Finding Hope

Today I started reading "The Sound of Hope: Recognizing, Coping with and Treating Your Child's Auditory Processing Disorder". The book is written by a speech professional and the foreword is written by Rosie O'Donnell. I had researched a few books on Amazon, trying to find something to hold in my hands and sit with, outside, while the kids are playing. Researching on the Internet can be tiring, so I was thrilled to actually find a book.

This book had relatively good reviews and when I saw an interview with Rosie O'Donnell, I knew it was the book for us. When she told her story of her son and how he acted, it sounded exactly like Jared. It was absolutely astounding. I quickly sent the link to my few friends who know this journey we've been on.  It's so much easier to forward a link to describe what our family is going through, than to actually state it. I hope that someday it will be easier, but right now, we're still at the beginning of our journey and our emotions are still raw.

The book says that children are more at risk for APD:

~After complicated births (physically) - we were at Jared's birth and he just popped out. There was no physically traumatic arrival.

~After premature births - nope. He was late, and had to be induced.

~In boys more than girls - check

~In children that have been neglected or isolated after birth - nope.

~In the aftermath of chronic middle ear infections - BINGO. This one really stuck out to us. Jared went through a period of ear infection after ear infection. We were wondering if this could be a huge part of why he used to know his numbers and letters and then suddenly forgot them and had to relearn. We thought it may have been a mini-stroke or some kind of accident to his head.

 

There is no way to find out when children develop APD, and he may have had it from birth. However, could the ear infections, during such a pivotal time of learning language, made it worse?

 

Also, we know that his behavior at school is always worse right before he gets sick. And, in the past 2 years, most of his sicknesses come with ear infections. Usually his allergies and congestion go straight to his ears. Poor guy.We were wondering if his new allergy medication was adding to this disorder, also. Since APD research seems so new, we are constantly wondering what happened and how come Jared has it.

 

I'm only at the beginning of this book and so much is already making sense. We're really hoping that we can gain the tools to help Jared get through this until he can be clinically diagnosed. I'm sure I'll be sharing more from it.

 

Here is Jared today - our little snow angel.

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him." Psalm 127:3 (NLT)