subject: Is Auditory Processing Disorder Affecting Your Child With Autism In Special Education [print this page] Is Auditory Processing Disorder Affecting Your Child With Autism In Special Education
As the electrical impulses travel up through the brain, they make stops (at nuclei) along the way. The first stop is the cochlear nucleus. The cochlear nucleus has two parts. At this point the fibers cross from one side of the brain to the other. Information presented to the left ear crosses to the right side of the brain and ascends to the right temporal lobe. Because the area of the brain responsible for processing speech information is in the left temporal lobe, the information from the right temporal lobe must cross through the corpus callosum.
Other learning disabilities that can hinder you or your children from reaching their full potential in life include dyslexia (impairment of ability to recognize and comprehend written words), dyscalculia (impairment of ability to solve mathematics problems), dysgraphia (inability to write), dyspraxia (motor skill coordination problems), and auditory and visual processing disorders (difficulty understanding language or images). Make sure you get tested.
Loud or frightening sounds may be the most difficult type of sensory stimulation in an autistic child's life. Many of our routine daily activities include such sounds, hurting the growth process. Autistic children can not and will not learn if they are frightened. For example, parents often find that they have a difficult time toilet training their autistic children.
With visual memory, it is the same. For most of us, reading a poem, for example, temporarily commits it to memory. After just a few minutes or hours, certain words will be forgotten. A longer period can completely wipe away the memory of the poem.
If background noise makes it difficult for a sensory child to fall asleep or focus on schoolwork, you can use a white noise machine, a radio turned to static, a fan, or an aquarium to provide masking for distressing and distracting sounds. Experiment with music designed specifically to improve focusing, such as Hemi-Sync Metamusic. New Age music or nature sounds may help some children with SPD focus better, or they may distract them further. Work with the child to find the music that enhances his focusing ability. Observe his responses and ask him if the music is helping or hindering him.
APD can be defined as difficulties in the perceptual processing of auditory information by the Central Nervous System. Put simply APD is a deficit in the neural processing of auditory information. The child has normal hearing but experiences difficulty in discriminating, processing and understanding sound signals.
Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Unless you specifically tell your doctor that you are worried about your hearing problem, they may assume it isn't an issue for you and wait until you ask before suggesting a trip to an audiologist's office. In many cases, patients don't voice their concern about issues related to their hearing because they assume the problems are age related, inevitable and should be simply tolerated. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Any time you are having problems with your hearing in any way, you need to speak up and ask to see an audiologist.
