auditory dyslexia

Back on topic ( I know, it's absurd. What can I say?)

As the step-father of a child with Central Auditory Processing Disorder, I feel for this woman. We first noticed problems with our youngest when he was around 3-4. You would have to get him to look at you in the eyes and speak clearly before he could understand what you were saying. Normal for a 3-4 year old? Maybe. So we didn't do much about it. We would make sure he understood us and asked him to confirm what we had told him. He's gotten very well trained to give a response that indicates that he understands what we said.

When he was 9, we took him to see an Audiologist. They conducted a series of tests (about 8 hours worth total, in two different sessions) that tested his ability to hear, and his ability to comprehend what it was he heard. It's very difficult to understand what it is he hears. He does hear ok, when they do the ding tests he can tell which ear the dinging is on, and can hear in a full range of frequencies. But the spoken words that he hears sound garbled to him. He's also had speech problems because of the way he hears things. It's pretty hard to learn to talk correctly when everything you hear isn't the way you are expected to say it.

Now, he doesn't take medication to "fix" this problem. There is no medication that will fix this problem. What he does do is wear what is called an auditory trainer. Basically the teacher has a wireless microphone that is clipped to her clothing, he has a pair of wireless headphones that he wears in class. It allows her voice to be amplified for him, and he can better understand what she is saying because there isn't the background noises to interfere. It's still garbled, but he's able to understand better. It's made a difference, he was nearly failing before he got it, his end of the year report card this year was A's and B's. No special classes, just the trainer.

A big concern for me was the trainer. I was afraid that wearing this would stigmatize him, cause the other kids to make fun of him. I know they have some, but he doesn't care. We told him if he didn't want to wear it he didn't have to, and warned him ahead of time what could happen. I was actually quite amazed at how well the other kids have been about it. There have been a few cases, but our child himself explained to them why he wore it and he's said that they seem to understand and he rarely gets teased about it at all now.

Now, Gonz. You're a heartless bastard and obviously ignorant to todays world. I'm really fucking sorry we all don't live in your perfect world and have perfect children that have nothing but 1950 disorders. I'm really fucking sorry that we've evolved to the point that we can diagnose and treat things today that we had no idea about 50 years ago, and I'm really fucking sorry that we've moved on. You want to blame all this on the fact that people get divorced more today than they did in the 50's. Yep, they probably do, and when people in the 50's had a child like this they either sent him away to a mental home somewhere and hid it, or they did their best to do what they could and raised a dumbass kid. Sure, we need garbage men, but I know in my own son that we have a very smart child that will now be able to do anything he wants to do, I know he's very smart because the average child wouldn't be able to learn how to do what he is doing. A good way to look at it is that he is expected to hear in one language, but only communicate with others in another. Everything he hears has to be translated.

Modern medicine has moved on from the 50's. Sure, there are alot of quacks out there that are more than willing to make our kids zombies, but there are alot of good Drs. out there that are discovering new things every day, and discovering ways to correct these problems. Just because you don't understand it doesn't make it wrong.
 
Kids sure are different these days, eh?

My middle guy has garbled speech at times, loses words in the middle of sentences, still can't do the 'R' sound at age ten, and yet is one of the popular kids at school, with girls liking him and the whole bit.

I never thought that'd happen in a million years.
 
Dave said:
scare her away? she's already gone. - why go through all the trouble of digging up a year old thread for the purpose of editing a name out of it. - this has the stink of a legal defensive maneuver. modify potentially negative web postings so it doesnt show up on a search.

I'm not gone just yet. I am curious about the discussion and appreciate those with well thought out and considerate replies, whether they agree or disagree. PT, thank you so much for sharing that. Our speech therapist doesn't believe we're at the point where she needs to wear the device, but I've seen it in action and am amazed at how much it can help. Like I said, nothings a cure, but tools can really make a difference. Btw, looking forward to Clerks II ;)

No one likes to see negative stuff about themselves or their families online, I would be insane to argue that that has nothing to do with it. However, there are other motives. What if she was to find this thread when googling her own name at school (it may have been a year old, but it still came up pretty quickly in a search)? She's already taking computer classes in elementary school, I'm sure google isn't far down the line. She is aware of her struggles and I don't think seeing those articles would make her feel poorly about herself, she's come a long way and has a sense of pride about it. But to come here and read what has been said... that to me is a different ball of wax. Punish me all you want for having different beliefs and for making the mistake in talking to reporters about what I believed to be a very positive thing, but please don't punish my daughter.

I made the mistake of talking to the journalists, I suppose I never thought people would attack our lives and choices in this way. I've learned and will move on. Those of you who don't think I'm who I claim to be... you're unreal. I have gotten zero joy out of this experience and want nothing more then to protect my family.

Admittedly, I don't have a thick enough skin to stick around this website. But I do wish all of you the best and appreciate those of you that have been curteous to me. Have a wonderful weekend. :)
 
Gonz said:
Not one iota.

Parents have quit doing their job.

And being mean to people is fixing this how... ?

I agree with you that many of today's parents prefer letting the television and the school raise their children, and there are too many single parents, but you're just being an asshole. I'm sure that Michelle would have prefered a two-parent environment for her daughter, but obviously things didn't work out and she's trying to make the best of it. I don't know about you, but most of us are humans, and we make mistakes. We are not perfect. We don't do everything right. It's completely childish and stupid to base your entire opinion of somebody off of one thing that they did.

As someone important once said, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.'

It's a problem with society, and should be addressed as such, not by spiteful personal attacks.
 
