Barbara Adcock

I will be on leave for a few months for family reasons. Please contact Alice Gemrotova on 021 022 30561 or email [email protected] for assessment appointments.

This might be from the USA but it has been the same in New Zealand.

With apologies for the spelling of you're

FAMOUS DYSLEXICS

Movie Stars:
Orlando Bloom
Whoopi Goldberg
Keira Knightly
Robin Williams
Will Smith
Mark Wahlberg
Tom Cruise

Film Makers:
Walt Disney
Sir Richard Taylor

Inventors:
Thomas Edison
Henry Ford
Wright Brothers
John Britten

Entrepreneurs/Politicians:
Peter Leitch -The Mad Butcher
Bill Gates
John F Kennedy
George Bush
Winston Churchill
Sir Richard Branson

Athletes:
Magic Johnson

Artists/Chefs:
Leonardo da Vinci
Picasso
Jamie Oliver

Authors:
Agatha Christie

parenting a child with difficulties.
I think the hardest part of having a child with a delay or difference of any kind is the fight: The fight for services. The fight for people to understand who your child is and what they need. The fight for knowledge - because knowledge is power. And the quiet fight you have within yourself wondering if you’ve left no stone unturned.

Letter to my teacher
I am not stupid or dumb, but I have a Learning Difficulty which means I learn differently. This information has been put together by a group of children with learning difficulties to help you understand me and to show you how I need to be taught in your class.
Please:
o Put me into a group that will help me to behave, not encourage me to be the class clown. I need the best role models.
o Do not expect me to understand what you have said just because the rest of the class does. Just check on me so that I know what I am supposed to be doing and that I have the right equipment to do it.
o I get angry at times when I do not understand. I do not mean to be naughty, but it is so frustrating when I really want to understand like my friends, but I don’t. (It won’t always look that way.)
o Don’t make me call my marks out in front of the class. When everyone is getting higher marks than me, it makes me feel bad.
o Understand that I do learn differently. Don’t expect me to learn the way the rest of the class learns. If the rest of the class understands something, probably I won’t, but I might be too shy to tell you. Check up on me every now and then.
o Don’t ask me to read aloud in front of the class or group without letting me practice first. Give me the option of saying no to reading in front of others.
o Give me time to think. If you are going to ask me a question in class, try and give me a prior warning so I have the time to think of the answer. I enjoy being part of the class discussions, but I take longer to think than some and I don’t think as well when you surprise me.
o Help me to pronounce words properly. It can be difficult to spell a word when I say it incorrectly.
o Sometimes it is hard for me to get the right word out. My brain knows it, but it can be slow to send it to my tongue.
o I can often forget what I was going to say if I have my hand up too long. Don’t draw the class’s attention to this. Just go to the next hand-up and come back to me in a few minutes.
o If I get angry, give me time to calm down first before you talk to me. I will be ready to listen to you then.
o When I write, take time to appreciate what I have written before you correct all my spelling mistakes.
o Covering my work in red pen is so depressing. Maybe you could talk to me about what needs correcting rather than putting lots of red marks on my work.
o When you tell me I am lazy or I need to try harder, it makes me want to give up because I am trying. Believe me, if I could spell the word right or read the sentence, I would.
o My brain gets tired because I have to work twice as hard as my classmates. For them, learning is not a struggle. For me, it is a long-distance race. Sometimes it is easier to let me finish the work tomorrow rather than to push me when my brain says it has had enough.
o I have difficulty paying attention. It is not that I do not want to hear you or not do what you want me to do. It is just that I hear the birds outside and I stop to listen to them. I hear the girls whispering in the back row and I want to join in their conversation. And I hear the ambulance siren and I wonder where it is going. Don’t get angry at me. Just tap on my desk and quietly call my name. That reminds me to get on with the task.
o Do not put me near the window. I love to gaze outside and that makes it hard for me to focus on what I am supposed to be doing.
o Often I will forget instructions, especially if I have to move from one place to another. If you write them on the board as well, I will be able to see them when I forget.
o Work out what is important for me. Is it really necessary for me to copy lots of information from the board? I have a poor memory and I have difficulty spelling, so when I copy from the board I do it letter by letter, not word by word. Could you make me a photocopy?
o I pretend. I am very good at it. If I look like I understand, just check on me. I will often pretend so I do not look stupid, but I am not learning either.
o Don’t let others butt in.
o If I take a long time to get out what I want to say, please do not finish my sentences for me or guess what I am about to say. I need to express myself in my own way.
o I have a poor memory. Please give me exercises to help this. This could be done as a homework exercise which would be more valuable to me than trying to do things I cannot understand.
o I need more exercises to help me remember what you have taught me than most. I could do these for homework also. Things tend to pop out of my head when I sleep, so don’t be surprised if I have forgotten what you told me yesterday. Just remind me again: this will help me to remember.
o I will need more time from you, so please put me near you where I can ask for help without attracting attention.

