Auditory Processing Disorder

Auditory system  has the ability to differentiate between fine differences in frequencies and other auditory skills, which are a pre-requisite for language development, and for the processing of all auditory information. Difficulties in processing sound to its full potential can manifest themselves auditory processing difficulties, poor auditory attention, poor short term auditory memory skills and other difficulties such as learning difficulties, including poor reading and spelling, poor communication skills, poor co-ordination and balance, and difficulties with sensory integration.

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) describes the inability to process the meaning of sound. This condition is often present from early childhood, leading to a number of difficulties as the child becomes older and messages become complex and are given more quickly.

APD is also known by the following names: central auditory processing disorder – CAPD, auditory perceptual processing dysfunction, auditory comprehension deficit, central deafness or word deafness.

APD is a problem in the auditory decoding of language, which very often leads to the deterioration of behaviour as a result of poor expressive and receptive communication. As children experience the discouragement of being misunderstood and the frustration of misunderstanding others, they become more disconnected from their environment and the people around them.

Many other conditions in children are made worse by an accompanying auditory processing disorder. Children who have autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, language problems, aphasia or learning disabilities often have concurrent problems with auditory processing.

The term ‘auditory overload’ is often used to describe what happens to people who have APD. Auditory overload is a sense of being overwhelmed and relates to features of the information being received. If information is highly specific, spoken quickly, lacking in contextual cues, described in unfamiliar language or presented in a noisy environment, it will be very difficult for someone with APD to comprehend the message or follow through with instructions.

The indicators of Auditory Processing Disorder

Children with APD will display some or all of the following signs:
* Delayed language development
* Inability to listen effectively
* Trouble in sequencing the sounds of words
* Difficulty perceiving high frequency sounds: ‘t’, ‘f’ ‘s’, ‘k’, ‘p’, ‘th’, ‘sh’
* Confusion when faced with similar sounds: eg. ‘da’ and ‘ba’
* Extremely poor comprehension in a noisy environment
* High distractibility, with short attention span
* Poor speech comprehension, often asking ‘What?’
* Misunderstanding and poor memory for oral messages
* Inconsistent responses to the same auditory stimuli
* Inability to follow directions
* Difficulty in expressing desires, often blaming the other person for not understanding
* Academic problems, particularly in spelling, reading or comprehension
* Behaviour problems
* Social difficulties

 

How the ADHD child feels about himself

 

Most ADHD’s I have taught, feel anger in response to their parents reactions to their behavior. But the most important feelings and worrisome are the reactive feelings that are more self-destructive. As they are rejected and criticized a lot, they feel unloved, unworthy and think little of themselves. The teachers are likely to say such things as, “You are bright enough to do better. Why don’t you try harder?….You could do better if you cared”(adding “like your brother or sister”—if they attended the same school).

Our self esteem is usually formed on the basis of others responses to us. We learn that we are bright, intelligent, pleasant or whether others consider us good-looking or attractive. The ADHD child has a low opinion of himself. He is not being rational. He is failing at school, with his peers, and with his parents. Parents don’t realize this but a child who is disobedient usually knows that he is hurting his parents by not listening to them and he doesn’t like it. He feels unlikable because that is the way his world regards him. The good news is that with lots of love and attention both from parents and teachers along with good remediation helps the child in so many ways. Its lots of hard work on the parents part but its worth it!

 

 

Does Diet Help ADHD?

Most current scientific research indicates that only a small percentage of children will respond to a diet free of additives. However don’t let this stop you from experimenting with dietary changes. But I am positive that a proper diet plan/program may lesson the symptoms and strengthen the immune system. A simple plan that I would like to suggest is;

• Diet should be low in SUGAR and refined carbohydrates.
• Diet should have as much food additives removed as possible.
• Avoid sugar substitutes.
• Reduce the intake of dairy products.
• No processed meat.
• Fried food should be avoided completely.
• Reduce the amount of chocolate intake by 90%.
• No sugary fruit juices.

The idea is to detox the child’s body. Eliminate these problem foods from his diet for two weeks and then slowly add them back in one by one. Give your child all natural foods. Add a new food every three to four days to see whether the child is allergic to any food and how the body reacts to a particular food.

I’ll be coming up with a list of foods that should be included in an ADD/ADHD child’s diet soon.

Problems Should Be Addressed

Signs and Symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder in Kids

The first steps to addressing the problem is to recognize the signs and symptoms.It’s normal for children to occasionally forget their homework, daydream during class, act without thinking, or get fidgety at the dinner table. But inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity are also signs of attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD), which can affect your child’s ability to learn and get along with others.

The main problem that I have is making the parents agree to the fact that their child has a problem. Parents would be doing a huge favor to their child and to themselves by accepting and addressing the problem as early as possible. The earliest the problem is diagnosed the better it is for the child. The best age to diagnose if the child has a problem is by the age of 5. The main problem arises when a child is left undiagnosed until the age of 10.

Whether or not your child’s symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are due to ADD/ADHD, they can cause many problems if left untreated. Children who can’t focus and control themselves may struggle in school, get into frequent trouble, and find it hard to get along with others or make friends. These frustrations and difficulties can lead to low self-esteem as well as friction and stress for the whole family.

