Could anyone explain CAPD to me. I’ve always been told my son is dyslexic, but after reading several posts, I wonder if that is a true diagnosis. We live in a very rural area, and the testing here is not as complex as other areas. No one at the school really seems to know much of anything, other than he has a learning disability. His LD teacher even told me he thought he was growing out of his dyslexia. He seems to think dyslexia is just letter reversal. Actually, my son does very little of this.
His main problems are sounding out words and spelling. He’s in the 7th grade and reading on a 3rd or 4th grade level. His writing and spelling skills are probably lower than 1st grade.
Any ideas?
Re: What is CAPD?
A good website with information about CAPD (including a search engine to find qualified CAPD audiologists) is http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/
Dyslexia really only means difficulty learning to read in spite of normal intelligence and normal opportunity. There can be different underlying causes for it. The two most common are developmental vision delay and auditory processing problems (CAPD). There are different subtypes of CAPD, and a child can have a combination of different subtypes.
Writing reversals are a common red flag for developmental vision delays. However, these delays can exist without reversals too.
What I would do, in your situation, is first try working with your son at home using “Reading Reflex” (book available in most bookstores or online for $16). Some kids just have phonological delays, and “Reading Reflex” is really good at teaching basic decoding skills. It’s written for parents and is easy to use.
An absolutely excellent program for spelling is Sequential Spelling, available from http://www.avko.org. The website has a week’s worth of sample lessons you can try out. This approach takes only 10 minutes a day and is well worth a trial.
I would also consider using Audiblox (http://www.audiblox2000.com), a home-based cognitive training program that develops both auditory and visual processing skills. A lot of dyslexic kids have difficulties with sequential processing (something most of us take for granted). The program costs about $80 for book, video, and starter kit of manipulatives. However, it requires some dedicated one-on-one work — one-half to one hour a day doing the exercises, with most kids showing gains after 6 weeks.
If these are not enough, then I would get a developmental vision evaluation and/or CAPD evaluation. Regular vision and hearing exams do not test for developmental vision delays or CAPD.
Consider a developmental vision evaluation first if your son complains that his eyes get tired reading, he tilts his head at odd angles when reading or holds book too close or too far away, complains that letters or words jump around on the page, etc. You can find out more about vision at http://www.children-special-needs.org, and you can find developmental optometrists at http://www.covd.org
Common symptoms of CAPD include difficulty participating in group discussions, behavior problems, socialization problems, difficulty following multi-step verbal instructions, and sometimes problems with balance, rhythm (trouble clapping to music), and timing.
Mary
CAPD stands for Central Auditory Processing Disorder. It can, like anything else, manifest in a number of different ways, but the hallmark seems to be difficulty discriminating/processing language sounds-especially in the presence of background noise. It’s symptoms frequently mimic those of fluctuating hearing loss and Attention Deficit Disorder- which is actually the context where I first heard of it- because it will usually some involve difficulty maintaining attention. It is only diagnosed by an audiologist because of the hearing component.Not all audiologists are certified to test for it either I guess. It does not qualify as an LD in and of itself in most regulations.
Your LD teacher need to read up on the research:)
Robin