Hi there:

I'm so glad to hear that your son will benefit from an IEP this school year - it should make a big difference for both of you and really help him gain some confidence at school. I don't have any personal experience with processing disorders, but I can pass along a few articles that might help as you research the problem and brainstorm solutions...

What's an Auditory Processing Disorder?

Detecting Early Reading Problems in Children with Learning Disabilities

What Is 'Slow Processing Speed?'

Common Learning Disabilities in Children with ADHD

I hope these help!

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I, like you have a child (now an adult student) with very similar processing issues. He is now 22 and studying for a career in computer security. He had symptoms from birth but was not fully diagnosed until he reached early elementary school. Medicine helped -- it calmed the ADHD symptoms and he began focussing on his daily work. He went from a child who cried and couldn't pass kindergarten and seldom talked to being a shy but extremely smart first grader. F's to A's litterally!

As he moved through elementary I researched and researched and researched. I found that the more I knew the more I could recognize the times of struggle and intervene when necessary. I have always told him that he can do anything he chooses. He struggled in middle school but with the support of doctors, church and family, he was able to maintain solid passing grades and continue in normal classes with an iep that allowed him to integrate with the other students. The key here is communication with your childs teachers, daily if necessary. I love email. It is a wonderful way to hold private conversations with teachers and get the input ,yet not have your child feel that he has been called out to the carpet. My son repeated a few classes and didn't graduate high school until he was twenty. It was one of the proudest days of my life.

My advice to you is build a network of people that appreciate you and your son for who he is and can accept him as he is. When he feels accepted in class he will strive to keep going.

As far as the iep for my son we used extra time allowance on tests, and there are multitude of other techniques that your school can offer to help your son succeed. The only challenge my son couldn't tolerate was feeling different. Make sure your child knows that he is not alone. That others have the same problems and have succeeded. Let him know that you accept him and love him and that everything else will come in time. Time is the only thing that has made a difference for my son. Be patient, fair, and make sure he is not treated different because of a learning challenge.

It was put to me one day in this way,

If my son had a life threatening disease, like diabetes, would I treat him different? No, I would provide him with the knowledge to help himself and give him the opportunities to be like other kids, I lived by that and I can tell you from experience that I have a well rounded young man (actually 3 adults as he was one on 3 children that have medical challenges). He still has difficulties and always will, but now he can cope and gets the help he needs with the support of his friends and family.

Best of luck to you both

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