lisa35

Thought this may of interest_ Iposted on another site- so cut & apsted it Lisa New to this site so hello ! My son is 10 & for several yrs he s struggled at school, socially more than academically, hes had glue ear & grommets twice! Had a recent assesment at school from Learning Support Service that in summary said displays some traits of aspergers Specific Learning Difficulty- Auditory Pocessing Non verbal cues Social Interaction I knw that the non verbal stuff and interaction relate t the traits of aspergers But what about the auditory stuff? A lot of what Ive read sounds just like him- worse in noisy environment, etc,etc, So what do I need to do next? Im muddled as many of the autistic spectrum traits and aud processing all overlap!!! He s waiting for further assessment for a paedriatrician but do I ask to see an audiologist? Sorry if Im garbled, a lot to try to understand! Also, is aud processing regarded as on the spectrum? Thanks Lisa First Previous 2-3 of 3 Next Last Reply Recommend Message 2 of 3 in Discussion From: DonnaKer Sent: 20/03/2006 10:56 Hi Lisa Your son sounds very similar to mine - he is also 10 and has problems with social skills, non-verbal cues, etc. Aspergers has been suggested a number of times and every time I look at it in detail he has some traits on the spectrum but really does not fit into any serious definition of Aspergers - the problems are just too mild except on the auditory side. I eventually found out about auditory processing problems, took him to the local audiologist who had heard of auditory prcoessing but that was the extent of his knowledge, he could do no tests and knew nobody he could refer us to! We then lucked in by finding out that the local speech and language specialist had an interest in auditory processing issues and could help. It is not a standard speciality of speech and language therapists. So the first thing to do is find someone who knows something about auditory processing - APD UK can come up with suggestions - I can point you in the right direction if you live in south Cumbria. It may be an audiologist or it may not! I've never met a pedeatrian who knew anything about it, but they must exist somewhere. My son did the SCAN-C test (an american test) which clearly showed up that he has an auditory processing problem. The problem probably dates back to ear infections when he was a toddler. There can be various reaons for auditory processing problems orginating in various parts of the brain. It appears that he has an integration deficit between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, i.e. the two halves of the brain were not working well together so that the two ears were not working well together and hence he was struggling to make sense of what he heard. It also however meant that he struggled with non verbal cues because visual processing is done by one side of the brain and auditory processing by the other side. He also had diffculty in putting complex thoughts into words (he is a mainly visual thinkers so his thoughts start as images not words). He could always talk about things he was interested in and could be very chatty but there was a significany delay in anwering verbal questions and great diffciulty in putting emotions or fears into words, or writing down stories. Problems at school would not come pouring out of him but had to be gently eased out. Slight motor clumsiness as well. Because there can be different causes of auditory processing problems there are differnet solutions. Many of the suggested remedies for auditory processing problems such as sitting where you could see the teacher clearly and making use of non-verbal cues and lip reading were of no use for my son because he did not like to look and listen at the same time. The visual cues muddled the auditory cues. The good news is that my son has done a course of sound therapy which has made a major difference!!. It was 10 minutes a day listening to some special classical sounding music, the easiest therapy to implement I have ever heard of. School is astounded at the disappearance of the delay in answering questions, he can now participate in a verbal question and answer discussion in a group. We have just had an assessment of motor skills which showed up no problems with motor skills, social skills are improving (though I am an not sure if he will ever catch up those missing years in socal awareness), he can express emotions as words far more easily (we had a tearful few months while he got used to that). The thing I am least certian of is how much his listening has improved, it is still very hard to get his attention if he is reading a book. So there is a lot of hope - major changes can occur if you can figure out what the problem is and find the right therapy - APD UK can tell you about the latest tests being developed, specialists and therapies linked to the tests. We did the Johannsen Sound Therapy which was available for free from speech and language however I don't think many areas offer it - it is usually available on a commercial basis and is quite expensive. There are various commercial therapies available. The trouble with a commecial set up is you are not sure if they are recommending it because it is right for your son or for the money!. Re Apgergers and auditory processing. Auditory processing is not part of the autistic spectrum! It is quite possible to have auditroy processing and not have Aspergers. However the spectrum is very wide, and having some sort of processing / sensory problems is now starting to be seen as part of the autistic spectrum. I.e. being autistic will nearly always involve some sort of sensory / processing problem BUT having an auditory processing problem does NOT mean you are austitic. I did supect my son might have both but having seen the difference the sound therapy has made I am starting to discount that possibility. No one is seriously suggesting you can cure Autism quite that easily. If he does have both it is still worthwhile treating the auditory procesing problems, one major problem with a diagnosis of Aspergers is that it seems to come with a suggestion that there is not much to be done about it and you just have to acept his limitations. The auditory processing coiuld be a seperate problem and still be treatable! Or it could be a linked problem, the integration deficit I descibed could be linked to the Apsergers which would also involve a wider problem in the brain. Either way there it is worth doing something about the auditory processing. It may make a major difference. Good luck! Donna Reply Recommend Delete Message 3 of 3 in Discussion From: lisa35 Sent: 20/03/2006 19:02 Hi Donna, First of all Id like to say thankyou so much for taking the time & trouble to respond to my query So much of what you ve said has made a lot of sense, in fact just last night I was saying to hubby- it seems unfair for Joe- not only has he probs with aud processing but also reading body language, cues,etc If he had one & not other he could compensate, he doesnt fit many of the asperger criteria either, & a lot of his behaviour could be realted to the auditory problems Im up north, West Yorkshire, but think Ive seen a speech & language therapist in Sheffield on the site, so when I go see the paed I think Ill take you re email if thats ok & see what she thinks One thing Ive realised is how little the professionals really know, and Ive learnt lots through my own reading/ research My son sounds so much like yours- the emotions & expressing them especially, he finds this very difficult, for example, he lost his grandad (my dad ) recently & finds it so difficult to express his feelings (tho Im sure this isnt uncommon in most 10 year olds!) Joe has yet another hearing test soon, but I dont want the paed to blame his problems on his grommets/ glue ear as I think theyve always been there, even when his hearing has been 100%, I do believe thought that its worse for him when hearings poor It maybe that he does have traits & the aud processing issues, but what youve said is so helpful that if that is the case we can help him most appropriatley Asfor the music therapy- funny you say that, my son has always loved classical music!!!! Did you find your son worse when superfocused on something , such as tv, reading, I have to switch off tv, physically stand in front of him at times & get him to look at me, also if we re in another room he drives us nuts shouting us as he cant tell which room / where in the house we are??!! Thanks so much again Lisa