But treatment can make a dramatic difference in your child’s symptoms. With the right support, your child can get on track for success in all areas of life.

Too Little or Too Much Stimulation

Despite their short attention spans and inability to pay attention in school, ADHD children can concentrate on a video game or television program so well that they don’t even notice when someone is standing two feet away, yelling for their attention. Most parents find this extremely irritating. They think their child is defiant, pointing out that he concentrates and sits still well enough “when he wants to.”
Actually, the Words “attention deficit” are somewhat of a misnomer when we look at these children. In fact, their brains are being bombarded with so much information that they are unable to filter out what is the important information to pay attention to. It’s as if their brains are like an overloaded circuit board. Thus they often end up paying attention to nothing!
And yet, in order for their brains to be able to focus, professionals believe that some kids require much more stimulation to remain attentive than the average youngster. As anyone who has sat through a long sermon or attempted to read a book they find boring knows, the mind must have enough stimulation to remain attentive. If there is too little, the mind begins to wander.
The natural physical response is to become fidgety and restless, as if the mind were trying to create some additional stimulation in order to stay awake. When children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD are fully engaged in a highly stimulating activity such as a television program or interactive game, they become so attentive that they cannot readily shift their attention away from it. Do the minds of children diagnosed with ADD/ADHD move at the same speed as a fast-action video game and rock video? This seems to be a possibility.

Separation Anxiety

Anxiety: The Cause or Effect?

Stress and anxiety are a normal part of life for children and adults. Moderate anxiety helps children push themselves to succeed at home, with peers, and in school.

It is normal to be anxious when taking a test or performing in the school play. We expect children and adolescents to be nervous at the doctor’s or dentist’s office or when faced with a new situation. When the level of anxiety is greater than expected, we suspect that there is an anxiety disorder.

Yet merely ticking off prominent symptoms can lead parents and professionals down the wrong path. Anxiety may cause restlessness that can be interpreted as hyperactivity. Or it may bring worries or concerns that cause a child to be inattentive. As anxiety levels increase, the child may appear to be acting quickly or irrationally in order to minimize stress. A parent might label him as impulsive. A superficial assessment might suggest that the child has ADHD, when he really has an anxiety disorder.

An accurate diagnosis is critical to developing an appropriate treatment plan. A doctor or professional should determine whether the anxiety is primary or secondary.

If a child has had difficulty regulating stress and anxiety since early childhood, and his anxiety is pervasive, it is primary. If one or both parents remember being anxious in early childhood, or they still are, a diagnosis of anxiety is almost certain. Anxiety disorders are often genetic.

On the other hand, an anxiety disorder may be secondary to difficulties experienced by a child who has ADHD or a learning disability. Secondary anxiety occurs in certain circumstances.

Some children become anxious over anything related to school. Their anxiety disappears on weekends. Some children become anxious after they experience a stressful event, such as moving to a new city or their parents going through a divorce. With secondary anxiety, there is no family history of the disorder.

Article by: ADDitute

Is It Anxiety or ADHD?

Analyzing a child’s symptoms to make a correct diagnosis isn’t always easy.

About half of all children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) also have a learning disability, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anger-control difficulties, a motor tic disorder, bipolar disorder, or an anxiety disorder. Symptoms may also look similar.

A child who seems to have ADHD — she’s hyperactive,impulsive, and inattentive — may have an anxiety disorder instead. Children who display classic symptoms of anxiety disorder may have ADHD. Distinguishing between ADHD and an anxiety disorder requires a full evaluation by a professional who is willing to dig deep for clues.

Still, even professionals can misinterpret symptoms. If a child can’t sit still, doesn’t stay on task, calls out in class,or shouts out inappropriate comments, they think it must be ADHD. If a child has excessive fears or worries, it must be an anxiety disorder.

The problem is that we sometimes see the smoke and miss the fire. Or we see the smoke and conclude incorrectly what is causing the fire. Behaviors are messages, they are not diagnoses. It is the task of the professional to clarify reasons for behaviors.

Hyperactivity

Perhaps the most salient behavioral characteristic in this ADHD symptom pattern is hyperactivity. Some mothers of children with ADHD have noted that hyperactivity was often present “often before birth”. Problematic hyperactivity may not be recognized as a real symptom until the first time a child is placed in a situation that requires some self control of movement. Sometimes this doesn’t occur until the child is in preschool or,most likely,kindergarten.

While all youngsters are generally more active during the early years,those children with ADHD are apt to be described as “restless”,and they find it especially hard to settle down for quiet activity such as reading or nap time. These children appear to be “driven” and go from one thing to another,seemingly becoming easily bored and needing more stimulation. Enhanced self-stimulation, such as, humming, making noise and talking, could come from excess overt motor activity.

ADHD stands for

ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactive disorder;ADD is an older term that is an abbreviation for attention deficit disorder. While many professionals use these terms interchangeably,the term ADHD is more commonly used. ADHD, considered a chronic condition,is the most researched and commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorder of childhood(Barkley 2005).