My daughter is 13yo and has been in a home-based Charter School for the past three years. She has been receiving resource for written expression, reading comprehension, and math for the past 3yrs. She has also been receiving speech therapy for vocabulary (catagorization) and pragmatics. She recently tested out of speech but still has obvious vocabulary retention issues. Her recent Intellectual testing showed weaknesses in auditory processing (SS 59) and visual discrimination (symbol search 3). Her Verbal IQ has gone from 111 to 72 in 5yrs. Also, her Performance IQ has gone from 106 to 89. There are no known medical causes for her this decline. I am assuming that somehow we are not reaching her.
What are the best methods of instruction to help remediate auditory processing and visual discrimination? We have used Lindamood Bell V&V and that has helped with the reading comprehension. Her word attack SS is 123, so she can definately decode!
Project Read ‘Framing Your Thoughts’ has helped with the written expression. -At least these methods have helped with keeping her achievement SS scores in the average range even if she is still 2yrs behind. We have also been using Math-U-See, but her SS in math is well below average at 74.
She does listen to books on tape and I reword history and science terms when we watch videos. We also use mad libs as a method to help her think of descriptive vocabulary. She is exposed to a lot of technical vocabulary in the home (she has a 17yo brother with Asperger). Any suggestions you could offer would be helpful. The charter school seems to be caught up in the laws of qualifying her now, instead of how we can best help her.
Thankyou
Jennifer
Re: Auditory processing and Visual discrimination
Thankyou Nancy for your reply. You have given me enough information that I can at least have a direction. My daughter is scheduled for a CAPD test with an audiologist through our ins. company, (waiting list is 2 months). I have looked into the Fast Forward and Pace program a few years ago, but I wasn’t sure if it applied at that time. She did just have an extensive eye exam and she was given blended (bifocal) glasses; she has a focusing problem. I will look into the website you posted and check to see if she had any of the tests done. I requested on OT eval and the school denied, stating that the school psych could perform the visual-motor test. My youngest son is developmentally delayed and has SI. He is receiving OT through Easter Seals and I am very impressed with their knowledge. My daughter’s IEP is on Monday and I will again (in writing) request an OT eval. I currently working on my degree in special-ed - my children are definately giving me ‘life experience’.
Again - thankyou for your time
Jennifer
Re: Auditory processing and Visual discrimination
You might want to get a second opinion on the eye issue. My understanding is that focusing (accommodation) problems are usually best addressed with eye exercises. Most developmental optometrists and opthalmologists who specialize in orthoptics address focusing problems that way, I think.
Nancy
Re: Auditory processing and Visual discrimination
After my daughter’s IEP I continue to be frustrated <g> I was told that since she didn’t have any discrepancies in her ability vs achievement scores when she was first tested in 3rd grade THAT the discrepancies that she has NOW could NOT be caused by any LD’s. I think she might be hyperlexic, but I can’t find current information on what tests are used to dx this, or even how it impacts an older child’s learning if it hasn’t been ‘caught’ and remediated. She decodes at a 20yo level (SS 123), but her reading comp. remains at a (beginning 6th grade) or 11yo level (SS 94). *She is 13yo* When I asked about the decoding score in relation to her full scale ability IQ (SS 89), the school said this must be because she like to read.
She has always had a much higher decoding ability then reading comp. level. Since 2nd grade through 4th grade her teacher’s commented on being concerned with her reading comprehension in comparison to her decoding skills. However, her standarized and special-ed testing never showed her in the ‘deficient’ range until 5th grade. Her first decline was between 3rd and 5th grade while in reg. ed public school. She is also Bipolar and the school is blaming her learning difficulties & IQ decline on this, although she has been VERY stable for the past year. The school is stating that she doesn’t have the potential to ‘gain’ her original IQ back, because this is where it has stayed for the last 3 yrs. If BP is the cause I can accept it - however if it isn’t I want to help her.
I did not accept the school evaluations and requested outside evaluations. The school agreed to have her tested for CAPD by a speech pathologist and for auditory and verbal memory by a psychologist. She continues to have discrepancies between her speech testing and the verbal portion of her IQ test. I don’t understand how she can score in the 90th% for semantics and the 3rd% for vocabulary (and the rest of the verbal portion)? She has gone from a 15 in vocabulary and fund of knowledge to now - a 3. The speech teacher said she must have had a ‘bad’ day when the psychologist tested her. The psychologist said no-she was pleasant and cooperative.
Still wondering and frustrated-
Jen-momto13yo
Re: Auditory processing and Visual discrimination
Jen,
I answered you on your other post, but she needs a full neuropsych eval first. You need to get a look at the big picture and then get into all the smaller areas like APD and visual if indicated.
Janis
What you may want to do is schedule a CAPD evaluation with a qualified audiologist (you need to find one who specializes in assessment of auditory processing). I have found that underlying auditory processing problems can disrupt quite a few areas of development, including vision and memory. At the very least you would want to rule it out. If auditory processing problems are diagnosed, you would have a better idea of therapies you could pursue to work on reducing the underlying deficit. There are different types of auditory processing disorder, and many respond to sound therapy (The Listening Program, FastForWord, etc.). Places to start researching auditory problems are http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/ and http://www.ncapd.org .
An occupational therapy evaluation would be a good idea also. If there is an underlying auditory or visual processing problem, sensory integration can be negatively affected. It is best to seek out an occupational therapist who specializes in sensory integration. (Many OT’s will assess and treat sensory integration, but it is more a sideline of their training rather than a specialization.)
A developmental vision evaluation would be wise as well. You can find more information about vision delays at http://www.childrensvision.com and board-certified developmental optometrists at http://www.covd.org .
The CAPD eval and OT eval are usually covered by medical insurance. Part of the developmental vision eval (the portion testing acuity) is usually covered by insurance also, but the developmental testing usually is not. Where we are, the developmental testing runs about $150.
Once you are satisfied that the three basic sensory areas — auditory, vision, and integration — are either intact or remediated as much as possible, cognitive training can be very beneficial. The two primary cognitive training programs available are Audiblox (home-based) and PACE (provider-based).
The problem with schools is that they have an education mandate. They are not designed to diagnose and treat sensory level disorders, and they are remarkably unaware of cognitive skills development. Basically all a school can do is provide academic instruction. Unfortunately, academic instruction does not remediate the underlying problems which — in turn — impede academic learning. The best approach is to first identify and correct sensory level problems and then train cognitive skills to the highest possible level. Once that is done, academic remediation proceeds much faster.
Nancy