Auditory Processing Disorder

Auditory Processing Disorder seems to be the diagnosis causing Lily's academic struggles. This is a new one for me so I don't really know much about this disorder. It's not an official "diagnosis" since an audiologist won't conduct the full battery of tests (10 altogether) until she is 7 years old. Meantime, her speech-language pathologist will be treating her for "suspected auditory processing disorder." And during her therapy sessions, the SLP will be doing diagnostic therapy to get a better understanding of how this disorder is affecting Lily specifically. Because APD affects children in so many different ways, it's important to know exactly how it is affecting Lily and what sounds her brain is able to process well and those sounds that she does not process well. The SLP will also be working this summer to devise a plan that we can present to Lily's 1st grade teacher to help her in the classroom and at home. I'm sure as time goes by I will begin to more thoroughly understand this disorder, but until then, I'm thrilled that we will be getting assistance with helping Lily cope and reach her fullest potential. Just from the short consultation with the SLP last week, I learned that APD is caused by the two hemispheres of the brain not allowing information to flow freely between the two. Sounds are stored in one hemisphere and images in the other. When these two hemispheres don't communicate well with each other, sounds are not easily connected to their images, such as with learning phonics and letter sounds, remembering words, recalling facts, explaining a sequence of events, etc. It affects so much! But on a positive note, and something that is amazing to me, Lily's hemisphere that is responsible for images has seemingly compensated. I believe it attributes to her artistic and creative abilities. Without this disorder, Lily just wouldn't be Lily.

She will begin occupational and speech-language therapy next week and it will continue through the summer. From there we will re-evaluate the situation and determine what else is needed.