Wish There Were Answers

I wish there was an easier way to describe my son's disability. I wish there was a consensus of experts on how APD occurs. I wish there were answers to so many of my questions regarding the neurological disorder.

Last night we were having dinner with my cousin and his wife, who are in town visiting. When they asked us questions about Jared, Ray and I were quick to respond with so many different ways he thinks, things he does, etc. Even though we have answered these questions so many times, it definitely seems jumbled when both of us are answering. Ray has his own way of describing Jared's disability and I have mine. It was interesting to see what my cousins were thinking, as we chatted about Jared's intelligence, math skills (or lack of), repetitiveness, etc. If there were an easier way to explain APD, I'm sure it would have been more clearly understood, but there's not.

The one thing that experts agree on is that APD is an umbrella term for a variety of disorders that affect the brain process auditory information. Another thing that's common in my findings and definitely common with Jared is that people with APD often don't show that anything is wrong because they are so used to guessing to fill in the processing gaps, and might not even be aware that they have misunderstood something. This is exactly what happened with our public school evaluation. The evaluator kept guaranteeing me that nothing was wrong with Jared and that he's more advanced than most kids she knows.

So, now we're walking into a new APD season, where we will hopefully find out more secrets to unlock this mystery. We have one more week until school starts. We have finished the summer cognitive therapy program. Dr. C. still would like to spend 3 hours with him a week, although we're trying to figure out how that will work with his schedule of school and soccer. He will have his school APD intervention program where the Elementary School Principal (recently trained and certified in APD therapy) has stated that she is personally taking on his case. We're 9 months into our diagnosis and we hope that this new school year can help all of us better understand and explain this disability, and most importantly, find new ways to cope with it.

For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37 (KJV)