Central Auditory Processing

Tonya,

Having CAPD does not necessarily indicate a learning disability. The child must have an academic deficit of some kind (reading, writing, math, oral expression, listening comprehension) to be clasified LD. There must be a discrepancy between ability and achievement.

What grade is she in? My child with APD is too young (first grade) to place LD, but we are having her current needs addressed pretty well in her speech/language IEP. Has your child ever been evaluated for speech/language services? That’s usually the best place to begin if the academic delay is not significant enough yet. Of course not all APD kids end up in LD, but I’m sure many do. If you can give me more information, I’ll be glad to try to help you!

Janis

the federal register never mentions the word CAPD, what it does mention is processing disorders- processing disordes fall under the catagory of LD, capd is a processing disorder, theirfore capd is a learning disability.

Now the poster above suggested that inorder for a capd issue to be a disability it has to result in academic difficulties-not true.

Capd is a learning disability regardless of weather or not the child is currently haveing academic difficulties, However

the child can not get an IEP unless the disability is effecting the childs ability to learn, but, if by some miricle the capd dosnt interfear with accademics the child can still get a 504 plan- this would give classroom modifications like preferential seating, reppitition of directions, clairification of assingments, haveing material presented both visual and auditorialy ect..

Tonya wrote:
>
> I’m looking for some suggestions on how to get my daughters
> school to help us. She has recently been diagnosed with CAPD
> and has alot of trouble in the classroom. I would like to
> have an IEP for her but have been told that CAPD is not a
> learning disability. There is so much information out there I
> can hardly keep track of it all. Any suggestions?

This may differ from place to place. MY understanding is that federal law does not recognize CAPD, leaving districts a lot of discretion. A My son has CAPD and I have told repeatedly that the district does not recognize CAPD as a learning disability. In my son’s case, it really isn’t an issue. He is classified as having a specific learning disability on the basis of his reading. He receives resource room for an hour a day. Like Janis’ daughter my son also receives speech and language services.

Beth

I understand what you are trying to say, but I believe you are not completely correct. Auditory processing disorder is a disorder, but it is not necessarily a learning disability. It certainly has the potential to cause a learning disability. According to my state special ed. manual:

“For the purpose of special ed. services, students classified as learning disabled are those who, after receiving instructional intervention in the regular classroom setting, have a substantial discrepancy between ability and achievement. The disability is manifested by substantial difficulties in the acquisition and use of skills in listening comprehension, oral expression, basic reading, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, and mathematics reasoning.”

My own child has APD and does not yet qualify as LD. But she does qualify as speech/language impaired. With the right therapy and instruction, I am hoping she will never need to be classified as learning disabled. Just as an analogy, people who wear glasses may have a visual disorder, but they are not necessarily disabled.

I did not see Beth’s post before I replied to Ohio, but this is exactly what I was referring to.

Janis

Fedearal registry 300.7

(10) Specific learning disability is defined as follows:

(i) General. The term means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

Capd IS a disorder in one of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding language. It IS a disorder in Auditory Processing.

Per law- Identification takes place Prior to the establishment of need for services- Theirfore many children are indeed identified as haveing disabilities, but do not need dervices, theirfore they do not have IEPs.

The right to be Identified is ENTIRLY seprate from the need for an IEP.

Wtih all do respect I dont give a monkeys uncle what the classroom teacher, principal or district said- these are the same little people who rutinly lie to parents about everything else under the sun, why would you think they would be honest now?

your state is a different matter, they are normally honest even though they may not like it, but if your state tells you that CAPD is not reconized, they are wrong, the federal government and federal law ALL WAYS takes president when it comes to IDEA.

I strongly suggest you contact your state DOE and see what they have to say about capd, if they actually tell you they dont “recognise” it call the fed department of education.

Im sorry if I sound harsh, but I am so tired of parents actually believeing these people, how many times do you have to be burned before stop putting your hand in the fire?????

evryone repeat after me “I will not blindly accept what someone tells me simply because they have a title” , “I will look up the fed law every single time someone tells me something that sounds even a little suspicious”, “I will not accept the schools answer of “no” untill I have made sure the federal law allows them to say no” and CANT is only a word relivent to natural science- in any other format it means “I WONT do it, if i can get away with it”

Wow, I am super confused. My brother has CAPD and he gets a ton of services, that is how he qualified for them. When he was just diagnosed dyslexic they wouldn’t give him anything. We had to first go ten rounds and prove he had CAPD but when we finally did they started services.

