Well I’ve learned a lot over the years, but from the looks of this post not enough. One of our son’s main disabilities is severe CAPD. I am going to research the drug you mention as I’ve never heard of it before. thanks for the post.

Nawaka, if you read a few posts up, you will notice that the studies are about using the drug for ADHD (executive function) and autism.

I am actually on the board of the National Coalition on Auditory Processing Disorders with a prominent APD audiologist and recently attended a seminar by him, and I can assure you that there are no drugs being recommended or used for APD. I am sorry that there is this confusion on this thread. Children may have several things going on at once, but please do not confuse an experimental ADHD treatment with APD treatment.