Thank you.

I have not posted in a while. Life and work have been busy. My appointment book for this year is closed and I will be contacting those on my waiting list in late January for appointments in 2023. If you have not contacted me, then early February would be a good time to make an appointment for an assessment - it might be a wait until the second half of the year!

Auditory Processing Disorder or APD

Deconstructing Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) for Parents and Professionals: Informational Handout

The diagnosis of auditory processing disorder (APD) has long been steeped in significant controversy. I have been writing about the serious issues surrounding it for a number of years. Today I am expanding upon the posts I wrote in the past on this subject by adding a link to a handout for parents and professionals succinctly summarizing the current controversies relevant to APD in a 2-page handout. You can download it from my online store for FREE, HERE

What are some key takeaway points from that handout?

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a condition that is often characterized by difficulty processing orally presented information. Reported symptoms include but are not limited to, the increased processing time to respond to questions, requests for frequent repetition of information, difficulty following directions and attending to speech, difficulty keeping up with class discussions, difficulty listening in noisy environments, difficulty maintaining attention on presented tasks, difficulty remembering instructions and directions or verbally presented information, as well as poor/weak phonemic awareness, reading, spelling, and writing abilities affecting the student’s social and academic performance. Frequent recommendations for the above difficulties include referral to an audiologist once the student is typically 6-7 years of age in order to undergo auditory processing testing.

Prior to referring the students or having them tested for APD, it is important to understand certain facts pertaining to this diagnosis.

Presently the diagnosis of APD is considered to be very controversial due to the following reasons:

There’s currently no gold standard for reliably diagnosing APD as a standalone and valid diagnosis.

The diagnostic accuracy of the APD test protocols is unknown.
There are currently no reliable tests to accurately diagnose APD
There’s no clear performance criteria to make the ’APD’ diagnosis because there is no clear consensus concerning the battery of tests that lead to a diagnosis of APD” (Burkard, 2009, p. vii). Furthermore, neither the American Academy of Audiology nor the American Speech Language Hearing Association have a clear criteria on what testing to administer, how many standard deviations the client has to be in order to qualify, as well as even who is a good candidate for ‘APD’ testing.” (DeBonis, 2015 pg. 125). Children diagnosed with ‘APD’ are diagnosed purely arbitrary rather than based on a specific widely accepted standard. For example, W. J. Wilson and Arnott (2013)found that “in a sample of records of 150 school-aged children who had completed at least four ‘APD’ tests, rates of diagnosis ranged from 7.3% to 96% depending on the criteria used” (DeBonis, 2015 pg. 125)

APD testing involves processing of sounds, words and sentences of language so as a results deficits are linguistic and not auditory in nature. For example, auditory deficits such as Tolerance-Fading Memory (TFM) deficitsare actuallytwo skills that are often found together: “tolerance” – understanding speech in noise (processing of language) and “fading memory “or auditory short-term or working memory. However, memory is a higher-level cognitive skill rather than a pure auditory entity. Deficits processing language in noisy environments are related to difficulty processing language and not unique auditory entities
Testing is typically quite costly and is not covered by numerous insurance companies because there is “insufficient scientific evidence to support the validity of any diagnostic tests and the effectiveness of any treatment for APD.” (AETNA)
The meaning of an APD diagnosis is unclear as it does not functionally contribute to a targeted treatment of the student’s deficits.