I have to agree with OHIO, the teachers, principals, guidance counselors have to be “called” on every issue. I think maybe they take a class in college: “How to lie to parents and be successful!” It took an entire year to write an IEP for my brother and now they are not even following it. In all the years of special ed, IEP, testing there has been only one teacher who has really done her job, done it well, and shown my brother she really cares and wants him to do well. The rest of the staff, for lack of a better work, suck!!

Dawn

General. The term means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

The key I think is manifest itself–—if it manifests itself in writing, reading then you are identified as having a disability in that area. If it impacts listening and speech, then tiy would qualifiy you for services in speech and language.

Beth

beth, the right to identification and the right too services are 2 different things. the law says identification is step one, the question of services is step 2.

let me explain it in a more concrete way. lets say you have a child who is paralized and in in wheel chair. the first step is, does the child have a disability- answwer yes

the second step is, does the child need specialized instruction or modifications because of his disability?

any doctor on the face of the planet can tell you that it dosnt matter how well the child can get around in the wheel chair, even if the child has no needs in school due to his disabilitity, the child still has a disability.

and the childs disability needs to be identified and documented because in a few years when the child hits highschool and its on 3 different floors and theirs no elevator, well at that point the child will need specialized education or modifications.

a processing disability may not allways interfere with education, but that dosnt mean it goes away, the child still has the disability, AND it needs to be identified and documented because at some time in the future, it will, in 99 percent of the cases interfere in some way, shape or form interfere with the childs ability to learn.

Her point is that it won’t be identified as a learning disability if there is not proof that it effects reading, math, written expression, oral expression, or listening comprehension.

For example, I teach hearing impaired children. Every year some children fail the hearing screening and are referred for further testing. If they are found to have a hearing loss, then we check to see if they are having academic difficulties. If so, they are referred for testing and are placed in the category of hearing impaired. Then the amount of services are determined. But there are some children who have mild hearing losses who are doing just fine in class. So there is no referral and no labelling as hearing impaired. Does the child have a hearing loss? Yes. Are they disabled? No.

Do ALL children with APD have academic problems to the level of qualifying LD? No. They are not considered learning disabled unless they meet the requirements of discrepancy between ability and achievement.

Children are not identified with a disability unless the disability is causing a need for special education and/or classroom modifications/accomodations.

Your definition of diabled would require that every child with glasses be identified visually impaired. But again, not all children with glasses are disabled. Some are, but not all.

Janis

It is a good idea to have even a “non-LD” diagnosis of a processing problem on record — it does make it easier to get services should the need arise.

That’s a totally different issue than waht words are used in defining the eligibility for services.

no, wearing glasses does not meet the definition of being blind or visually impared, nor is being near sighted a visual processing disorder, and haveing a hearing loss does not mean the child is deaf.

CAPD does NOT imply a hearing loss. By definition a child with CAPD has hearing in the normal range. CAPD is a processing disability. And regardless of weather it interferes with learning or not the disability can exist.

Identification of a disability is the first step, determining need for services is the second step, if you and your school are actually refuseing to identify disabilities and because the children do not have academic needs at the moment you are violateing the law. I suggest you call you state department of education for further clairification. And if you are doing this because someone in admin told you too, its no excuse under the law.

You both have such good information to share. I really appreciate your different perspectives and opinions.

Janis, I like reading your analysis because it helps me understand and prepare for differences in what I think and how I is perceived by someone else in the educational arena.

OHIO, I so much like what you have to say about the rights and power that parents have in these matters and the support your information brings to these issues.

Thank you both so much.

What a very nice comment, osi! Thank you! I am as critical as anyone on the public school special ed. services as anyone who reads my posts will see. I almost always recommend outside testing and therapy as I rarely think the schools can “do it best”. I know this from the perspective of a teacher and as a parent of special needs children. But I do my best to represent the laws and procedures accurately. Whether we like them or not is another matter. ;-)

Janis

your very welcome, the best advice I can give you when working with any school system is to carry your bible of choise in one hand and a copy of the federal registry in the other. Haveing children with disabilities will require you to become familier with, and have faith in, both books.

