Random question time :)

[coff33pot]

This weekend dd wanted her dad to download some music on her mp3 player. DH found a cheap old mp3 and downloaded the Phineas & Ferb album and Lady Gaga (his idol lol) for DS. He is music mad, dancing, singing and playing around with guitars.

He was thrilled. DH has some special earphones that go outside your ears so I agreed he could have it.

Funny thing was this actually calmed him down dramatically. He didnt use it all day but about every hour or so.

Last night when I go home I told him we got to practise a bit of writing. He was a bit upset about it as per usual but I said he could have his mp3 player whilst he was writing. HE WROTE ONE SENTENCE It took him half hour and it was 5 words he copied and some of it was legible. As we can never get him to write one word without meltdown this is a big thing!!!

This morning he had breakfast then asked for mp3. Put it on and he let me help him get dressed without a single fuss and walked to school in a straight line! with no problems at all, a bit slower but none of this ritual balancing and feeling etc.

He has sensory issues with noise and cannot concentrate with too much going on, he cant stand being in the classroom due to all the children and pressure builds up over the morning he is there (he is PT) At home at the weekends Sundays mostly, it is always bedlam for him due to everyone being at home, tvs on, music in another room and both dds and DH and usually eldest dds friend so this stresses him out usually and he gets hyper and a meltdown usually ensues at some point.

Obviously I dont want him to spend every living moment with this mp3 but could this in the long run help him? Is it because it is just the music and he can shut off to everything else? Have other people used this to help their kiddies? I am wondering that if this is such a good calming tool as in escape, if the school would let me trial it at school to see if he will write in the class with them on. IF they would allow such a thing.

Its just that he had no motor tics yesterday, he hates the feeling of clothes and rips them off again yet this morning he was amicable, and no feeling and balancing all the way to school. They had a show this morning and he cant do assembly but because I tool the mp3 off just inside school he just walked in and sat with his TA amongst it all.

If it can do that then maybe using it a little at school might help him to be calm enough to do social skills in groups straight after?

Or am I hoping too much.......

Wendy Lawson always says that if she has something to focus on then it helps her accept other stimulation.Maybe thats it?

This is what I am thinking AVoidka :)

Also though this is good I have seen that mp3s can unbalance auditory processing. He also needs time to process what people are telling him as it is and rarely "gets it" when someone is asking him to do something or answer to his name.

If you are having a discussion it takes time like he switches off, pictures it and then comes up with what he thinks I mean.

So I dont want to make that worse but this processing problem could well be mainly down to sensory overload at the same time

Although saying that I am doing a headphone test as per yesterday! see other thread. MAYBE I might be onto something :)

After completing a sensory questionnaire for my DD I was asked if she always turns the music up when at family gatherings which she does. Apparently they believe that she has auditory filtering issues so can hear every conversion in the room so the music makes 1 noise which she can control! Maybe it's something along them lines x

That last post of mine was for a different thread altogether lol ooops!

Yes sazale DS turns the TV channel to radio and wacks it up when there is too much going on or we have visitors arrive unanounced too. If he is nowhere near a radio etc he has a high pitched scream (ear pearcing actually) that he will do and cover his ears.

DS previous school allowed his mp3 player to be used to help keep him calm,he used it at transition times and whenever the classroom was going to be noisier than usualy e g music lessons,singing practice.
In fact he would never have been able to take part in the school nativity just due to the noise of the audiance if he hadnt have been hooked up to his music.
If i do say so myself he looked absolutely fab as the chaviest shepard you have ever seen and he even felt relaxed enough to give everyone a little show of his dance moves as he took his place on stage.

Maybe the headphones are stopping all the auditory overload which in turn is making him calmer? I've just read the other thread that your post was meant for and that also sounds like my DD! He may need the extra processing time because of having to filter out the background noise. Has he had a sensory profile done Hun ?

We have filled in the profile form beginning of august. From what I see there, he has tactile, auditory, visual auditory and underesponsive/sensory seeking. But still waiting for an OT to actually go through it with me. Supposed to be some talk/class sometime this month but no joy yet.

camhs mental health nurse agrees with all this too and is desparately trying to chase up but said they are like gold dust hence they send you on courses instead first.

