|
There is talk of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
and suggestions for medication or counseling
Upon further exploration it appears that the
behaviour issues arise more at free or unstructured time; when there are
multiple or concurrent activities and noise; and when the child may be fatigued.
The medical history of the child reveals multiple
occurrences of earaches with trips to the doctor and prescriptions for
antibiotics. The earaches occured significantly between the ages of 12 to 36
months.
Under these circumstances, it may be that this child
has an Auditory Processing Disorder, the result of hearing loss during the
period of multiple earaches.
As a child get an earache, fluid builds in the
middle ear blocking sound. The child goes to the doctor and obtains an
anti-biotic. With medication, the earache pain subsides, often within 24 to 48
hours. However, it can take up to several weeks for the fluid to clear. Thus
hearing remains obstructed. With children who experience multiple earaches, the
fluid may remain in place for months at a time. This results in an ongoing
hearing loss during the crucial period of language and information processing
development.
Even if hearing is restored, which usually happens
as the child ages, the lack of hearing during the period of language and
information processing development can cause impaired higher order language
functions. Hence the child now hears, but may not understand the language
properly, may have speech difficulties and may have trouble with filtering
mechanisms to selectively attend.
For children with an Auditory Processing Disorder,
it is like being at the midway of a country fair. There is noise all around and
it is difficult to concentrate. Most kids and adults get used to the noise and
within a few minutes can tune it out. However, kids with Auditory Processing
Disorder never do get used to the noise, cannot tune it out and hence they
cannot figure out which sounds to attend to. The situation remains confusing and
distracting.
In the classroom setting, by misbehaving, the child
is removed from the situation and they are seen to calm down. However when
returned, they act up again and subsequently the time-out or consequence is
increased. Over time, the consequences are thought to be ineffective and the
child incorrigible. At home there is naturally less going on and hence less
distractions and hence a less likelihood of experiencing the problem.
If this sounds like your child’s situation, go armed
with this article to your doctor and ask for help. To assess, the child should
be seen by an audiologist, speech-language pathologist and educational
child-psychologist. Your child may be diagnosed with an Auditory Processing
Disorder as a result.
Some children require modifications at school. A
higher teacher-student ratio and less noisy and distracting setting will help.
If behaviour at recess is a problem with the confusion of the playground, then
consider alternate activities, such as with small groups and clubs and playing
board games.
If your child is diagnosed with Auditory Processing
Disorder, follow the recommendations of the assessors and share the
recommendations with the daycare or school. It will be important for the child’s
teachers to understand his or her special needs. With proper diagnosis and
guidance, the behaviour should take care of itself.
Gary Direnfeld is a social
worker. Courts in Ontario, Canada, consider him an expert on child development,
parent-child relations, marital and family therapy, custody and access
recommendations, social work and an expert for the purpose of giving a critique
on a Section 112 (social work) report.
|
