Auditory Processing Disorder and Secondary School Looming - Sorry its a long one!!!

[time4chocolate]

Hi Everyone,
desperately looking for advice/thoughts. My Dd(10) has suspected APD (on waiting list for consultant but not likely to be seen until September) this has come completely out of nowhere as we thought she was just a bit behind in Maths and were given no indication from school of anything else untoward (not notified that she was on SA or SA+) However, out of the blue the school advised that they were getting an Ed Psych in (this was in May). Cut a long story short she is currently academically working at an age level 6/7 year old!!!! The main issues are poor working memory, not able to recall more than 3 or 4 digits, reading rate was in the average banding but comprehension of what she read was poor, and has an underlying difficulty understanding language, however, she has a "quite distinct ability in Visual spatial and visual memory processing" with the conclusion being learning opportunities to be given in the most visual way possible.

Also, just to add, that obviously since we been aware of the seriousness of the situation I have approached the school about flexi schooling her (ie 3x morning tutoring sessions with a specialist (SEN) tutor off school site) to try and bridge the learning gap and this has been agreed by the school as they gave conceded (verbally) that they have tried everything they can think off.

I have to complete her secondary school application form in October and doubt I will have the report from APD consultant by then - can anyone advise/or have any experience as to whether these above issues can be met in mainstream secondary school and does it look like we need to go down the statementing route again (have statemented DS with ASD). Any thoughts really appreciated and sorry it was soooo long.

From what you've said here, you need to sound the statement klaxon, and you'll have a solid case to get one.

I don't honestly know which setting would be best for your DD, but the auditory processing challenges are far greater at mainstream secondary than they are at primary - more complex language, and more adults involved in DD's day-to-day learning, each with a wide array of communication styles. The pace of lessons in mainstream secondary is often quicker too. My DS1 has APD - he cannot cope in a mainstream secondary environment, but there are other things going on with him too.

If the Ed Psych mentioned underlying receptive language problems, then SALT assessment would be useful to rule out any other specific language impairment.

Ugger - thanks very much for your reply and you have answered what I was suspecting on both the speed of teaching/different teachers thing and also the statement. Will definitely get the ball rolling with SALT to dig a bit deeper on the language side of things. Looks like I am going to have to find the energy to take on the LEA again -am only just recovering from the 3 year statement battle for DS. Looks like more wrinkles and grey hair on the horizon .

Things you can do.

Look up cogmed its a working memory computerised programme. Might be worth a go

In secondary school, she will need to use a dictaphone to record essential parts of lessons. She could also have a tablet with which she could take a photograph of the board rather than copying down as APs find it really hard to copy off the board.

I would start statementing as well. If she does go mainstream sec then can she not do languages and do extra support lessons instead.

I would contact APDUK - they have a helpline which is very useful. I assume that you have an appointment at the APD clinic at GOSH? Don't hold out great hopes for the report or the recommendations to teaching staff. Basic intervention is to seat the child at the front of the class. There are also technological devices that mic up the teacher and the child wears a headset.

DS1 is 12 and the GOSH report was useful (to me) in understanding that DS1 could not 'hear' in a standard classroom of 30 (ie couldn't access the curriculum) and needed a specialist school. He also has SpLD and ASD. The profs tended to ignore it though in a 'everyone's got auditory processing difficulties but it is not their primary need' kind of way. APDUK told me that some people have a statement with the primary need being APD only but expect a fight.

Hi, You will definitely need a statement for secondary. My DD has ADP, dyslexia, working memory and a long list of other things. We have just had a SALT assessment and she has a expressive language disorder and pragmatic issues. We fought in yr6 for a statement and was awarded 12.5hr support. This has not been enough at secondary and we have just had our statement review which was very stressful. We are going for statement to be amended to a full statement with MFL dis applied, this will then give her 3 hrs a week to work on interventions. In yr 7 she has only been getting 1hr a week. The language has been more complex. Vocabulary has been a big problem and it has been agreed that this needs pre teaching to her.

Good luck

Thanks Flapping, Keepon and Overdue - I have taken on board everything you have said/suggested and it has been really beneficial to hear your experiences. I now feel I have some firm idea of the challenges she is likely to face at Secondary school. I have taken everyone's advice regarding the Statement and have arranged a meeting with Senco at DD's primary school. Also, having spoken to the APD consultant secretary yesterday asking if she could put us down for any cancellations and her telling me that, because the waiting list is so long, they very rarely get cancellations, she rang me this afternoon to say she has had a cancellation and can we go in on Monday . It's nice to know that just occasionally things go in your favour!!

Similar to the above posters, DD has APD (and other issues). The recommended help was as above but my daughter was really struggling in a mainstream class (just at end of year 3 now). We moved her to a specialist school with small classes after we appealed her statement and she is really so much happier there and finding it a lot easier to follow the lessons.

The reports from GOSH seemed to come through pretty quickly, though we had to go back for further testing on 2 occasions afterwards to check out certain things and repeat a test that caused them a headache the first time - they were not sure if she understood what she had to do or not and therefore if the result was valid. It is a long day when you go but still ultimately worth it.