Taking too long so trying to whittle down or help as much as I can myself. :)

It drives you mad trying to figure things out! We don't have any sensory OT's in our area so no support/advice available at all!! Our CAMHS worker used to be an OT who had done part of his sensory training so he did the profile as he could see that DD has many sensory issues (still waiting on the report though). She's struggling so much with school now and I'm sure most of it is sensory
Still waiting on ADOS for diagnosis as well!

I hope the music keeps helping x

That's quite interesting coff33pot. Hope it's something that will help him in the long run. Congratulations on the progress! All these things I know seem like little things to others, but we know what a big step it can be!

Thanks Triggles :)

We he has come home at lunchtime and I left it till now for his practice writing. Chose the time that dd came through the door and DH had tv on and I was in kitchen starting things off for tea. We are open plan so you can imagine the movement around including dog!

Anyhow mp3 player on and he has just finished two whole sentences. The cat sat on the mat and the dog jumped on a log. He is so pleased with himself to which is great to see.

Still a lot of work with his tripod grip and letter formation but if this alone means he will be a willing candidate for practice then that in itself is enough for me.

Going to experiment with some other things over the week as in trip to town etc and a different shop and see how that goes.

sounds fantastic x

Lenin at the moment we have just downloaded the Phineaus & Ferb album (as he likes watching them on TV) And.............Lady Gaga as he is an avid dancer of her dance routines and I have a mini male Gaga

I wonder if calming music might help. The ones ppl use for relaxation? They didnt work for DS as he called them boring when we tried them for a week in the evenings, but then if you like lady gaga.......He also has some random ones that his big sister likes from radio 1. If your ds likes dancing around having a laugh I would put the sky on and let him play a tune on the controller letting him choose the songs by his own ears and see wether its beat (as it is with ds) or more musical :)

It worked well this morning in getting set up to go to school as per yesterday. And he walked lovely to school. Going to attempt spellings in a bit.

Funnily enough the HT put a stereo on in the background today when she was doing something with ds in her office and she said there was a remarkable difference with him :)

coff33pot

This can be typical for those who APD, the MP£ provides a predictable friendly form of background sound or noise which requires less stress to process, and cuts out the random distracting background noises (even a crackling crisps packet can be considered a distracting back ground noise (Pink Sound)).

Personally I prefer 1970s heavy rock, and our DS2 prefers rap, but with the use of headphones we can blank out the others preferences, and the usual pink noise, or cafeteria levels of background noise.

dolfrog

DS can hear a lock being turned on the school gate which is 100 yards away outside of his class in amongst the noise of class. The teacher pointed this out to me as he rushed to the windo to see who was coming when it was not playtime.

So I would gather this would be Pink Sound? School seem to be supportive in my suggestion of allowing him to use his MP3 during literacy and perhaps low in assembly so he can at least learn to cope with sitting still amongst a crowd. Also transition from class to play and back.

He does score high on sensory profile for auditory and visual auditory however we are miles away for further assessment.

Can a GP refer you for APD assessment?

coff33pot

When we, APDUK and the OldAPD group members, were running an online research program a few years ago "How APD Affects Adults" one of the participants commented that "she could hear a conversation in the house next door, but could not process what her son directly in front of her was saying". It is part of "dichotic listening"

Yes a GP should make a referral for an APD assessment. And you may need to download the Medical Research Councils 2004 APD pamphlet to take to your GP.
you may also find some of the links in my new UK APD links collection worth looking at.

coff33pot

A couple of articles which result from the 2 year online research program "How APD Affects Adults" can be downloaded as part of the first two APDUK newsletters, "Controlling the Chaos" and "The Trouble with Strangers" written by Australian Psychologist, Damien Howard, who ran the research program.

Thank you very much dolfrog some great info. Have just downloaded the pamphlet will contact GP tomorrow for appointment :)

dolfrog or anyone else in the know :)

Printed pamphlet and went to GP. Unfortunately GP although a good one has no idea on sensory issues or APD and said best to wait and see the outcome of second oppinion (when it happens could be quite a while) for diagnosis of autism first before we go down any other avenues. Is there anyone else I can contact to make a referral?

Hello coffeepot, there was a programme on radio 4 today about how listening to music can aid concentration in the short term. It's about half way through: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016wzs9

Thank you! :)