can you come and talk to me about processing problems / disorder please

[dispondantandthensome]

I have a few questions and could do with some mumsnet advice lol

what you want to know?

Do you mean Auditory Processing Problems? Or is it a language disorder?

or motor processing ?

Sensory processing?

Processing problems / disorders tend to be cognitive development issues covering a wide range of sensory information processing.

Most sensory processing problems tend to have a genetic origin from one or both biological parents.

Some children and adults can have a single cognitive processing deficit or which can be the case for issues such as dyslexia, where there are three cognitive subtypes of dyslexia or put another way three different types of information processing deficits which can cause the dyslexic symptom.

Then there are issues which have multiple information processing deficits / disorders,and the more severe combination of these processing disorders can be seen to make up the multiple issues that make up the very wide Autistic Spectrum.

I have a some collections of research papers about various Invisible Disabilities which may help provide some information. But they are only a sample of the many disabilities which information processing problems can cause.

dispondantandthensome if you could give us a bit more detail, we could be of more assistance.

HI sorry its been a mad weekend

Basically ds has symptoms some of which mimic being on the autistic spectrum

however its becoming more and more obvious that he has sensory integration / processing problems and I think in myself this is what he has rather than aspergers etc (perhaps a hunch?)

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about sensory processing disorder?

My son has visual probs and prob auditory and some touch and taste issues.

am I making sense

ps, thanks for the posts thus far

oh and motor wise he is not atall great either.

so basically most of his processing centres (is that what you call them) are being affected.......

dolfrog, you really seem to know your stuff did I make sense their

my ds has not got a diagnosis yet,,,,, away to read your linky.........

read the OUt of Sync Child - good place to start

Sensory processing disorder can be vastly improved by:

Auditory Integration Training
Vision Therapy
Retained Reflexes Therapy
Sensory Integration Therapy

dispondantandthensome
I am only a parent who has spent he last 10 years or so trying to get the right help for our 3 sons.
They all have some degree of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), which back in 1998 no one want to know about, so we had to find the information about APD via the internet from the USA, and create a web site of links so that their schools and teachers could begin to understand the real nature of their problems.

While at the same time avoid pitfalls of miss diagnosis due to the lack of specialised diagnostic professionals in the UK, who actually understand APD and the related issues.

Things are slowly improving, but still you will find that a childs parents still know more technically about their childrens problems than most teachers and support professionals. The real problems is the quality of the professional qualifications in the UK, and the lack of willingness of different types of professional to work together in the best interests of children.

These types of issues require what is termed a Multi - Discipline (multi - professional) assessment so that all the relevant professionals are consulted and participate in the assessment process, and final report or reports. Great Ormond Street Hospital has begun this type of assessment with regard to APD over the last year.

Each child is different, with different types and different degrees of deficit, and they also use different coping strategies using various alternative cognitive skills or strengths to work around these types of problems.

Many of these issue are still part of cutting edge research as the scientists develop new technologies to try to understand these issues. Which is why sometimes they still do not have all the answers they might like to have.

It is all about doing your own research to find out the best information which best describes the issues facing your child. It was as aa reuslt of trying to help our children that both my partner and I discovered that we also shared the same disabilities as our children, the genetic link, so we understood better than most how to help them

going to read the out of sync child thanks....

dolfrog you are a wealth of knowlege

can you PM me you are further down the road than me and i have soooooooooooooo many questions

am a bit confused if my son has APD or sensory pricessing disorder......

My son has APD along with Dysgraphia and some social communications problems (linked to the APD). He is 11 now and I absolutely knew it wasn't ASD or pure dyslexia and I had never heard of APD, it made total sense once I finally got the correct dx. BTW - I won, I won! At SENDIST - got him into an independent dyslexia school - yay!

Sorry....best Valentines Day present ever.

JJ17 - YAY!

thats fab

now please can you tell me your sons symptoms ............ if you dont mind it would really help me

apd and dysgraphia?

whats that

I have so much to learb but feel excited as finally i think I am on the right track re what ds has!!

cooeee DOLFROG love, you said that Great Ormond Street Hospital has begun this type of assessment with regard to APD over the last year.

Can you pay for this privately do you know?

how can you get this assessment?

I would love to get ds assessed here!!!!

Wow! at Dolfrogs link.
Off to read....

dispondantandthensome

You will need a GP referral to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH)
you will also need current audiogram from a recent hearing test, as any hearing impairment needs to be taken into account before an APD assessment can be done.
There is more information about APD on the Auditory Processing Disorder in the UK (APDUK) web site. You can also download or read online the Medical Research Councils 2004 APD pamphlet. There are some informative articles contributed by many international professionals who have an interest in APD, and some very informative Newsletters, that include some articles which resulted from the APDUK and OldAPD online research program "How does APD affect Adults" in APDUK Newsletters no 1 and no 2.

Dysgraphia is about having problems with graphics which includes writing.

Many children can have what is termed co-morbid conditions so it is possible to have APD with any other cognitive disability.

Brilliant resources, thanks Dolfrog x

You asked for my son's symptoms. He is 11 now and they have changed over time and I kind of forget because I am so used to adapting to him - I'm sure you know what I mean.

DS2 - takes a while for spoken instructions to sink in. For instance, if I gave him a string of things to do, brush your teeth, tidy your room, telephone Granny blah blah blah - forget it. But 1 thing at a time and I watch his face to see if he has understood me. I also act a bit like a traffic cop sometimes with a "stop" hand signal or touch him to refocus him. If we are doing his homework (argh!) I refocus him a lot and make sure there is no ambient noise.

In my head I liken in to English as being his 2nd language and he needs information given to him more slowly and carefully.

He has social communication difficulties in that he doesn't "get" playground games sometimes. But this is because he may not have grasped the instructions rather than it doesn't register emotionally with him. APD is easily mis-diagnosed as ASD and perhaps there is some over-lap but DS2 doesn't have any of the rigidity etc that is associated with ASD.

Dysgraphia is part of the dyslexia umbrella but it is difficulty with the actual physical process of writing - his reading is good and fluent and he can spell but he needs a scribe a lot of the time.

The good news I have found is that he is "closing the gap" all the time with the ASD. He is using strategies and playground situations etc repeat themselves over the years so he remembers how to cope from the last time.

When he was really small it was awful and he barely understood anything. Know you would have to know him fairly well to know that he isn't getting everything that is said.

Hope that's fairly clear, like I said I am so used to him that I forget that I am adapting all the time.