Deficits attributed to APD have consistently been proven to be the result of the student’s language and literacy weaknesses/deficits as reliably identified by high-quality, comprehensive language and literacy speech pathology testing
Because the meaning of an APD diagnosis is unclear, the benefit of intervention cannot be determined.

Best type of intervention for APD is unknown. Students diagnosed with APD are typically provided with one of the following 3 options:
Sent back to speech pathologists for non-specific (asked to treat unspecified language deficits) or overly specific treatment (asked to perform auditory interventions).
Treated with auditory interventions via use of specific auditory programs or applications (e.g., CAPDOTS [dichotic listening], Fast ForWord®, Auditory Integration Training (AIT), The Listening Program (LP), Earobics, etc.)

The problem with the above is that in 2011 Fey and colleagues conducted a systematic review of 25 journal articles on the efficacy of interventions for school-age children with APD and found no compelling evidence that auditory interventions provided any unique benefit to auditory, language, or academic outcomes for children with diagnoses of APD or language disorder. Concluded that presently, there is no valid evidence that targeting specific processing skills such as auditory discrimination, auditory sequencing, phonological memory, working memory, or rapid serial naming actually improves children’s ‘auditory processing’, language or reading abilities (Fey et al., 2011). Systematic reviews also found no sign of a reliable effect of Fast ForWord® on reading or on expressive or receptive spoken language.

In 2012 Bellis and colleagues in a response to Fey and colleagues wrote “…auditory interventions are intended to improve auditory deficits that have been identified by valid tests of auditory function in a targeted, deficit-specific manner.” “The goal of auditory training is not to improve spoken or written language abilities (AAA, 2010; ASHA 2005a, 2005b).”

What is the functionality of improving something that has no bearing on academic abilities?
Given accommodations and modifications (e.g., preferential seating, extended testing time, FM system, etc.) in school setting without targeted therapy services.

Lemos et, al, 2009 did a systematic literature review of articles recommending the use of FM systems for APD. They concluded that: “Strong scientific evidence supporting the use of personal FM systems for APD intervention was not found. However, because research has shown that none of the above options are effective treatments of APD, students with “APD” will continue to significantly struggle in school setting in functional academic areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

It is very important to understand that the diagnosis of APD does not inform the evidence-based treatment of the student’s deficits. At best it will result in non-specific vs. targeted in school or private language therapy services. Most students will be given accommodations and modifications because school professionals have no idea of what to do with these students.

What is the evidence-based solution?

A comprehensive language and literacy assessment of deficit areas is mandatory to appropriately determine the student’s linguistically based deficits! Without such assessment, it is impossible to determine which language and literacy goals need to be prioritized and targeted in therapy by the treating professionals. Assessors have to use psychometrically sound assessments and supplement them with strong clinical tasks in order to appropriately uncover deficit areas. Alone administration of common comprehensive tests such as CASL-2, OWLS-II, RESCA-E, CELF-5, etc. IS NOT ADEQUATE due to the fact that these tests poorly identify language and literacy deficits of students secondary to having weak or unidentified discriminant accuracy (cannot distinguish between language/literacy impaired students and typically developing students). Professionals assessing students with suspected APD need to have strong knowledge of language and literacy in order to create strong assessments which directly target student deficit areas (vs. using a test available to them that may not appropriately identify deficits). Professionals must create functional treatment goals (with a focus on improving academic outcomes) based on language and literacy assessment findings to meaningfully address language and literacy abilities of children with suspected/confirmed “APD”.

