School Options for child with CAPD

It is somewhat unusual I think for a child to be diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder before K. Can you tell us a bit more about your child so we can be more helpful?

My son was diagnosed with CAPD (now called APD) after first grade. He was diagnosed with speech delays at 3.5.

Beth

I haven’t heard of CAPD dxed so early either. But Montesorri might not be a bad option. Children work at their own level/speed; there are lots of things to handle and touch (so that the emphasis is on tactile kinethetic vs auditory), teachers will likely address small groups or individuals vs the whole group. The other thing is the approach to early reading is purely phonics. (might not be enough for your kid but it is a better choice than some of the whole language stuff out there.)

Be sure that the child’s language is developing normally though. It is one fo the downfalls of Montessori, imo. There isn’t as much emphasis on language development.

Another thing you might look for aside from Montessori (they are mutually exclusive) would be a preschool endorsed by NAEYC. These preschools would emphasize language and socialization over reading and writing (which imo is introduced a little early by age 5). This might be helpful to your child as well.

—des

My son has been evaluated for speech delays since right after he turned two. Since my son was so young the therapist we saw always said that he had a severe language delay. Now he is 4 almost 5 and is still very behind socially and with his receptive and expressive language skills. At his 4 year check up we were again referred to see another developmental pediatrician who referred us to a speech therapist. Derick could count and visually recognize his letters and numbers from a very early age (before 2), however he never talked like other kids his age. Since he had such a large vocabulary he could almost pass the test the speech therapist were giving without showing signs of a problem. We’ve had his hearing tested multiple times and everything is all clear on that. He has been tested for autism multiple times and that has been ruled out.

Derick seems to have trouble focusing. He has always seemed like noises bother him. Even as a young toddler he would put his hands over his ears alot like noises bothered him. Derick can not follow multi-step directions. He sometimes has trouble with single step directions. Sometimes you have to repeat what you want several time or rephrase it. Socially he avoids his peers most of the time. Does well one on one with other kids his age (depending on the child) but will shy away from a group. Does not know how to carry on conversation but can ask for what he wants or state the condition of things (Mommy its cold outside). If Derick doesn’t understand what you want alot of times he will completely disengage you.
If you have more questions please ask. I’m hoping this will help.

If noises bother him, read up on Sensory Integration (SI). I don’t know if this is likely or not, but the way to find out is to inform yourself.

The difficulty with loud noises often goes along with auditory processing disorders. My son used to be like that. There were years we couldn’t go out to eat because he couldn’t stand the noise. Ironically, it didn’t seem to bother him if he was making noise!!!

I am not sure what would be the best K environment for your child but let me give you a few things to think about.

You say your child is 4 now and quite behind language wise. You might think about sending him to the Montesorri school for K and then the next year to the public school. Lots of LD children are immature and the extra time to mature doesn’t hurt. Maturation won’t be enough but it will also give you time to work on his skills. We ended up holding back our son in fourth grade after years of struggling to catch up. His language skills were more advanced than your son’s but there were similarities. He ended first grade without reading and although he had been classified since age 4, that was when I got seriously involved with intervention. He is now in a parochial school (where his siblings were) and doing well in fifth grade. But it has been a long road.

I would think about what you are going to do to address his issues. We didn’t do anything except speech therapy until age 7 but I know people who did sound therapy at age 4 to 5 with great results. The Listening Program is the cheapest and mildest of the programs out there. If I had to do it all over again, that is where I would have started. We ended up doing TLP but much later. We did Fast Forward at age 7 which permanently placed my child in the above average range in terms of receptive language skills. A child really needs to be about 6 to do FFW though.

If your child has any motor issues (which can often go along with APD), I’d suggest gymnastics and swimming lessons.

Beth

Thank you so much for the information. I will definitely look into The Listening Program. In all the time I’ve been taking Derick to see speech therapist no one has ever mentioned it to me. If you think of anything else I could try I would really appreciate it. It is so helpful to get feedback from other parents who have experienced similar things with their children.

Hi- Congrats on getting your son diagnosed so early- thats quite an accomplishment!I was tipped off by a hospital based speech therapist that my son probably had it at age 4- I had him diagnosed at at 6 when he was failing K at our public school ( supposedly one of the best in our state!) My son was in the public school preschool to receive speech therapy but the school discontinued his IEP when he started K because his speech had improved alot. Without an IEP in K he was not given any extra help or support and he began failing K which also affected him socially. I started taking him to a private reading tutor in the Spring part of K and he improved alot in just a few months of tutoring after school. The school then retested him and sent him to 1st grade with a new IEP. My advice to you is not to allow him to be without an IEP if you send him to public school. Montessori might be good- especially combined with reading tutoring after school. Have you read the book “Like Sound thru Water”? Its about a mother who tried all sorts of approaches with her young son who had CAPD. It might give you some ideas! take care- Nancy