DS is my Aspie, as you know. He also has auditory, visual and sensory processing issues. Highly, highly intelligent, but....

He also has ADHD, and is off in his own little world. My family has a history of hearing loss on both maternal and paternal side. DH's family? We'll never know. They never disclose such things. I've also been losing my hearing for about 10 years. I have noticed DH doesn't "hear" us when we talk to him and give instructions, or hears only some of it. Figuring it could be the ADHD, PDD-NOS and auditory processing issues, I kind of lived with it. Then I started to fear that, based on family issues, he may have hearing issues. So I got a medical referral from his pediatrician and took him in for in-depth testing. I'm glad I did. He's always passed the school and pediatrician screening, but you never know.

The good news is that his hearing is A-1 perfect, save for a little pressure dip in one ear due to his sniffling from allergies. However, they told me that this is definitely the first step we should take to ensure the issue isn't organic. Trying to give therapy or teach someone to listen better, when they can't hear completely is like trying to teach someone who needs glasses to see the blackboard.

The interesting thing is that he has been "diagnosed" with auditory processing disorder, or so I thought, because the initial diagnosing developmental pediatrician listed it under his menu of foibles back when he was 5, but never fully explained it. Well, come to find out, she didn't ever truly test for it, but rather suspected it. So...I asked about getting the diagnosis so the therapies could move on to address it. They had the specialist in auditory processing come in. She explained that yes, he could have it, but with the many other things he deals with, being that PDD and Aspergers contains a whole spectrum of symptoms, getting an official diagnosis would be a huge disservice for him, as the school would be offering and focusing on services for auditory issues while not addressing the other real issues with him. Putting a bandaid on a gaping wound. What was also interesting was how FOCUSED he was during the testing. Lights were dim, he had on headphones and she treated him with respect without being condescending. Diva was with me and she is such a distraction, but he completely zoned her out. I thought it was amazing.

So, the result was his hearing is fine, but the auditory processing specialist gave me a list of things to help him at home and to give to his teachers! That in itself was worth the $50 copay.

Thought I'd share that with you. So definitely think about getting the hearing checked. They did say it should be done annually for every child, but especially in our case, with the family history, and that insurance covers the annual testing (this in-depth one). Had no idea.

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