13 Yr Old with Apd

I see you live in MN, that is where we lived when my son got his diagnosis of Autism and sensory processing disorder along with multiple delays. We got on the waiting list here http://www.fraser.org/ as well as at University of Minnesota psychology department. Both had lengthy wait lists (8+ months or more) but this was 5 years ago so maybe they have got better?? However, Fraser called us first and we went with them. They were PHENOMENAL! The woman who diagnosed our son also gave us a list of our "next steps" to stat getting him services. They also took our insurance so our out of pocket expense was a $25 co-pay.

Have you talked with anyone in your public school system, assuming he's a student in the local public schools? Schools do a lot of assessment and referrals for therapy for young children; while it might be unusual for them to do it for an older child, it definitely should not be something they'd refuse to do. It's directly related to his ability to do schoolwork, I'm sure, so it's school-related. I would think the place to start would be with his school's counselor and/or administration. If they seem confused, go to the school board level and ask what assessment services are available through the schools. Even if the schools can't do this someone should be able to direct you to those who can. Because of his age you may have to be particulary persistent about getting him assessed, since much assessment is so focused on younger children.

Also, if cost is an issue, have you contacted your county health department? They should be able to guide you to low-cost help. The tough thing may be finding the right person who knows what you're talking about when you say "auditory processing disorder," so stick with it and don't give up until you find the right person who can hear your concerns and make the right referrals.

Research what services your insurance covers. For example, our insurance would not cover occupational therapy for our son's sensory processing disorder but it would cover OT for his fine motor delays and the OT was able to work in the SPD therapies during the same sessions.

As someone else suggested, talk to his school first. Have a list of your observations and symptom ready.

In terms of outside assessments, we had very good success with The Children's Hospital network. A lot of friends have also used Fraser.

I applaud you, mom, for discovering your son has an issue and for trying to get him help. Being a teen doesn't make him too old to get help, but it might make it a bit difficult to get people to take you seriously. Be sure to tell the school district that you think your child has auditory issues within the Sensory Processing Disorder Spectrum--that will make more sense to them. My daughter has SPD and has been receiving services through the school district since she was three years old for speech and OT/PT. I also went outside the school district and got her independent help that our health insurance paid for. I know of one little girl in her elementary school who has the auditory processing disorder part of the SPD disorder, and she's been receiving therapy since she was really little (she's pretty bad).

Like another mom said, make sure you go in with all of your information and insights into your son that point toward him needing to be evaluated. I would start first with your school district, because those services are free. I don't know how easy it is, though, to get a teenager into those services; they like to start kids when they're very young, and I don't know what or how much Special Ed there is at the middle and high school level.

Your son's middle or high school should/might have a Special Education department; you will want to talk to someone there about your son's issues and ask that he be tested for the specific area you're concerned with (auditory processing). They should be willing to do that. Then, depending on whether or not they would work with someone who is already older, I would also put your son's name in at the two places the other posters mentioned here that are near you that can offer help--Fraser's and UW-Psychology department. Perhaps him being older might give him a boost to getting in earlier, since he's already missed so much help that children usually receive earlier in life.

That he's been able to make it this long without help in managing this area of his life is a testament to his resilience and your help, mom. Hopefully he's able to get in for some more help and he'll do well. Does he get frustrated easily? My daughter saw a Childhood Specialist from the age of 5 to 11, which helped enormously with her frustration, anger, and moodiness [well, the moodiness is back, but I blame that on the teenage hormones she's going through now. ;) ].

Good luck. If you have more questions or would like to talk more, contact me. If you're interested, I can also give you the titles of some excellent books to read on SPD.

There is a therapy called "auditory information processing" that requires a series of listening sessions with specially modulated cds. You can find centers online with a simple google search. Your son would need to be assessed by an audiologist, which is different from a normal hearing test.

Compared to other therapies, it is relatively inexpensive. Still a chunk of change, but more do-able than others.

Before signing up, though, you may want to read a book called, "The Sound of Falling Snow." That might explain a lot, and also talk about many different people who were helped with this therapy. If you see your son in more than one of them, you may want to go ahead and check them out.