Foxxy here. I'm the very proud mother of the most spectacular 5.5 year old boy. We adopted him from Guatemala and he's the center of our universe. His smile can melt the coldest of hearts and light up a room. He is facing a lot of challenges these days between the SPD, CAPD, dyspraxia, articulation disorder and possibly ADHD.

I'm glad to have found a community to get ideas and support for him. He's a seeker which definitely makes life interesting and exciting.

Hi Foxxy - I tried to reply earlier but it seems to have evaporated... welcome... your post reminds us how complex the SPD picture can be, so many aspects (and so many labels!). My son has CAPD type problems (discrimination issues mainly) - when he got some auditory integration treatment the attentional and seeking issues really improved too. His motor dyspraxia has been a slow development - he got his bike riding together at about 10. Swimming has been a slow thing too, we're about to start swimming lessons again after a 12 month break... he'll get there!

Welcome again and keep asking questions!

BusyMum
Sydney, Australia

Swimming is such a wonderful thing for our kids! The water really seems to help calm my son a lot (until it's time to get out that is). He's been a water sprite since he was an infant. We started him on swimming lessons at 18 months and he is a fantastic swimmer. We just got him his first "big boy" bike this summer. We intend to try to take the wheels off this spring (yikes!).

What type of treatment did your son have for his auditory processing issues?

Best wishes!

Foxxy

(12-15-2010, 10:04 AM)SpottedFoxx Wrote: What type of treatment did your son have for his auditory processing issues?

We went to an OT who uses the Berard method of auditory integration therapy (AIT)- it was very non-intrusive to life - he had to listen to particular CDs that she prescribed for two 30 minute periods a day wearing headphones over a period of 6 months- they were "open" high quality headphones that didn't block other sound - and he could play games, draw or build with blocks... anything really except tv or electronic games (or getting too wet!) We also did a one week intensive period of treatment - he listened to other music at the OT's rooms and she played and talked to him while he did that for half and hour and then that was followed up with a one hour OT workout in the play/therapy room on swings and climbing and jumping and balancing. The music had been edited and all the frequencies above and below the normal human voice range have been stripped out, it's supposed to train the ear to focus on that range. His problem was an inability to discriminate sound, he heard everything with the same importance so in a busy classroom environment he was switching off because there was just too much sound to deal with - he couldn't tune out and focus on the teacher's voice for example, so he never heard instructions. I didn't tell her what we were doing for a while but she noticed a difference in him almost immediately. She had gotten into the habit of setting the class to work and going straight to him to make sure he understood what he should be doing and found him all ready started and working on the task.
We haven't had any further treatment (This was about 5 years ago, he's 12 now)- sometimes I think we should have but it reached a point he became very resistant to therapy - he got a bit stressed about feeling there was something "wrong" with him. We've found a school envrionment that suits him better and making sure he gets enough physical activity in breaktimes or when he slows down too much helps (he tends to be more of a low tone-low activity pattern)- his concentration can falter. The AIT was a real turning point for him though and really helped us understand what he needs to be on top of things and attentive.

Thanks! I'll look into it!