Having an opnion, expressing that opinion & creating a thread in which to discuss that opinion is mean? Going to a national newspaper & sharing your story clearly invites criticism. Talking to your best girlfriend is for sympathy.

Sorry Altron, and Cory, I have higher expectations & demand more from the human race.

We're living in a time where we medicate our male children for being male. They call it ADD & ADHD, as well as a few other choice alphabet syndromes.

We're living in a time where parents scold authority figures (teachers, principals, law enforecement) for little Johnnys bad behavior & refuse to make thier child suffer consequences for their actions.

We're living in a time that people look for names for the real & (mostly) imagined maladies instead of lookig for ways to fix the problem. It's easier to say Walla Balla Bing Bang caused my child to act in such & such a way than to foster a cure.

If your child has problems...take care of them instead of creating just one more excuse & label in an endless parade of excuses.

I expect those who have real problems to fix them instead of sharing them in a feeble attempt for sympathy.
 
If your child has problems...take care of them instead of creating just one more excuse & label in an endless parade of excuses.
And that is exactly what she was doing, taking care of her kids problems, and telling others about them so they might have a clue about how to do it for their own. And for that she's ridiculed.
 
PT said:
And that is exactly what she was doing, taking care of her kids problems, and telling others about them so they might have a clue about how to do it for their own. And for that she's ridiculed.

Nope for trying to get others to do her job for her i.e. editing this thread instead of simply turning on Googles Search filter herself.

BTW editing the names out of this thread isn't going to keep the search engines from displaying OTC in the search results once they've found it.
 
I saw an entire article of It's Not My Fault. Go & read it. It's excuses & propaganda for government interference.
 
Gonz said:
Not one iota.

In my day my kid would have been the class kicking post.
Could be he's just in a really good school with really good brotherhoodly spirit, but it's sure different for him now than it was when I was in school.


Or did you misunderstand my post entirely?
 
Gonz said:
Having an opnion, expressing that opinion & creating a thread in which to discuss that opinion is mean? Going to a national newspaper & sharing your story clearly invites criticism. Talking to your best girlfriend is for sympathy.

Sorry Altron, and Cory, I have higher expectations & demand more from the human race.

We're living in a time where we medicate our male children for being male. They call it ADD & ADHD, as well as a few other choice alphabet syndromes.

We're living in a time where parents scold authority figures (teachers, principals, law enforecement) for little Johnnys bad behavior & refuse to make thier child suffer consequences for their actions.

We're living in a time that people look for names for the real & (mostly) imagined maladies instead of lookig for ways to fix the problem. It's easier to say Walla Balla Bing Bang caused my child to act in such & such a way than to foster a cure.

If your child has problems...take care of them instead of creating just one more excuse & label in an endless parade of excuses.

I expect those who have real problems to fix them instead of sharing them in a feeble attempt for sympathy.

I completely agree with you on those points about a decline in parenting. What I disagree with is your personal grudge against Michelle. She's already admitted that in retrospect, it was a mistake to go to the journalists.

I think it's clear, especially with PT's experience, that Michelle and her daughter are not among those with imaginary problems. She's obviously an intelligent person concerned about her child, and it would seem that whatever they did helped her daughter.

I'll be the first to admit that far too many children are ignored by their parents and drugged out on Ritalin and have unstable homes, but not 100% of single moms are the selfish ignorant prostitutes you make them out to be.
 
Altron said:
I'll be the first to admit that far too many children are ignored by their parents and drugged out on Ritalin and have unstable homes, but not 100% of single moms are the selfish ignorant prostitutes you make them out to be.

Of course, 99 44/100th percent isn't 100%, or Ivory wouldn't make the distinction either.
 
Professur said:
Of course, 99 44/100th percent isn't 100%, or Ivory wouldn't make the distinction either.

Either I have no idea what you're talking about, or your post isn't related to the discussion at all.

You must get kicks out of confusing me...
 
It's not that tough. Saying that something isn't 100% is about as useful as chucking a snowball at an atomic bomb. It's not 100% sure that the sun is gonna make it above the horizon this morning. But I'll cover any wager you care to make against it.

Frankly, I'd have a hard time caring less about Ms Whosit and her kid. But I have a major problem with her coming here and complaining about what we said on the issue ... in our discussion. It's not the first time this has happened, y'know. The last time, the person joined, and made an intellectual post, filling in what the "unbaised journalists" neglected to find newsworthy. And moved on. Personally, I didn't edit my posts here for Homelan, when he felt insulted by something I'd said. I see no compelling reason to do so for someone with no affiliation to us at all. No proven connection to this topic. And, frankly, no good to add to this board.

If she wants to hit the Paypal button up top, or post a few thousand replies, maybe I'll give a rat's ass about something she's got to say. Until then ... *ignore*
 
actually the discussion is untouched, only the names are removed, which were not apart of the discussion anyway.
 
Really? How odd.

Inky, next baseball game you report, remember that the names aren't part of the discussion. Lemme know how many minutes pass before your ass hits the sidewalk.
 
Professur said:
Really? How odd.

Inky, next baseball game you report, remember that the names aren't part of the discussion. Lemme know how many minutes pass before your ass hits the sidewalk.

and how is the girls name, or the mothers name a real part of the discussion?

apples and oranges.
 
paul_valaru said:
and how is the girls name, or the mothers name a real part of the discussion?

apples and oranges.

Seems to me, what is or isn't a "real part" of the discussion should be damn well left up to the member doing the posting. If it sat undisturbed for nearly a year, it didn't violate any OTC rules.
 
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