Auditory Processing vs. ADD ?

[amnesia]

Can anyone here please describe the differences/symptoms of these conditions? My son is 11 years old and just starting 5th grade. He attends a small private school where his teacher has alerted us to the fact that he is having "difficulty understanding" the topics being presented. She says that he just "looks at me with a confused look while I am teaching". At home, when we review the topics and do homework he will patiently sit and listen to what you are saying, but I notice he does have difficulty applying the various processes. If he is working on a book report, for example, if he manually writes it on paper he has a lot of difficulty recounting the story lines with any degree of accuracy or descriptiveness. The punctuation is non-existant and there are usually multiple spelling problems. Lately, he has started doing the reports on a word processor at his teachers request, and the difference is unbelievable. He clearly and vividly conveys the storylines and uses correct punctuation/spelling. It is like someone else has done the work. Why would he be able to do this so much more effectively on the computer?

I also notice that he has difficulty following a group of verbal instructions. He will follow the first part and then quickly lose track of what I have told him. We started doing daily checklists and that has been helpful. For a long time I just thought he was being lazy but now I am beginning to see what his teacher is describing to me. His pediatrician has referred us to a pediatric neurologist for testing. He is the one that suggested auditory processing/ADD . I am feeling guilty that I did not recognize his difficulties earlier but the pediatrician said that they can often compensate until around this age/grade when more complex tasks are introduced.

I have an appointment for him this coming Tuesday and I would love it if anyone could give me sugesstions regarding (1.How to approach this with my son--he is really sensitive and tends to see things with the idea that he has done something wrong. 2. Anything I should tell/ask the neurologist ? 3. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!). Thank you all in advance for your help!

[shhnack]

Interesting, just found this information, thanks!

[DDRN4me]

First of all; stop blaming yourself!!! Often kids with processing disorders do get along fine until increased demands show up...and by taking him to be tested by the neurologist you have done what is best for him.:heartbeat

He needs to have a CORE evaluation for school and probably neuro psych testing to determine exactly what his delays are. Then your job will be to advocate advocate advocate for modifications in his classroom to best support him. reassure him that he can (and already has) found coping skills to help him deal with this. :typingHe will also need to learn to verbalize when he cant understand something. (might be embarrasing but will get him the help he needs)

Lastly , reassure him that you love him and this is not HIS fault. sometime the brain just misfires a bit.Good luck and keep us posted. mary

[debgirl71]

i have 3 kids, one with severe adhd, one with auditory processing disorder, one with autism. my son with the auditory processing disorder has difficulty with strictly listening things, verbal directions, etc.. so i have him write down things like his chores, homework. his ability to pay attention is only limited to things that are strictly verbal. he has no problem with written instructions, or being motivated to do homework, or impulse control. however, other sensory impairment issues can come into play, like overly sensitive to hot, cold, touch. these kids can also be fussy eaters. but they usually are strong visual learners, which helps to compensate. i found out about my son's problem when he was in preschool- he flunked his hearing screen. the specialist explained to me "his hearing is fine, he just can't listen". pretty much sums it up.

[dpw]

My son was dx with nonverbal learning disability at 5 then as many are, dx with aspergers symdrome, severe add and dyslexia at 11. We have just now been referred for OT/PT evals. We began vyvanse this year and he has gone from reading 2nd grade to 5th grade level; he just could not attend long enough to learn. Hand writing is of great difficulty so we have been using digital recording,"stop jots" for a lot of reports and things like that. We now have OT/PT involvement because a very interested special ed teacher has picked up on some of the more suttle issues with autism. It is easy to say he is lazy or a "slacker". He complains about writing "hurts my hand"; he leans or lays over. These are the suttle clues of lack of core body strength and weakness in muscles. You can not beat your self up! We started getting help at 5 because he flushed my wedding ring down the toilet and laughed while I cried my eyes out. I wanted to just beat him! At that point I knew something was not right. He could not read the body language. What we have told him is that "you are not lazy and or stupid; do not allow anyone to tell you that you are." "Everyone's brain works differently. It's like a computer. Hard drives are set up with different programming. This means that the same software will not always work and that's ok. GOD set each of us up according to his plan. We each have our unique gifts to share with the world.The differnces in the hard drive is what makes each computer special. It has its own job, works in its own way to share its "gifts". Each computer though different, is no better than the next; no real right or wrong, and no good or bad, just specialized. He seems to accept and understand his differences. I hope this helps and I wish you the best.