Speech problem holding us back

[peachskittles]

My son is 8, has ADD (confirmed), dyslexia (unofficial but we treat as such), and apraxia of speech (according to the speech therapists we last dealt with at UNO). We were using Math Mammoth for math but it just didn't seem like it was sinking in. I bought McRuffy K and 1st and starting in July we started pressing through the kindergarten book. Since he is going to be in second grade, I thought we would be able to breeze through them but he is having some complications understanding me. We have made it to counting by 10s and the problem comes at 40 and beyond. He thinks I'm saying "14", "15", "16", "17", "18" and "19" when I know I am saying 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90. He had a hearing test when he was doing speech and it was normal.

 

I'm lost. This is a BIG issue. He always hears thing wrong. The vision people we took him to said vision therapy would probably help him but he seemed to not understand them so they told me to not waste my money until we figured out what was wrong. He doesn't understand everything said in a sentence. He guesses. When he was 3 or 4, he had an ENT appointment that said he has excessive wax buildup in his ears but his hearing is fine and the excessive wax will never affect his hearing. It has to be his hearing...ok...Doesn't have to but it makes the most sense. I'm out of money for the year minus a bit on our FSA. I might try getting him on state insurance but I'm not even sure that will cover evaluations for whatever it is that is wrong. Is an audiologist the next step? What exactly am I looking for in an audiologist? Or am I looking for someone else. I can't homeschool him if we can't communicate. I'm trying to not involve the school district if possible because I don't want them to say I can't homeschool him. Any ideas?

[Crimson Wife]

Has he had CAPD testing or just a regular hearing test?

 

Unfortunately, CAPD testing is expensive if you don't have insurance coverage for it. Just the first portion of my DD's testing (she has to go back for more testing :glare:) ran $1800 :eek: Our plan picked up the bulk of the tab, thank goodness!

[PeterPan]

Well just seems to me you should start with the cheapest thing (getting his ears cleaned), then go to the next step (auditory processing evaluation).

 

I remember reading part of an ebook (you'll probably find it if you google apraxia a while) where the woman said that actually a huge chunk of her dc's apraxia was due to auditory processing and that when they did some form of listening therapy (I'm not sure exactly what), she took a dramatic leap in speech. But like you, I would think the excess earwax could be part of the problem.

 

BTW, I've read that not enough good fats (omega 3's) can cause the excess wax and also eating too much dairy. I don't remember exactly why on the dairy. I just know my dh used to get plugged ears from earwax A LOT before we got married, and he doesn't now. (I cook differently from the way his mother did.) A while back he started eating a lot of ice cream (well not a lot, but with some frequency) and his ears plugged up again. You could say it was gradual build-up from years, I don't know. In any case, dietary stuff can help. If you try flax seed oil for those good fats, they're also good for the neuro connections for the speech. I give my ds 3 tsp. flax oil a day. It comes in flavors. He doesn't tolerate fish oil, so I do flax. It makes a DRAMATIC difference in his speech, and others have commented on it here for other things (behavior, etc.). So who knows, might do several things for him or nothing. :)

 

BTW, if the wax amount is mild, you might be able to bubble and get it out yourself. Don't do candles. (BTDT, don't recommend.) But there are other methods with mineral oil, peroxide, etc. Just read for proper, safe instructions. That would be free. And if that isn't enough, then go to the ENT. I didn't go with my dh, but I don't think it was a big deal. I know in times past they had used water, making it torturous. Whatever this doc did, it wasn't traumatic but it got it out.

Edited August 17, 2011 by OhElizabeth

[ChristusG]

That definitely sounds like an auditory processing disorder, which sometimes comes along with dyslexia. DD7 was diagnosed with dyslexia caused by visual and auditory processing disorders.

 

Look into finding a therapist or someone who can use the Fast ForWord program with your son. It's listening therapy (using headphones and a computer program) for auditory processing disorders. It is expensive, but it's gotten great results.

[ChristusG]

Just to add.....no, don't look for an audiologist. DD had several hearing tests for speech therapy and it came back just fine each time. She hears just fine....it's just her brain processing the small bits sounds a bit differently.

[Crimson Wife]

Just to add.....no, don't look for an audiologist. DD had several hearing tests for speech therapy and it came back just fine each time. She hears just fine....it's just her brain processing the small bits sounds a bit differently.

 

An audiologist would be the one to do CAPD testing, but not all audiologists are trained in doing it. At the clinic where my DD is undergoing testing, only one AuD. does CAPD testing.

[AK_Mom4]

We have made it to counting by 10s and the problem comes at 40 and beyond. He thinks I'm saying "14", "15", "16", "17", "18" and "19" when I know I am saying 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90.

 

I can't help much with the testing, but I have tutored math for the hard-of-hearing in the past. You might google some of the techniques used for teaching math to the HH/deaf child.

 

We used number cards, and manipulatives extensively. Teaching counting by 10's is really teaching pattern matching and can be done that way (you line up the cards 10,20,30,40..., then the child lines up the rest of the cards). It seems tricky when you are working with dyslexia as well, but with patience you both can master the techniques. Does he understand 1:1 correspondence? (counting objects by touching them and saying/signing 1, 2, 3)? If not, that's a good one to work on when you are first getting started to build up your confidence. With my H/H son, we counted spoons every day for a month. Spoons alone. Spoons in groups of 10. Estimating how many spoons in a big pile. It sounds silly, but it let us build up a shared vocabulary of signs/words for math. We also sorted decks of cards (1-10) day after day and then played UNO (great for number sequence!). Maybe something like that would work for you?