Talk to Me About Auditory Processing Disorder and Dyscalculia (method, son, learning)

[swilliamsny]

I've finally made the decision to have my fifth grade son evaluated. I had asked last year, but the school we're in has an instructional review (IR) program, and his teacher had encouraged his participation. He went for writing and math. The school sent a letter saying he would be placed in IR again this year, but I said no. His writing improved, but I'm absolutely certain that his main problem with writing was only that he doesn't like it, so he wasn't giving it as much attention as he should. Math is a different story, and I could tell that he wasn't getting anything from IR.


I met with his math and homeroom teachers recently, and they both agreed that he would benefit from an evaluation, so it's in the works. Being a little nervous about it, and not being exactly trustful in district administration (too many times my sister would be in tears over evaluations and services for her autistic son), I figured I'd see what popped out at me, based on what I've seen with my son.


I had always thought 'visual'. He struggled a little with learning to read, though that seems fine now. (He's currently reading at a 7th grade level.) He reversed letters and numbers, though not consistently. His folders and binders for this year have his name and class written on the back side, and upside down. So I was kind of surprised when Auditory Processing Disorder came up.


Here are two things he does that fit in well with what I was reading about APD. Any verbal instructions that involve more than two steps are extremely hard for him to follow. At home, I repeat them a couple times to him, and slow my speech to make sure he gets it. For example, "The paper towels are downstairs (pause), in the laundry room (pause), on the top shelf." Repeat. He also just seems to take a while to process what you tell him. In football, where he's wide receiver, his coach will tell him, "Move up to the line" about three times before he actually moves. But there are as many things about APD that don't fit, as do. He doesn't have any trouble with word or sound distinction and he still understands what's being said, even with background noise, etc.


As for dyscalculia, although he's not having much trouble with anything other than math, none of the typical symptoms listed seem to fit him. His biggest issues last year were moving from the partial products method of multiplying to the traditional, and estimating. He's still having trouble this year with estimating - every single estimate on his last test was wrong. He also got the exponent questions mostly wrong, but when we corrected his test at home, he'd gotten them right within about 90 seconds. He said he "freaked out" on the test.


I'm sure the child study team will have a bunch of answers, but I feel like it would be helpful to understand a little more about this prior to the eval. If anyone who has experience with this can chime in, it would be appreciated.

[Riley09swb]

My son is getting interventions in his classroom as if he has APD. His teacher has a microphone and he wears headphones and it takes out the background noise for him. He also reverses letters and numbers and while he loves math and does very well he has the hardest time with word problems. Step by step instructions are also hard for him. His teacher printed out a list of the things he needs to do at the end of the day and it's kept in his homework folder (he's in 3rd grade). If I tell him to do 3 things he does the first and I have to remind him to do the other 2. I am now debating on how to proceed and I will most likely request that he be evaluated by the school psychologist. Depending on how my request goes, I may go to a private psychologist.