Rabbi Yehuda Adelist, MS SpEd, director of Cheder Darchai Limud, presents a 2 part series addressing a common learning challenge found in the classroom called Auditory Processing Delays (Disorder).
PART 2 – Management of Auditory Processing Delays
In part 1 the reader was given education and awareness of Auditory Processing Delays. In Part 2, we address how to effectively manage and treat APD.
What can be done for children with APD?
Managing APD is a two step process. Accommodations, and treatment of APD itself. Accommodations help the child to work around the APD and succeed in their learning despite. Treatment of APD itself works on boosting the child’s processing speed and ability to cure the child of APD. Accommodations are still important being that any methods of curing the APD carry no guarantee of effectiveness and take time to see results.
Accommodations:
Classroom accommodations:
• Give child more time!
• Have child sit close to teacher
• Repeat material or question in more than one way
• Where possible have child read material which is visual to compensate for auditory weakness
• Place emphasis on keywords
• Eliminate background noise as much as possible
• Give child a chance to deliberate when responding to questions
• Make eye contact
• Make sure child is well rested
Accommodations for the home:
• Give instructions in smaller increments
• Write things down when possible
• Aim for eye contact
• Encourage strong sleeping habits (APD requires more mental energy and will be easier to manage when well rested.)
• Encourage the use of pictures and reading where possible in schoolwork. (For example, picture mishnayos make mishnayos much easier for children with APD) as the delay is only auditory and not visual or cognitive
Treatment:
Therapy:
When looking into therapy, look for a therapist that does activities that boost the brain’s ability to process information. The following are some suggestions:
1. Sequencing
2. Short term auditory memory
3. Following multistep instructions
Suggested Materials to be used in the home:
HearBuilder software by Super Duper Productions is a brilliantly made software in the form of a computer game that is full of auditory exercises. Graphics are animated, colorful and child friendly with activities that move gradually from easy to challenging.
This software actually treats the APD by strengthening the brain in a variety of auditory activities. There are 4 different programs, all of which carry important auditory skills. The program called ‘Auditory Memory’ is probably the most practical place to start. A demo version is available on the website, www.hearbuilder.com. This software is relatively inexpensive compared to hours of therapy and can bring impressive results.
Discussion:
Being that the some of the main symptoms of APD overlap with other common learning challenges, auditory processing is often misunderstood. It is important to distinguish APD from other learning challenges.
The main distinction of auditory processing delays lies in the essential definition, the delay in the brain in processing what was heard despite adequate focus and not limited to social settings. Children with ADHD have a problem staying focused, but may process auditory information quickly when focused. Children with social delays may appear in their own world, but that is limited to social settings and does not necessarily affect other academic settings.
Children with auditory processing delays have difficulty processing auditory information even when apparently trying to focus and in both social and academic settings.
Parents and teachers who are educated and sensitive to the challenges of APD and who implement some of the suggestions above can do wonders for a child with APD. Their children can not only survive but thrive.
Rabbi Adelist, MS SpEd has been working with children with learning difficulties for over 10 years and is the Director of Cheder Darchai Limud, a program for boys age 6 and up that teaches children to learn how to learn. For an evaluation and consultation contact 347 743 6132.
Overfed and/or undernourished.
Chemicalized foods (entering the brain).
Rejecting gashmiyus to the point of poor health is tipshus.
Rejecting health to act cool is mental degeneration.
Eat fresh and balanced meals.
Do not give children nosh and soda (ketchup included).
The majority of people who regularly give their children junk have physically, mentally and psychologically unhealthy children.
Be a responsible parent. Do not be kind where you should be firm or your “kindness” will really be damaging.
Treat your hildren like the humans they are, not the superhumans you might imagine.
Besuros Tovos
How about changing food products and eliminating all those chemicals in your family’s diet: artificial food coloring, corn sweetener & sugar, MSG, pesticides, etc. The poisons list goes on and on. Become an informed consumer. It really will make a difference to drink spring water rather than syrupy sodas, whole grains rather than artificially laden colored and sweetened cereals, and so much more. One big culprit for producing free radicals leading to disease is cottonseed oil. Cotton is not really a vegetable for human consumption. Have some sensitivity and regard for the body, and it will respond in kind.
You are correct that CAPD-central auditory processing disorder is a medical diagnosis only made by an audiologist through specialized testing. However, it is important to note that in the past few years, testing is being done at younger ages. If you suspect CAPD, at a younger age, please contact a qualified audiologist to find out the current age for testing.
Although the term “auditory processing” is thrown around easily by teachers and parents, it is a disorder that can only be diagnosed by an audiologist, and only after a child is seven years old.
A pharmacist told me that 90% of depression is really sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation can mimic other related conditions such as ADHD, and even schizophrenia! Depending on how deprived one is, determines how much adequate sleep one needs to make up. If you have an “accumulated lack of sleep,” one nights good rest may not be enough to recover. You may need two weeks, consistently getting a good sleep each night.
Now this may be easier said than done, especially in this day and age. If that’s the case, then medicine may be necessary.
What therapy can u recommend for a struggling 23 year old ? Thank you !!