Can you hear me now?

Have I talked about listening issues before?  Have I talked about auditory sensory processing troubles?  Oh who knows, I can't remember!  Regardless, you get it now.

Jamba Juice treat

First, let me talk a bit about OT.    

Nea is doing well with crawling in spaces, going into tunnels, walking across unbalanced surfaces, etc.  Her therapist has been working on helping her gain upper body strength as well as gaining better proprioception when leaning forward.  Nea prefers to play with things at eye level.  At her age, it is not developmentally appropriate and if we don't "buff up" this sensory piece it will only harm her in the long run.  We have been working on (with the OT's help and suggestions) many "falling forward activities."  At home, this means that her Poppa holds her up and drops her face down to the floor.  Of course he doesn't drop her, but Nea gets that sensation, which eventually re-forms those neuro pathways.  Many times I also sit her on my lap and lean forward with her in my lap to get something off the floor.  She resisted a lot at first, but she grew to actually enjoy it.  

That seems all complicated, but the more developmental type of play she does....the more social interaction she will get.  Her peers are not going to want to play with toys at eye level.  

Yesterday, she put her train track together ON THE FLOOR and played with the trains actually looking DOWN at them.  That's a huge step.  

Okay, so clearly we know Nea has sensory issues.  Pretty much every professional in a tri-county area writes that down in some report somewhere.  And we all know that hearing is a sense.  Of course it's affected.   

Without a doubt it is difficult to get the attention of a  2 year old (almost 3!) many times.  I have to say (because hindsight is significantly 20/20) that we noticed that early on in Nea's development.  I could say her name 1000 times and she would never turn in my direction.  However, if I clapped my hands, or squeaked a toy, or banged on a table, she would immediately turn in my direction.  At first I thought there might be a hearing issue, but she could be upstairs and hear her favorite video come on (even with the volume low) and come barreling down the stairs.  She could hear fine, but some things just weren't getting through.

Turns out there are lots of studies on kids who have ASD (Autism Spectrum Distorder) who also have major auditory processing difficulties.  I could recite the statistical information (because trust me, I did the research) but really I just completed my stats class in my MBA program and I have no desire to play around in those numbers again.  Rest assured, its a significant amount.

Now remember, not every kid on the spectrum is the same.   Some kids have limited processing of auditory information and some kids are hypersensitive to sounds.  There is a neurological issue in the brain in how it processes sensory information.....including hearing and it affects each child in a different way.  

What they also discovered in the research is that speech is the most difficult to process, versus other sounds. Well now it makes sense why she responded to that silly quack sound I would make versus her own name.  And as maddening as that was at the time, I am very grateful to understand it.  If there is a dangerous situation (like....she runs ahead of me when we are walking in the parking lot) I used to say "Nea!  No! Stop! Nea!  Nea!  Nea!"  And of course my girl, who has an issue processing speech did not register any of that.  But because I know what I know....I have a "danger sound" that I make.  It sounds much like a fog horn (its the best description I have) with her name included in a very low tone.  It's the best I have.  But it will make her stop immediately when she hears it.

We continue to use sign language when she is in states of frustration or excitement.  What amount of auditory processing she has, is tossed out the window when those occur.  This becomes important to help her with impulse control in the pool when I sign "wait" or "sit".  She will follow direction well, as long as the message gets to her in a way that works.

Enter school.

Think about how much listening you did/do in school.  Even in a early learning center with a very fun, exciting special needs teacher....you are still going to have to listen.  AND there may be some instances where you have to listen and follow direction.  That can be paramount for an ASD kiddo, and could end up frustrating for everyone.  So today at therapy Diana did some auditory exercises with Nea.  

She laid 4 cards on the table that all had pictures on them of different animals.  Each card had about 8 different pictures.  She put a CD in and it rotated through each animal sound randomly.  When Nea heard the sound she had to put a token on the animal picture.

It was a game she loved! 

"I got a chicken!"  "Oh! I know! I got a cow!"  "It's a kitty-cat!"  ....on and on and on.  She stuck with that activity for a full 20 minutes.  Her accuracy rate was well over 95%.  And if there was a sound she hadn't heard before (like the sound of a donkey), she remembered it when it came around again.  Interestingly enough, when she heard the bees she would quickly cover her ears and close her eyes.  Apparently that sound is received negatively when she hears it and that's good for us to know.  I tested that theory when we were sitting eating lunch and just randomly made the "Buzzzzzz buzzzzz" sound.  She immediately covered her ears, closed her eyes and turned her head.  

Auditory exercises will help her in school.  And that's a keen skill to have at home as well.  But they are exhausting for her and she spent the rest of the day in a pretty low-key mood.

I appreciate Diana thinking ahead to school things....and for giving us more tools to use!!