Hi tothebeach
I feel sorry that you have not found any answers with APD. Did your child have a TEA-ch test conducted for attention?
I have a similar situation with my son when he was 7 he was given the wechler IV and came out at 45% for verbal reasoning, 70% for perceptual reasoning, 92 % for processing speed and 75 % for working memory. He was also given the TEA-ch for attention deficit and got 88% for selective focus and inconsistent scores for maintaining and shifting focus which ranged between 12-80%, however he scored 1% in dual attention where he did not attend to the auditory at all. He is now 9 and has moved schools due to us being moved on medical grounds for severe environmental stress. Learning has improved and he is slowly learning VAK [Visual Auditory & Kinaethetic multiple learning strategies] because i use them myself. His speech therapy reports came up as needing to learn how to cope with information his brain processes through alternative learning strategies. He also has subtle difficulties with language and figurative language which is affecting his social interaction, as he takes it as literal meaning. Whilst this was all going on I was also going through a similar situation in university during my MA in social science - which as it turns out is the worst subject for low verbal reasoning, I discovered I had a specific learning difficulty which I had been living with all my life and thus had to experiment with VAK through my junior and senior year I gained a 2:2 in social science using purely VAK learning techniques on my own and as a consequence they are now telling me that i am operating within the gifted range for perceptional reasoning [over 135 score] with similar for working memory and processing speed and selective attention. The APD assessment and diagnosis is our next port of call because of the linguistic work I was doing in Russian and English at that time. But it does not look good for the Department - my supervisor is now advocating on my behalf because of the high percentile required in verbal reasoning to study social science at entry requirements AAAB. I am in the UK, Scotland by the way. The clinical psychologist consultant who conducted the weschler on my son cannot tell where his overall IQ is actually sitting but we suspect in line with his processing speed and working memory because of his audiological difficulties. Since then, he has learned to hone visual-spatial and some audio/Kinaesthetic strategies [through my guidance], so disruption on the playground due to environmental stresses and interaction has greatly lessened but appears up now, less as a behavioral problem and more as difficulty with social interaction. These Multiple Intelligence learning systems are excellent for children who struggle with Verbal reasoning because they offer alternative paths to learn outwith speech. My son can read off a book aimed two years above his average age Intelligence no problem and work through the pronunciation through auditory sequencing. It appears to be the verbal speech commands that we hear not pronounce ourselves, which, comes out more as dyslexia in me at University level verbal reasoning when I am writing using Visual-Spatial to Auditory sequencing because I then have to re-code what i see into a written format that someone with high average verbal reasoning IQ has. And that is a nightmare - but it can be done at that level of education [British Ivy league]. The problem is that, they cant do what I do to cope with my specific needs, and it becomes an institutional cat and mouse game of trying to submerge the gifted students. It is not easy. Also, when I talk to people I don't look at them so no eye contact can be read as something else which further complicates matters. I can work out what morphemic-stem sounds mean via VAK but it takes a huge effort to then re translate that into the verbal educational structures that most people take for granted. And I use oral resonance theories to try to make what I say 'sound' right to the verbal exchange, which means less talking back and less downright mental exhaustion. The problem is that mainstream classrooms are not equipped to deal with VAK learning systems as it is 'also' taken for granted in the curriculum that learning difficulties non-specific which make up the majority of cases, are struggling right across the board with their IQ functioning. Sadly, that is not true some people are just right brainers'. Parental input, advocacy for support, finding teachers willing to learn alternatives and local web support is essential in tackling the problem or it just comes back round in a circle until the matter is dealt with. Learning support is also important but for us auditory consultants are our next port of call. After a journey of 4 years towards a non-diagnosis of ADHD/ASD, we are now at the verge of a new journey towards APD and increased awareness of VAK both within middle school and university learning. It is not easy, but grasping the coping mechanisms for alternative learning is essential for maximum IQ functioning. Now I am also having to pursue specific learning support to do a second degree in order to move on from this. And believe me it has been devastating; just having social workers rampage through your life with their taken for granted verbal reasoning skills that earned them the degree to do so in the first place, is a stress. Gladly, that part is over. Take it from one who's whole degree was about experimental alternative learning right bang in the middle of verbal command educational structures! Needless to say, I didn't win any votes with the high end of the empirical verbal reasoning lecturers, but I did figure out what it was that was wrong.
