Is it possible to have auditory processing disorder and asd?

[dontknowwhat2callmyself]

DD has an Asd diagnosis which she got a few years back. She recently passed a hearing test but the audiologist suggested referring her for Apd testing. I know auditory processing problems can be part of Asd - have any of your children been diagnosed with both? Thanks

Yes. In fact, it was DS's difficulties with sound that first led me to seek help for him.

I have found a few of the various forms of listening therapies really helpful for him.
None of them have a strong evidence base, but they may be useful.

He continues to be hypersensitive to sound and finds some sounds really distressing. But not to the extent that was evident 5 years ago.

Sorry, re-reading your question...is it that you want APD to be diagnosed separately from the ASD?
Thats a whole other battle...so many children with ASD also have sensory, reading, anxiety or movement difficulties that dont seem to be diagnosed and so 'get lost'.

It's enough for me that DS's online HT has picked up that sometimes there is a delay in DS answering questions not cos he isn't listening, but because he needs a bit of time to process the question iyswim. He now logs in 15 mins early to lessons so that if he still has questions after listening to his lesson recordings his teacher can answer them. It works fantastically for him, as lots of "stuff" seems to be processed overnight and so when he does need to do this the questions he asks are quite insightful. His literacy comprehension has come in a way I wouldn't have thought possible with this "technique".

Nowadays his friends, and the club leaders of the activities he attends no longer challenge his occasional need to wear his ear defenders/go somewhere quite for 5 mins.

imho school professionals either want to "get it" or they don't & if they don't then all the labels in the world won't make the blindest bit of difference. It is mentioned in his statement that he has auditory processing issues.

That's NOT a formal diagnosis of APD, but so long as his needs are met on a daily basis, I'm fine with it iyswim. His diagnosis letter does pick out sensory & motor-coordination issues separately, however the sensory stuff isn't broken down into detail.

The audiologist can refer to gosh APD clinic to get a formal assessment. Ds1 got an APD diagnosis before ASD but the APD indicates how much an environment impacts and what sort of provision is needed. DS1 can't hear in a m/s size class has johansons listening therapy etc.

Thanks Redoutable - We have done listening therapies before and I do think they have helped so much but it seems to me their effectiveness is not permanent so need to be repeated regularly. Eg we finished therapeutic listening a year ago and I feel DD could probably benefit from another course now. It's interesting that listening therapies have been useful for your DS too.

It was the audiologist who suggested the referral so I was thinking yes it would be helpful if I could get Apd confirmed or discounted by a specialist.

Thanks - cross posts!
Keeping on - Yes referral is to Gos and yes you are spot on if DD does have APD it's vital to know how the current /future classroom environment is impacting her learning.

Bochead - it's great that your son has techniques that make such a difference and understanding teachers. What I'm find with an Asd diagnosis is that teachers don't really get it they just plonk DD with her 121 and think job done but if she had an Apd officially diagnosed I would have more clout to insist on certain strategies being used in the classroom? Maybe not.

In terms of unlocking provision in the m/s the diagnosis was useless. Often the environment in m/s is relatively fixed - class size, height of ceilings, carpet, cushions, curtains etc, whether the class teacher speaks quietly, or has an accent, or moves about whilst teaching. So all the teacher will realistically do is seat them at the front of the class

don'tknow - DS is no longer in mainstream as I've given up on that particular fight altogether. .He's now enrolled with an online school, which he access from home. This means the environmental factors that were such a barrier in school are no longer an issue. Class sizes are roughly 6-10 per class and the live lessons are recorded. It's a VERY different set up! Downside is that it's self-funded.

bochead, can I ask which online school this is?

my children are doing a listening therapy (Tomatis) ...

my son has ASD diagnosis and all the D's diagnoses and after some initial online research; I believe he has APD too

Yes, DD has ASD and APD diagnoses. She moved to specialist provision last year and is doing a lot better in a small class where they understand her many issues. Her mainstream school just didn't get it at all despite having all the reports and info. DD was referred by audiologist after Ed Psych suggested APD, but we had to have (another) hearing test to double check everything as DD had previously had glue ear and grommets. ASD referral was done around the same time.

can I jump on and ask if a standard hearing test will pick up APD, please?

not necessarily firstchoice , think the standard one tests that sound is received rather than how the messages are processed.

Ah. School are asking for me to arrange hearing test with gp as child having real trouble differentiating diagraphs in spelling.
there are information processing issue though
cant retain lists (of more than 1 instruction and that is a challenge)
timestables, slow processing and hopelessly disorganised.

DS1's was picked up on by an OT, though auditory processing is often slow in children with ASD, anyhow.

firstchoice read up on working memory. That appears to be an issue with the information processing.

thanks. ourve.
have just had a quick look online and taken a few online working memory tests myself (realise these are 'just' online tests tho...) as
I have been aware my working memory is poor since my mid 20's.
the tests show it to be really really poor.
Is it something that can be 'passed on' do you think?
the brief reading I did seems to imply it is?

www.briteschool.co.uk for two reasons

1. If a HT gets it, then the usual top down approach makes life easier all round. The HT "gets" ASD issues.

1. The physical software they use for their lessons(the same as the OU incidentally) facilitates DS being able to record and listen to lessons as I described above. The teachers are more than happy with this. Not all the online schools I approached when doing my research either could do this for technical reasons, or wanted to, for personal reasons. (I imagine it could be intimidating for every word you say to be on permanent record like this for many people!).

The downside is that the school offers a slightly more restricted range of subjects and extra curricular activities than some of the others. It's all swings and roundabouts whatever schooling option you choose. I'd also say that children with a naturally poor attention span would find online schooling incredibly difficult to succeed at.