CAPD results

[kbutton]

We saw the audiologist today to take back the loaner hearing aids and get our written report. He'll be able to borrow the hearing aids again for his neurospych exam. I will probably remove the specific scores later, so please don't quote. 

 

Keeping in mind that they couldn't run all the tests in the battery due to articulation, and there are additional APD tests that can be run later on when that is resolved...She couldn't give a composite score because of his articulation, which was worse than usual in the booth because he could not hear himself as well as usual.

 

Ear advantage--determined with each test

 

Time Compressed Sentences Test--2nd percentile; "borderline temporal processing ability" Ear advantage consistent with his age.

 

We're trying to figure out how to get the hearing aids approved--apparently one step, by law, is to get a doctor to sign that HAs aren't contraindicated. Apparently that is not easy in this area. The list of what qualifies as contraindicated is straightforward (and we have no contraindications), but apparently doctors just hear "HAs with no hearing loss?!" and won't touch it with a ten-foot pole. At another major city in our state, HAs are and have been standard for a while, so we may have to network outside of our local area. 

 

There is a definite possibility that the HAs may be something we don't need once his auditory system matures, and they can improve that maturation. So, he might fall back to an FM system or not need it all down the road. 

 

His very worst deficit is not (directly) helped by HAs, but the improvement in our entire qualify of life with the HAs was pretty dramatic.

 

So, I'm excited. I wish we knew more, but if we can clean up the articulation, we can find out more in the future.

 

 

 

[displace]

Is the audiologist able to sign off on hearing aids? Or is there a developmental Peds involved who would sign?

[kbutton]

Is the audiologist able to sign off on hearing aids? Or is there a developmental Peds involved who would sign?

 

The audiologist cannot sign this. We don't have a developmental ped. Our regular might, but it will require some education.

[Lecka]

I would just feel bad not to mention this, even though it is random.  

 

LIPS is also used for speech/articulation.  My son did not use LIPS, but his speech therapists (at the university clinic) used the same type of approach ---- and it really helped his articulation.  

 

They teach kids to see/feel the speech sounds instead of just hear them -- so if their hearing is not as good, they have the seeing/feeling, too, so it is multi-sensory.

[kbutton]

I would just feel bad not to mention this, even though it is random.  

 

LIPS is also used for speech/articulation.  My son did not use LIPS, but his speech therapists (at the university clinic) used the same type of approach ---- and it really helped his articulation.  

 

They teach kids to see/feel the speech sounds instead of just hear them -- so if their hearing is not as good, they have the seeing/feeling, too, so it is multi-sensory.

 

That is a good idea. The person who is evaluating him from speech does PROMPT therapy when needed, so we can get multisensory help that way as well. I had not heard of people using LIPS that way, but it makes sense.

[PeterPan]

Kbutton, LIPS + PROMPT is a *killer* combination.

[kbutton]

Kbutton, LIPS + PROMPT is a *killer* combination.

 

I am really interested to see what the SLP says on Wednesday. I hope I can take it all in--I know the report will be later, but it appears that she's pretty good about letting you watch the test (or at least record it).

 

I think it might feel like using a water cannon when a squirt gun is required (for just one, maybe two sounds and some glitches, lol!), BUT, if it makes it the process faster, more permanent, and leads to gains, I am all for it.

 

Getting excited about the possibilities...

[Crimson Wife]

The ENT doctor is the one who medically cleared my DD for her HA's. Basically it was just a physical exam plus a review of the MRI (which was needed in her case to make sure the loss wasn't due to a neurological issue).

 

LIPS has been helpful for my DD but it has been very S-L-O-O-O-W going.

[Lecka]

We had an initial estimate for how long he would be in private speech, of 3 months, and it was more like 10 months.  When he exited there, he stayed in school speech for another year. 

 

Especially when he would "overcorrect" and start making new mistakes!!!!!!!!!!!  He would start to overuse something he had just learned and been working on in speech therapy.  Very frustrating for me!!!!!!  But they told me it was normal and a good sign.  They said he had to go back and re-learn things and get things sorted out in his mind, and it just would take time and involve making mistakes.  But at the time -- it drove me crazy.  Especially when he already was struggling at times with intelligibility.  Not really badly -- but badly enough for it to be frustrating for him and something he cried about sometimes when he would be very frustrated, despite my best intentions.  

 

This is all with my older son.

 

He had a long list of articulation errors, including g and k, and l, and all l and r blends, and ch and sh, and he had positional errors where he had a lot he could not say in the final position, or he could say in some positions but not others, etc. etc.  

 

His age equivalent for articulation, at the beginning of 1st grade, was 2 years 11 months.  

 

He has good speech now, though!  I think he has improved on the cluttering, too. When he exited everything they were still mentioning it, but as a very minor concern.  It is definitely no problem.  

 

[kbutton]

We had an initial estimate for how long he would be in private speech, of 3 months, and it was more like 10 months.  When he exited there, he stayed in school speech for another year. 

 

Especially when he would "overcorrect" and start making new mistakes!!!!!!!!!!!  He would start to overuse something he had just learned and been working on in speech therapy.  Very frustrating for me!!!!!!  But they told me it was normal and a good sign.  They said he had to go back and re-learn things and get things sorted out in his mind, and it just would take time and involve making mistakes.  But at the time -- it drove me crazy.  Especially when he already was struggling at times with intelligibility.  Not really badly -- but badly enough for it to be frustrating for him and something he cried about sometimes when he would be very frustrated, despite my best intentions.  

 

This is all with my older son.

 

He had a long list of articulation errors, including g and k, and l, and all l and r blends, and ch and sh, and he had positional errors where he had a lot he could not say in the final position, or he could say in some positions but not others, etc. etc.  

 

His age equivalent for articulation, at the beginning of 1st grade, was 2 years 11 months.  

 

He has good speech now, though!  I think he has improved on the cluttering, too. When he exited everything they were still mentioning it, but as a very minor concern.  It is definitely no problem.  

 

It's good he had such good results. I hope we have fewer problems with over-correcting since we have only a couple of articulation issues. I am very concerned about getting receptive language up to speed, and I am curious what they will do about that. It may be fine now, but we'll see. It was bad two years ago, but reading has changed things for him. He specifically worked on listening closely when he started reading and realizing he wasn't hearing certain sounds. I know his vocabulary has gone up, but he still has little errors where things gets scrambled.

 

They also offer some kinds of ear training at the audiology clinic designed for APD. Once he has the full battery, they can see what is appropriate (given age, maturation, whether they want to provoke that maturation, etc.).