Update

I apologize for being so slack and not keeping this blog updated more. We went through a spell where Keeg, Pook's older brother was battling his health condition again that kept me busy. Then we had a family crisis and after that, I ended up in the hospital for a week and am only just getting back to my self!

We've had quite a few things happen in the last several months. First, I'll start with the chiropractor visit. We discovered that the top vertebrea in Pook's neck is slanted at a sharp degree upwards. This could, in fact, be blocking signals from flowing from his brain to the rest of his body like they should! This is big news for us.

You see, Pook's head has always been super super sensitive to touch/pain. However, from the neck down, he feels no pain at all. He's cracked his elbow when ice skating, and never once said it hurt! He sliced through the tendon in his pinkie finger, and never complained of pain! His neurologist has long said that he felt there was something blocking the signals that are supposed to flow freely between his body and brain.

So, can chiropractic help? We're hopeful that it can. So far, we have noticed changes in Pook, but have no way of knowing what is due to chiropractic and what isn't!

Now, let's talk about phonics. Pook still doesn't comprehend that each letter makes a distinct sound, or that putting those sounds together forms words. However, he is recognizing sight words on his own. He knows and can spell many words now, some of which are off, on, out, and exit. He picks the words on his own and once he says he knows it, he's retaining the information!! As you may recall, Pook typically gains new information but then looses it. Hopefully that's not going to happen anymore!

Also, Pook's memory has always been above and beyond, but now he can articulate the things he remembers even better. He has told us about events that happened when he was as young as 6 months old! He remembers details so vividly that there is no mistake that these are his memories and not something he just overheard. It's pretty spectacular (isn't God amazing!).

Pook also is starting to understand different emotions and the part they play in his actions. This is a huge leap for him and it's making things so much easier! He's started to express guilt when he does something wrong, and genuinely feels remorse for his actions that hurt others. There is still a significant delay in the amount of time between the actual action and his emotions catching up to it, but we're getting there and that is a start.

At this moment, it really seems that his Auditory Processing Delay is causing most of his frustrations. He acts on impulse, and then will cry for long periods of time upset about his action. He tells me, "I not want to do that, my body made me" or say that his "brain made me". My heart breaks for him when this happens. He's starting to realize that his actions have a bearing on others, and to feel that he can't control these actions is very upsetting to him.

He's only just now started addressing the issues he has resulting from the recent division in our family. He doesn't speak about his emotions, except to say that he misses Daddy. The rest of the emotions he discusses he puts on the other person. For example, if he was mad at me, he'd say "Mommy has a mad face". It can get confusing at times, but we're figuring it out!

Overall, Pook is making progress each and every day and I am thrilled! He's come a long way. One of his medial specialist told me recently that he'd have never come this far if I hadn't started his therapies so young. I encourage each parent to challenge any specialist or insurance company that wants you to wait until your child is older for therapy. Early intervention makes such a big difference. Fight for your child, cause at the end of the day, you're the only one that will.

Central Auditory Processing Disorder

Pook was evaluated for Central Auditory Processing Disorder a few weeks ago. Today, the results of the evaluation was mailed to me.

First, let's answer the question, what is Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). Part of CAPD is Auditory Decoding Deficit. A child with this part of CAPD has difficulty analyzing the difference between speech sounds. This child will have trouble with task that require him/her to discriminate and analyze sounds. A cihld may "mis-hear" words, such as mouth for mouse.

Another part of CAPD is Auditory Integration Deficit. This means that their is poor communication between the left and right sides of the brain, and/or between various sensory centers in the brain. For example, if a child is given a pattern of series of tones (example: high-high-low), both sides of the brain must work together in order for the child to distinguish this. The right side of the brain gives the child the pattern and the melody while the left side of the brain adds the words "high" or "low". If a child can't name the pattern, but can reproduce the melody, it tells us that he or she has good melody skills, but poor communication between the two parts of the brain. We've seen this with Pookie often. He loves music and will often sing a song he has heard afterward. Although he has the melody perfect, the words never match up to what he has heard, even if he's heard it often.

Another example is a child that has difficulty using rhythm and meter cues. For example, he/she can rhyme words, but has difficulty with pauses, beats, and rhythm of a song or nursery rhyme.

So, now that we know a small bit of info about CAPD, let's see how Pookie did. Due to his age, his test were limited. He'll go back in  2 years to get more testing. In the meantime, here is what we do know.

Pook was given three test, all in a sound booth with earphones on. The first test was where two different sentences were given to him at the same time. One sentence in one ear, while a different sentence was in another ear. On this test, he showed a definate strength in one ear over the other, but scored within normal limits. Honestly, I was surprised as I figure this would be difficult for me to do!

The next test is where words are spoken at a slightly louder volume then the background babble. Pook had to tell what the word was that was spoken to him while he heard background babbling. Pook scored in the .1 percentile. Note, there is a (.) in front of that 1. So, 99.9 percent of children scored higher then him on this test.

The last test performed is where pook had to repeat sentences that had been altered by compressing the time between sounds. Again, he scored in the .1 percentile.

Pook has  difficulty understanding speech in the presence of background noise. He has auditory processing deficits in both Phonemic Decoding and Integration. He needs speech therapy that emphasizes phonemic detection, discrimination, synthesis and analysis. He will benefit from repetition, repeating but nto rephrasing verbal communication. he'll benefit from reducing auditory overload by giving him "listening" breaks (periods of time where there is no auditory stimulation and it's quiet). Pook can not be given auditory and visual directions at the same time, but will benefit from either individually. Activities that use both parts of his brain, such as chess, gymnastics or dance would be good for him. He is to be given extra time for tasks and responses and should have OT for sensory integration.

Recognizing these issues, and being given specific ways to help him should improve his (and the family's) quality of life. There is a new level of patience that I, and those who interact with him, is going to have to reach. A level of patience that I truly believe will only come through God Himself as not a day goes by that I don't feel my patience whittled away.

I must admit, the fact that his percentile scores were  .1 has been quite overwhelming. It tells me that Pook needs alot of assistance. It tells me that once again, I'll have to sink into research to find the best way to help him reach his full potential. It tells me that I must rely on others for their support and understanding.

On a different note, I can't help but wonder........ how is it, that with all these problems, he can still overhear a "bad" word, process it just fine, and then repeat it at the most inopportune moments? ;-)