CAPD Community

I came across a great radio interview that I wanted to share. It is an interview with Donna Geffner, PhD who is the Director of Graduate Programs in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology at St. John's University in NY and Deborah Ross-Swain who is the Clinical Director and CEO of Swain Center for Listening, Communicating, and Learning. It is absolutely worth the 30 minutes especially if your child is newly diagnosed or if you suspect they may have Cental Auditory Processing Disorder. It was Dr. Geffner that diagnosed my son with APD.

The web address is www.blogtalkradio.com/search/CAPD

They are discussing their new book called "Auditory Processing Disorders: Assessment, Mangement, and Treatment." They pretty much cover everything from explaining the hearing process, red flags, academic and social success, to management strategies, remediation and therapies.

Please return to post you comments after you have a chance to listen to it. I would love to know what you think.

My 6 y.o. daughter woke up crying the other morning. When I asked her what was wrong, she said that I did not kiss her goodnight. I really had no defense. Guilty as charged! Thinking fast on my feet, I thought of the quick white lie and told her that I had kissed her after she had fallen asleep. I had managed to escape my daughter's hurt feelings only to come face-to-face with my own guilt.

The reason I had neglected to kiss her goodnight was that I was helping my son who has auditory processing disorder with his homework at 8:30 p.m. I know that I should not feel guilty. She was with my husband reading a story before bed. It was not like she was alone, but I feel the pressure to be there for everyone.

It is true that I don't give her as much attention, because, quite frankly, she does not need that much help with schoolwork. But, I can see that to a 6 y.o., it does seem like I am playing favorites. How do we give our learning disabled child all the attention that they need while not making our non-LD children feel slighted? I only have two children and can't help but wonder what the people with more children do? How do they cope? Will the non-LD child resent the lack of attention?

There is no perfect balancing act. I just pray in the end they both get what they need.

I have to be honest. Before, my son was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder and before I realized he had Sensory Integration Dysfuntion, my main coping mechanism was a glass of wine (or two, or three...). While that does sometimes still seem to work, I think it is good to keep a handy list of ways to cope when things get ugly. Come on, you know what I mean!



I actually keep a list of coping mechanism that work for me. So here they are:



*walking away for a few minutes (sometimes FAR away)

*long, deep breaths (if you hyperventilate and pass out, you can't hear the whining anymore)

*listening to music on my ipod (this is good for drowning out the whining too)

*yoga (10 minutes will do, but a full-hour is better-How indulgent!)

*walking/running (if you really need to get even further away)

*a quiet room with candles and a good book (Okay, now I am just delusional!-no one with children really gets to do this)

*blogging

*reading blogs that inspire me like http://www.thecoachshoppe.blogspot.com/



*reading celebrity blogs that make me laugh or take me out of my world for a bit like my favorite about John Mayer http://www.tryjm.blogspot.com/



side note: John Mayer is quite a gifted blogger himself, www.honeyee.com/johnmayer but I hear Jennifer Aniston has forbid him to blog about anything but music.


We all have our own coping mechanisms for dealing with the stress of CAPD/APD, ADD/ADHD, and learning disabilities, but how often do we use them? What are yours? Please click on the word "comments" above and share yours.

This is a tough one for me! I am, by nature, a Certified Control Freak. I just NEED to know! I feel like I need to know how this Auditory Processing Disorder will play out in my son's life. Will he be happy? Will he be successful? By this, I don't mean make megabucks, but more like, will he find his way? Who will he turn out to be?

Will he ultimately feel good about himself in spite of his learning disability or will he be angry and resentful? Will he spend the rest of his life feeling frustrated? Will school always be hard for him? Will he ever want to do more than the minimum when it comes to learning? Will he ever attend a lecture just for the sheer pleasure of learning?

Will I ever be okay in the space of "not knowing?" Will I ever stop trying to help him to be the best he can be? Am I doing enough? Am I doing too much?

Pema Chodron has a book entitled, "Comfortable with Uncertainty." Uncertainty is one of the places I get "stuck" as she calls it. She refers to these emotions as the ones that teach us where we are holding back. She recommends that we lean in to these emotions when the natural reaction is to back away.

For me, it is where I feel the most vulnerability. But, isn't it this vulnerability that is our connection to every other person on Earth. It is our common denominator. If we really lean into it, we experience the true essence of others and of ourselves. This is where we see the gift that our children with learning disabilities are to us. The place we experience the true joy that they are!

Where are you today? Are you leaning in or backing away?