Hi all, thanks for all the replies,too tiired and lazy to say all your individualnames!!! I have read some stuff around sensory issues and sure that he has these, eg tonight snowing = no coat/ no jumper! awesome- but dont bother anymore, hates his scalp touching, hates to clean teeth, loves snuggled under his quilt and huge bear hugs (all links with a lot Ive read) As for the swearing Ive decided to take 50 p each time- I cant remeber who suggested the stars but ew do a similar thing using points I found this tip in a book by Brenda Boyd- he gets points for certain behaviours- it s excellent method as you can adapt it, use on holiday, increase popints if a certain things a big problem (eg swearing!) Then we have a treat box and each item is worth so many points, Its absol genius- say if hes having a bad day and only gets 5 points I put a smalll bag of sweets in, so he doesnt feel all is lost I think with our kids its so much about self esteem, they need it boosting so much Thanks again Lisa

My 10 yr old has really improved at school, for which Im very very proud of him keeping his cool, also, at home he still has blow outs but we are managing to shorten them by sending him to room to cool off. However, the last few days when hes lost it he s started swearing at me, telling me to f *** off, which is awful,really upsetting Is always sorry after, and Ive told him that he ll loose 10 p off spending money every time he swears at me (for different poor behaviours this is what we do) as shouting back at him sweet nothing!! I feel like he s getting away with unacceptable behaviour and that we tread on egg shells at times, how on earth do u know whats caused by him being stressed or just naughty!!?? Also, he can change within seconds, fine one minute, then ww3!! Any tips? Apart from a strait jacket for me? Thanks Lisa ps he refuses to wear a coat, even in snow but I insisted- Ive read some stuff e children with body temp not feling extremes of temperature-any one else come across this? I get lots of disapproving looks off parents whe he doesnt wear coat- but stuff em!!!!

