Hi.
Last spring my daughter was diagnosed with ADHD, which wasn’t a complete surprise considering her behavioral problems at school. But since my son started grade one this fall, he has been having a very hard time learning. He was tested, and they are suspecting an auditory processing disorder. At this moment, I am quite discouraged and overwhelmed. Some encouragement/advice from parents who have already gone through this would be appreciated.
Re: son recently diagnosed with APD
My daughter has APD. It was really hard in the elementary years of school. We hired private tutors in reading and math. Others kept telling me with maturity and skills she will succeed. Also with a strong IEP. I have to say…she is 10 yrs old and in the 5th grade.She is no longer pulled from any classes and holds her own.She gets A’s, B’s and some C’s. She works very hard for each.
She is very active in sports afterschool. Even with coming home late…she keeps up with her work.I never thought a child that struggled so hard in the beginning would turn around so quickly in one year. We are very proud of her.She still has to study alot longer than someone else for a test but realizes that is alright.The high fustration is starting to disappear. I spend alot of time encouraging her. The other day, we were laughing how I would walk away when she could not memorize a simple fact. She said Mom” you looked like you wanted to tear your hair out”. Those days are far and few.
I would say to you…..build a strong and solid basic skill level.No matter how fustrated you or your son gets….laugh. Laughter helps.
Re: son recently diagnosed with APD
I do not know where you live - but I would recommend “The Davis Center” in Budd Lake, NJ - please go on there web site.
Re: son recently diagnosed with APD
I would just confirm what Beth said. The books are great. The other resource is a site called www.ncapd.org. There are articles and a message board there.
Janis
My son has APD as well as a slew of other conditions, including ADD-inattentive. My first thought when reading your post is that you ought to consider getting your daughter tested for APD as well. There is often a family tendency and APD and ADD look a lot alike in practice. We got major attentional improvements by working on underlying processing issues.
I would recommend Teri Bellis’ book When the Brain Can’t Hear. She is a leading audiologist on APD. I also liked Karen J. Foli’s book Like Sound Through Water. It is her story of her journey to diagnosis and remediate her son’s auditory processing disorder. It will make you feel less alone.
Beth