Select References:

Beck, D. L., Clarke, J. L., & Moore, D. R. (2016). Contemporary issues in auditory processing disorders: 2016. The Hearing Review, 23(4), 36–40.
DeBonis, D. A. (2015) It Is Time to Rethink Central Auditory Processing Disorder Protocols for School-Aged Children. American Journal of Audiology. v. 24, 124-136.
DeBonis, D. A. (2016) Response to the Letter to the Editor From Iliadou, Sirimanna, and Bamiou Regarding DeBonis (2015). American Journal of Audiology, December, V. 25, 371-374.
de Wit, E., Visser-Bochane, M.I., Steenbergen, B., van Dijk, P., van der Schans, C.P., & Luinge, M.R. (2016). Characteristics of Auditory Processing Disorders: A Systematic Review. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 59, 384–413.
de Wit E, Steenbergen B, Visser-Bochane MI, et al. Response to the Letter to the Editor From Moncrieff (2017) Regarding de Wit et al. (2016), “Characteristics of Auditory Processing Disorders: A Systematic Review”. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : Jslhr. 2018 Jun;61(6):1517-1519.
Fey, M. E., Richard, G. J., Geffner, D., Kamhi, A. G., Medwetsky, L., Paul, D., Schooling, T. (2011). Auditory processing disorder and auditory/language interventions: An evidence-based systematic review. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 42, 246–264.
Hazan, V., Messaoud-Galusi, S., Rosen, S., Nouwens, S., Shakespeare, B. (2009). Speech perception abilities of adults with dyslexia: Is there any evidence for a true deficit?. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 52 1510–1529
Iliadou, V., Sirimanna, T., & Bamiou, D.-E. (2016). CAPD is classified in ICD-10 as H93.25 and hearing evaluation—not screening—should be implemented in children with verified communication and/or listening deficits. American Journal of Audiology. v. 25, 368-370
Kamhi, A, Vermiglio, A, & Wallach, G (2016) Never-Ending Controversies With CAPD: What Thinking SLPs and Audiologists Know. Presented at ASHA Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA.
Norrix, L. W., & Faux, C. (2019). Comment on Yathiraj & Vanaja (2018), “Criteria to Classify Children as Having Auditory Processing Disorders”. American journal of audiology, 28(1), 144-146.
Stoody, T & Cottrell, C (2018) “The Effect of Presentation Level on the SCAN-3 in Children and Adults”. American Journal of Audiology. 27 (2): 238–245.
Vermiglio, A (2014) Application of a Medical Definition of the Clinical Entity to (C)APD. North Carolina Speech Language and Hearing Association
Vermiglio, A. J. (2014). On the clinical entity in audiology: (Central) auditory processing and speech recognition in noise disorders. Journal of American Academy of Audiology, 25, 904–917.
Vermiglio, A. J. (2018).The gold standard and auditory processing disorder. SIG 6 Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 3(6), 6–17.
Wallach, Geraldine (2014) Improving Clinical Practice: A School-Age and School-Based Perspective. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Vol. 45, 127-136
Watson, C., Kidd, G. (2009). Associations between auditory abilities, reading, and other language skills in children and adults. Cacace, A., McFarland, D. Controversies in central auditory processing disorder. 218–242 San Diego, CA Plural.
Wilson, W. (2018). Evolving the concept of APD. International Journal of Audiology, 57(4), 240–248.
Useful Resources:

Differential Assessment and Treatment of Processing Disorders in Speech-Language Pathology

Central Auditory Processing Disorder Controversy by Dr. Vermiglio

Auditory Processing Disorder Diagnosis: Science or Pseudoscience? by Tatyana Elleseff

Are you feeling lost, overwhelmed, or isolated as you parent your
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Late notice, I know but tickets are still available for this. We will drive down if anyone wants a lift!

Dyslexia Foundation of NZ Belief Change: A Family Journey, Arrowtown, 20th of February | Humanitix Saturday 20 February 2021 @ Millbrook Resort, Queenstown Belief Change: A Family Journey Forum 2021 Let go, be free, and unlock dyslexia See programme below: This event marks the launch of a fourth focus for Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand – the family. Following successful advocacy and action ...

We are off to a great start to the year! Our tuition is fully booked for term and I have no assessment appointments left until early May.