Thanks Tez, jen and Kathryn, that so much up ties in with what my son says,I think/hope as he gets older he ll find strategies thathelp, just so difficult at this age As for the hearing test he s always had problems, has an ent follow up in May, but I still feel his behavoiur was same even when his hearing was excellent and the hearing tests fine So i d hate for his difficulties to be attributed to the glue ear!!!! It explains why he throws a wobbler when we re all telling him to do something, in fact have already started doing some of the senco recommendations and it helps, eg looking at us (not eyes though!!) Also thansk phasmid , id discovered that site and have but this same question thankyou all, i just hope that if I go armed with all this info the people that assess Joe dont think Im neurotic and dismiss me ! Lisa

New to this site so hello ! My son is 10 & for several yrs he s struggled at school, socially more than academically, hes had glue ear & grommets twice! Had a recent assesment at school from Learning Support Service that in summary said displays some traits of aspergers Specific Learning Difficulty- Auditory Pocessing Non verbal cues Social Interaction I knw that the non verbal stuff and interaction relate t the traits of aspergers But what about the auditory stuff? A lot of what Ive read sounds just like him- worse in noisy environment, etc,etc, So what do I need to do next? Im muddled as many of the autistic spectrum traits and aud processing all overlap!!! He s waiting for further assessment for a paedriatrician but do I ask to see an audiologist? Sorry if Im garbled, a lot to try to understand! Also, is aud processing regarded as on the spectrum? Thanks Lisa

Hi, thanks for response Interesting because Im not sure he struggles with "extreme" emotions ie anger or very happy, the pic cards they sent home for him to practice with were cartoons and to be honest I could nt tell which were which!!! I think its more subtle thngs such as boredom, frustration, embrarrassment he gets stuck with. One day last week I turned voulme off on tv and asked what people were feeling- he actaully said but mum the words usually help me!!!! How clever are our kids??!! excuse my ignorance, Lucas, but do you think my boy must have traits if he perceived the pics as objects and therefore didnt observe the emotions? Sorry, learning all the time Thansk Lisa

My son is 10 and we re currently waiting for furher assessemnt ? traitts of aspergers and auditory processing difficu;ties Just wondered does anyone elses child go on and on and on , argue for aaageees about same subject, hes like a dog with a bone sometimes and exhausts us, any tips? Or as Im relatively knew to all this, is there a particular reason a childwith asd would do this, it may help me understand? Thanks Lisa

Just need to moan me thinks! You have those days where you do nothing but make your child worse thro your own ratty behaviour!? Feel so bad , just he s wound me up all day, get so fed up at times , thinkwhy us? So many people horrid to their children and mine s so sweet and kind, why the heck does he have to contend with extra problems. Just sometimes it feels like hes at us 24/7, I know hes not, amd just so tired and resent other people when they seem to have it soeasy with their children I sometimes feel like we re in the house of supernanny with all bloomin charts and the routines,etc And trying to explain to other people is a no go-they just look at u like your nuts or u can see them thinking, hes just naughty/spoilt,etc! But they dont see it when he s freaking out at home with temper and frustration, then 2 mins later so sorry Rant over Sorry

Hi, just had a copy of the assesment my son had at school from the Learning Support Service, just wondered if anyone had a child that sounds similar, a lot of the recommendations they make we already do, but any tips would be gratefullyreceived! Especially re getting dressed, is a nightmare Here goes! Above average IQ Receptive language above his chronological age Specific problem in the area of language Tends to "get wrong end of stick" Responded incorrectly to all pictures displaying emotions Not picking up non verbal cues Significant auditory processing difficulties- leads to "switched off behaviour"-therefore further confusion Difficult to make eye contact/look at people Mumbles Probs with auditory processing-(processing sounds- words) Displays only some traits of aspergers Specific learning diffculties- auditory processing non verbal cues social interaction The shool have been fantastic- but getting Joe to get dressed, or get ready is one thing I find hard at mo Any tips? Love Lisa ps sorry long post!

My son is 10 and hypermobile, particularly his fingers and has insoles from appliances , he gets aches occasionally, we are in process of assesment -has mild autistic traits Lisa