Janice one more thing, the forms you are looking for that outline each and every step are located in your state policy and proceedure manual- each state labels them differently, so i cant help you with your personal difficulty in locating your state forms.

as to your inquirey as to my profession, no I am not a lawyer, I am sure in your eyes I much worse. I am a child advocate, I have worked for local and national organizations. I have even worked for school systems- attempting to train their staff. Mainly I get paid to assist parents in helping the schools to do their job in accordence with the laws. I owe my career to a school principal and staff who tried to cheat my kids out of their education, If they hadnt been so wrong all the time I never would have had to learn how to correct them.

Ohio,

The hostility here really bothers me. I really don’t think people here are on different sides. Janis has a child with CAPD—why would she see an advocate as an enemy. I am sorry that your child didn’t get what he or she needed from the schools. Schools, as you know, are difficult bureaucracies and there is a real need for advocates like you to help parents. I personally have even hired one. But just the same, I can’t see how beating up on people is advancing any cause.

Even if you are right, I find the personal attacks disturbing and counterproductive. (and I am not an expert—only know what I have been told which is that CAPD is not recognized under federal law as a disability unless it has educational implications. Realize that my child is already classified as having a specific language disability so the district was avoiding nothing by telling me that. And realize that the STate of FL, where I live, wrote a paper on auditory processing that takes the approach you are talking about).

Beth

No disagreement on that…mine both sit on the same shelf in my public school office. :-) One is used more at home than the other, however.

Janis

I also live in Ohio and I’m so hoping we live in the same part of Ohio, you are exactly what I need at my next IEP meeting. I too, have been lied to by the administration of school, or if lie is to harsh a word, let’s say I have been decieved. When I go to meetings, everyone is sweet and we’ll do what ever it takes to help your son, but those promises never materalize. And as a matter of fact, just the last conversation I had with the super.
tables were turned around, so that I was made to feel it was my son’s fault he isn’t learning to read. He’s a behavior problem, he’s lazy, he doesn’t try, he’s not organized, he needs to be more responisble for his own education. That’s bull, all of these issues relate to his learning disability, yes he might seem lazy and seem like he doesn’t care, he learned that from the system, why try hard to only fail. His behavior problems come from sitting in class, not knowing what he’s suppose to do and having to much time on his hands. She even told me if he would become more organized, the reading and writing would fall into place, with of course no suggestions on how to become organized.
And, for the responsibility part, it is the school’s responsibility to teach him, to read and write ,so he can become responsible for his education. And until that happens, you can bet I’ll be there to back him.
Ohio, where do you live? I live in souteastern Ohio

Kathy what part of southeastern ohio do you live in? I too live there and boy it sounds like my school district. Teresa

well I don’t live in the states but up in canada. I have a daughter who is struggles with severe dyslexia, ADD, Speech and Language issues and Auditory Processing Disorder. I am waiting for extensive testing to be done for her through her school. Then off to Calgary Children’s hospital for more testing. I have been advicating for my little girl since she was 2 and not talking. she is now 11 and is still clearly not understood by others. Her learning level is about gr2. I’m am so blessed to have her in a wonderful school who fight hard with school board and government to get these children IPP (IEP) and funding. The only problems is that we have a coding system that is failing the special needs. Coding catergorizes special needs students and does not look at their individual needs. We are working hard to change that. I would love to talk with any other parent that share simular challenges with their children. Being able to share different ways to teach and understand our children is so important. I believe I learn better from other parents then teachers. As we know our children better then anyone. Thanks Carolyn

CAPD refers to auditory processing. Usually, the response to questions needs extra time, extra time on tests, or directions need to be repeated. If your child doesn’t qualify for an IEP, she can qualify for a 504 plan. She can be placed in an intergrated classroom (regular classroom with special education students) with a teacher and 1 assistant. She can be pulled out for speech therapy and resource room for math or reading.

From my understanding of CAPD, it is a secondary diagnosis. It is not a primary diagnosis. So, you are still looking for something more global regarding an LD. Is it necessary for him to be classified at this time as apecial education or can other accomodations be made on a 504 plan? Discuss more with the Child Study Team or the INR&S staff at school. Let us know how things go.
[Modified by: annette10dance on March 17, 2009 08:14 AM]

Hope you have found enough help.

Our son qualifies for help at school under the Federal IDEA act, was tested through Child Find and found to be behind in speech (a delay recognized by the IDEA act)

As I understand it, the delay must directly impact their education. [b]For example[/b], being hearing impaired does not affect their education, but having a delay in speech does.

Once excepted, they can receive other services needed, like Physical therapy or more speech therapy visits to address CAPD.