Our wise speech therapist (the one who administered Fast ForWord to LuLu last winter) recommended that we buy a software called BrainBuilder by Advanced Brain Technologies. Like many things in our hectic life, this recommendation got pushed aside until I uncovered it several weeks ago at the end of her post-therapy report.

BrainBuilder is based on Sequential Processing, which is our ability to receive, hold, process and utilize information in an orderly way. Just knowing that much you can see why BrainBuilder might be... more

CAPD is a neurologically-based disorder where the brain’s ability to correctly process auditory stimuli is impaired. While children with CAPD may have impaired hearing, many do not. It is much more difficult to identify than actual hearing loss, and is often confused with ADHD or other disorders. CAPD can co-exist with ADHD, autism or other neurological disorders. Here are some questions to ask if you suspect there is something wrong with your child’s auditory processing:

• Is your child easily distracted... more

My makeshift career as a special education teacher is a rocky one. First off, it’s not a career I’ve chosen, but has been foisted onto me by default. For the last 18 months, LuLu has been home with me, and we’ve been doing the best we can to continue her education (and have made some decided academic progress). Yet, most days I feel woefully inadequate, and am also in touch with the fact that I don’t want to be a teacher.

LuLu is learning division. Math is one of her favorite subjects, although she struggles mightily with memorizing math facts. We have worked on... more

An interesting study conducted by Researchers at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders points to genetic variations being responsible for a person’s ability to listen to more than one conversation at once. This skill of being able to listen to and comprehend two things at once is known as dichotic listening.

And I must have inherited it. Super Dad marvels at how when my family gets together (my two sisters and... more

There are several articles that came linked in a recent e-newsletter from ADDitude Magazine’s on-line website. I found it interesting that a magazine on the subject of Attention Deficit Disorder would highlight articles that focus specifically on disorders that can be mistaken for ADD.

The first article is on Auditory Processing Disorder. The article talks about the overlap between the inattentiveness of ADHD and the distractability of not being... more

We started The Listening Program in mid-June and suspected that it would have some impact on both LuLu’s CAPD and her sensitivity to noises (more of an SPD thing). Our occupational therapist recommended that we augment the traditional TLP series with cds from the Sensory Integration series of TLP. So we started with CD#1 from that series, which our OT described has low, calming tones. We ended up doing that for nearly 2 weeks before starting the actual series. We were approaching this with a “slow & steady” approach – something that is often recommended... more