The Ah Ha Moment

Well, we had our "Ah Ha" moment with Quinn today.

At the recommendation of his teacher, I decided to have him tested for Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAP).  She noticed that Quinn struggled on a procedural writing exercise where they had reviewed the process in a variety of different ways (song, dance, stories, actions, etc.)  So off we went to Pathways Health Centre for Children to have him assessed.

The first part of the assessment was about his hearing, and if he could actually hear.  He went in by himself, and passed with flying colours.

The second part was today, and was more about his understanding and his ability to repeat what was said to him.  He wanted me to come in with him, so we both went into the tiny, soundproof room (to say it was claustrophobic would be an understatement), where Quinn donned these giant headphones and did the second part of the testing.

I could see him struggling with parts of the test, and it broke my heart to see him fidgeting in the chair, trying to figure out what the answer was.

After the test was over, the audiologist came out and told us that Quinn had mild CAP, specifically centred around Tolerance Fading Memory.  In a nutshell:

• Hears less well, or is less attentive/productive, in ordinarily busy surroundings.
• Difficulty following a series of spoken directions.
• Unusually forgetful of information previously memorized (such as multiplication tables, correct spelling), or of household or school routines and responsibilities, despite frequent reminders.
• Distractable, particularly in noisy conditions (like a classroom)

Ah HA.

Well that explains a lot of things.  I was actually relieved to get this diagnosis because it explains so much about Quinn.

When I talked to Chris about it, he got visibly upset.  Not because of the diagnosis, but because he's pretty sure that he has some variant of CAP as well.  He can't STAND noise of any type when he's working, he can't read a book while the TV is on, and he really dislikes noisy, crowded environments. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.....

Now that we have a diagnosis, we're on the hunt for solutions and aids to help Quinn with this.  It will be a long, bumpy road, but at least we feel like we're on the right path now.