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.

coffpot Wow! Sounds fantastic progress! My ds1 is quite happy in the car watching his portable dvd with his MASSIVE headphones on!! Makes long journeys pretty painless. We also let him have them sometimes if he wants to watch something on iplayer on the laptop and ds2 is watching something else on TV.

coff33pot

Currently we sometimes have to educate the medical professionals, to enable them to do their jobs correctly, especially the lower levels such as GPs, SALTs, and local hospital staff. APD and some of the more recently identified conditions were not part of their initial training, and many do not regularly keep up with the fast pace of medical research advances. Have a look at
Auditory processing disorder in children: Awareness and attitudes of UK GPs and ENT Consultants
Autism like dyslexia is a term used for a wide spectrum of underlying causes, of which Auditory Processing Disorder is shared underlying common cause. So what you should be telling your GP is that regardless of a successful or unsuccessful diagnosis of autism, you still need to identify the underlying cognitive problems such as APD, which can be a contributory underlying cause to both communication spectra (autism and dyslexia).
AS these issues tend to have a genetic origin, it may be useful to have any family history of these issues to support your case, as at least one biological parents extended families will have some experience of these types of issues. This is another form of support for a specific line of assessment and investigation.

Thank you Becarrooo :) we are trying to hunt down some good comfortable headphones for him now I can see such a difference. He has an issue with the feel of them in his ears so I think proper head gear is necessary :)

dolfrog The GP is a great doctor but also old school. He was unaware of the dawba assessment that I took with me which I have had recently received. He was also unaware of DISCO/ADOS or infact any other dignostic tools. I spent an hour educating him and it was very strange but nice that he wanted to spend time and listen.

I did give him the pamphlet that I printed off and he said he will read through it and I think he will. He is also taking ds issues seriously and making contacts with the clinical rater for further advice. So I am hoping I am halfway there and perhaps will get to ask the question regarding APD again, when he phones me.

Biologically it is me who my son takes after. Where as DS can lock into music, I cannot function in background noise at all. My poor DH has been told off for stiring his tea too loud whilst I am doing my accounts, and a ticking clock drives me insane. If someone is talking to me all I would hear would be the ticking clock! If and it is usual in with our big family we have TV, radio, computer and children running around, I literally shut everything down to listen and reply.

DS has various sensory issues going on within him at the same time and my argument with the school and camhs is that I feel it is priority that these are addressed and if these were addressed then he would be half way there at least to aid his concentration and hopefully learn the necessary social and communication skills he is lacking in. This is not by any means all that is wrong but a major chunk.

I can see I am going to have to keep digging my heels in. Thank you for replying again. :)

My son has HUGE ones (they were my dh's!) He gets on really well with them.

You will, indeed, have to keep digging your heels in sadly Sadly, the "old school" GP who referred my son back in Feb (who was my GP for 25 years) has now retired....no point in going to see any of the others......

coff33pot

"Where as DS can lock into music, I cannot function in background noise at all. My poor DH has been told off for stiring his tea too loud whilst I am doing my accounts, and a ticking clock drives me insane. If someone is talking to me all I would hear would be the ticking clock! If and it is usual in with our big family we have TV, radio, computer and children running around, I literally shut everything down to listen and reply."

you sound very much like me, and other members of our family.
you could join the A place for Adult (C)APDs to chat Most of the 500+ members only found out about their own APD as a result of trying to help their children. This what i call my internet home

Thank you dolfrog I hope its quiet

I have made 3 attempts to join but it keeps going back to the main "3 steps to complete" page. So either I have issued 3 requests or the register bit does not like me :) I will try again tomorrow and see if I have any luck.

coff33pot

I think you are now a member, the group is closed, so all new members need to be approved by the admins

ah well in that case the poor things will be seeing a lot of coffee as I applied at least 3 times! Thanks for explaining I wait to hear from admin that the door is open.:)