Hi I am new at this so please forgive all the mistakes I'm sure I am going to make. My name is Kathy and I have a 32 year old daughter that has a moderate to moderately severe hearing loss. I have always felt that there was something more going on with her than just her deafness. I questioned everyone who would listen to me (peditricians, teachers, school physcologist, VR) and I was always told she was DEAF like that was her only problem. She worked very hard and loved school and graduated from HS and then to a technical school where she got two certificates and finally her associate degree in Business. So she is very smart but you might not think it if you were to meet her. She looks and acts alot younger than she is (like around 8 or 9 years old as far as her interest and hobbies are). When I was looking online to see if I could find any info on what might be going on with her I found this website. One time when she was being tested a lady told me that she thought she might have a processing delay where she has to listen and read your lips then think about what she wants to say and then line it up and say it and each thing she does sperately. That is the only time anything like that had been mentioned to me and she really didn't offer any suggestions. I don't know if she has SPD or something like it but I know she is very limited by her inability to initiate conversations and her lack of social skills even though she has been in some type of program (speech,preschool HI class, OTand on and on) since she was 18months old. She has several of the symptons on the checklist especially the ones that deal with interacting with other people but not so much the ones that deal with emotional areas except that she doesn't seem to express her emotions very well and she never complains about anything.
I'm sorry for going on and on but as a mother I have always tried to find out what else there is that might help her and I have found that asking questions has always been the only way I have ever found any info at all. Doing all the questioning online is something new to me and I guess I just get carried away. I hope another adult with SPD can give me some insight as to where to go from here since my daughter is definately past those most important first 7 years I have read about . It has always been like that she has always been just a little before or after the time when information is out there and being talked about.
I am just so glad that I found this website and maybe if she doesn't have SPD maybe someone will read this and know of somewhere else for me look and ask my questions.
Thanks
Kathy

It is never too late to get help. Is it possible to go ahead and get an OT evaluation for her or are you having trouble getting professionals to cooperate? I've sometimes found it helpful to just go in and say "I have some concerns that I would like an Occupational Therapist to look at, can you please write me a prescription?" and just be confident and avoid trying to justify your reasons to a doctor who is unwilling to understand. I would search around for someone with SPD experience maybe on the SPD foundations website especially in your case because you need someone who knows what is being caused by her hearing loss and what is being caused by other things.

(07-30-2011, 01:14 PM)AngelaVA Wrote: It is never too late to get help. Is it possible to go ahead and get an OT evaluation for her or are you having trouble getting professionals to cooperate? I've sometimes found it helpful to just go in and say "I have some concerns that I would like an Occupational Therapist to look at, can you please write me a prescription?" and just be confident and avoid trying to justify your reasons to a doctor who is unwilling to understand. I would search around for someone with SPD experience maybe on the SPD foundations website especially in your case because you need someone who knows what is being caused by her hearing loss and what is being caused by other things.

Thank you Angela for your response I am trying to find a GP for her now and am having trouble finding one that will accept Medicad so I guess I will just go with our private insurance since she is still on that until my husband retires. I will definately keep trying .
Thanks Again
Kathy

I think that it's great that you are actively trying to help your daughter! It sounds like you might just have to go through your husband's insurance for now. Ask for referral to an OT, preferably one with SPD experience. OTs are the ones who can make the evaluation and diagnosis for SPD.

I don't have an official diagnosis but I've gone over the checklist and relate to many of things on it. I seem to have more auditory processing issues. I don't have any hearing loss but many times I feel like I can't put the sounds together to make sense of them. Especially on the phone. Taking a phone message is torture, having to ask the person to repeat themselves 20 times. I find that I tend to look at people's mouths to help me understand them.

I hope you find some answers and stick around here!

Thanks Lynn I will.
Kathy