Auditory Processing Disorder

[Notmytelescope]

Do I need to get DD diagnosed?

DD (5) has just started reception and is doing well. She was a deferred entry as late summer born and she had a global/speech delay. With SALT and a lot of extra support from nursery she has caught up in many ways but something is still not quite right.

DH has a diagnosis of APD and DD struggles with many of the same things he does. Neither of them can focus on speech or remember verbal instructions. Both are more than normally upset/ distracted by background noise. If the TV is on and we need to communicate with DD we need to turn it off before we can get her attention. Her memory is poor.

School feel that Dd is bright enough and she is making good progress with reading/numbers. She was on their SEN register in nursery but has since come off. My concerns are that as things become more complex her difficulties will become more of an issue - in the first term of Reception lots of children can only manage one instruction at a time.

I wondered if anyone had experience of this? Is it reasonable to approach the SENCO before DD is seen to be having problems? Is APD something which is recognised/taken seriously? Or should I ask for a SALT referral- as she was discharged as she no longer met the threshold for intervention? Any advice would be gratefully recieved.

bump

Unfortunately i have plenty of experience with this. You're about to be met with hundreds of brick walls to bang your head against.

If you want a diagnosis, there are limited places in the country that will diagnose on the NHS. GOSH is one place, but you must live in the M25 area and meet all the criteria - which i think testing starts from 6 or 7. If you have a screening done school may ask for a firm diagnosis. You can have her screened by taking her to the GP who should refer her for a pure tone hearing test first to rule out any hearing problems.

There is no gold standard for APD testing across the country and most professionals you will come across will have zero knowledge or limited knowledge of what it is and how severely it can affect your childs life.

Speech and language will not help you. Sensory support at your local authority may assist you, but they usually say they only work with children who are deaf. Be persistent and ask them to go into school and suggest strategies that will help your child such as sitting near the teacher, over learning information etc.

Im currently in the process of an EHCP for my child because as the years have passed her difficulties have become more severe and she is refusing to attend school.

If i can help you with anything feel free to PM me... and good luck.

Thank namechange, sorry to hear about your DD. Good luck with an EHCP. I’ll send you a PM thank you.