I recently joined the coolest listserve about homeschooling children with special needs: Homeschool_SpecialNeedsKidz. The parents there have been kind, helpful, and compassionate as I've asked questions and explored my reluctancy about homeschooling LuLu.

This week one topic has been how to explain to others what it's like to live with Asperger's Syndrome or sensory integration problems (SPD). There have been lots of great answers, like turning up a radio very loud... more

As I research sensory integration disorder (SID) or sensory processing disorder (SPD), I discover that my 3rd grade teacher was wrong – we don’t have 5 senses (taste, smell, touch, hearing and sight). We likely have 9 (and one of them isn’t the 6th sense – ESP). They are as follows:

1. Sight/vision 2. Hearing/audition 3. Taste/gestation 4. Smell/olfaction 5. Touch/tactition – sense of pressure perception, generally to the skin 6. Thermoception - the sense of heat and absence of cold 7. Nociception... more

I’ve created a new category on Sensory Integration/Processing Disorders. Some folks call the disability of being able to regulate your senses sensory integration dysfunction (SID), some call it sensory processing disorder (SPD), others call it Dysfunction of Sensory Integration (DSI). Regardless, it’s often a crucial, but overlooked, component to a child’s behaviors, emotions and the mysteries of why they do certain things. Children with autism, ADHD and other childhood disorders often also have SID. Processing disorders, such as auditory processing (sometimes referred to as central auditory processing disorder or CAPD) and visual processing disorder are common in children with many... more

Third part of three.

TLP has become my introduction into a whole new area of intervention -- pyschoacoustics. The TLP Guidebook talks about how and why they developed this "intentional music". One of the things I found fascinating is what they had to say about why they have included nature sounds integrated with the music:

"The sounds of nature are primal. Bypassing our intellectual filters, these sounds go directly to the oldest part of our nervous system, the reptilian brain."

That's it! That's why an intervention... more

Second part of three

So what is The Listening Program (TLP) and who should use it? The Listening Program is a sound stimulation auditory training method that has specially developed CDs, each with four 15-minute segments where the classical music and nature sounds have been specially engineered to awaken your auditory system. The guidebook that comes with the CD set lists the following factors related to auditory problems:

-- difficulty following directions -- difficulty processing or retaining auditory information -- articulation problems... more

We've started The Listening Program. What is it? What does it do? Is it helping? Let's explore this in a three-part blog.

Two weeks ago we started LuLu on The Listening Program (TLP) through her private occupational therapist. This is an auditory stimulation program that trains the auditory system to accurately process sound. It is administered at home in two 15-minute sessions each day. This is our second full week on it and we are noticing some subtle changes (both positive and not-so-positive).

In... more

A friend sent me the About.com's Parenting Special Needs newsletter for last week. Topic: Be an At-Home _____ Therapist (Speech, Occupation and Physical go in the blank).

In the Top 5 Ways to Keep Speech Therapy Going Over School Breaks Terri Mauro outlines some books and materials to help with fun techniques. She also lists sites from which you can purchase a variety of tools that speech therapists used.

In the Top... more

LuLu's independent neuropsych eval showed severe visual processing problems. (Her auditory processing wasn't much better - but that's for later.) What did that mean, I wondered? In light of all the other "symptoms" she had and all the behaviors, trauma memories, hyperactivity we were trying to control...how did visual processing come in to play?

Evidence that your child may have visual processing issues is best seen through problems in reading. Skipping lines or losing your place is common, as is skipping over or misidentifying connecting words like "in", "and" "the". A child who seems smart and eager to learn, but finds reading difficult and doesn't like it is a good clue. A child... more