Central Auditory Processing Disorder: The classic developmental process is not working

Child psychologists agree. Many children are suffering from developmental problems. They also agree that all the problems that parents and teachers see in these children are related to the classic developmental process being not working.

That is what the diagnoses of Developmental Disability and Developmental Delay really means. It is what Pervasive Developmental Disorder and GDD means. This is the basis for Autism (HFA & LFA), Asperger's, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyslexia, Learning Disability, Central Auditory Processing Disorder, and many other diagnoses that we talk about as developmental problems. All of these problems are based in the classic developmental process being blocked.

The Mystery

One of the great present-day mysteries is that many children are not developing appropriately. They are not moving through the classic developmental process correctly. They are not moving through the normal developmental stages. Not all children are having developmental problems, but the percentage of those with problems is high.

Academics estimate that as many as 25%-30% of children (in the USA) are suffering from some developmental difficulty. Maybe not all of them have enough symptoms to obtain a diagnosis. The American Pediatric Association (APA) tells us that one of every six children in the USA receives a diagnosis for some developmental difficulty.

The associations for each of the different developmental diagnostic groups publish estimates of the percentage of children that should have a diagnosis for their diagnostic group. They tell us there is a lot of overlap between one diagnostic label and another (for instance, many ADD children also have LD and/or Dyslexia). Even assuming there is a lot of overlap, there are still around 17% of children who have enough symptoms that they receive a diagnosis. This matches the APA estimate.

Those associations estimate that only about half of those who qualify for a diagnosis actually go and get that diagnosis. If these estimates hold up, this means that (in America) there are around 28 million children who are not maturing appropriately.

Diagnosis

Humans are good at understanding and categorizing. Academics have studied and categorized all of the different ways that children are not moving through their normal developmental process. From this, they have developed long lists of symptoms which are organized into diagnostic groups. You know these groups as those diagnostic labels listed before.

Academics are putting their focus on getting more accurate in the diagnostic methods. They are getting better and better at knowing exactly which diagnosis to apply for a specific set of symptoms. All of these diagnostic groups are used to encompass different sets of symptoms. All of these categories have two things in common:

1) There is no cure and
2) The classic developmental process is not working

What is the treatment?

Parents are usually left on their own to create a treatment plan. They usually have to start a trial-and-error process of examining various therapy options to find what works for their child. Because of the slow processes of the unique services, it may take years to discover if a program is working for a child.

In some cases, doctors might offer medications. This is also a trial-and-error process until they find some medication which helps in some way. Most of this 'help' from the medications is for the parents and teachers to reduce the behavior of the child to a tolerable level. In some cases, the medications help the child focus, but they do not get your children to complete the chinks in their movement through the developmental tasks. Many children complain that when taking their medications they become "zombies" or they stop eating or have some other unpleasant side-effect.

Other programs include psychologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, special education teachers, and the list goes on. These programs are designed to deal with the child's symptoms. None of these professionals are trained to get your children to complete the chinks in their movement through the developmental tasks.

"There is no cure."

This statement is the most difficult concept to understand and it is an important foundation in each of the definitions of all the different developmental difficulty diagnoses. Academics in the field know that there is no cure. People in the field are resolved to provide the best services possible, but this knowledge is a weight being carried by everyone. People try to put on a happy face. People want these children to have the most rewarding life possible. But, because there is no cure, there is little that can be done, and that is a heavy burden everyone carries when working with children with developmental problems.

The statement is that there is no cure. This is a present-tense statement that at present, there is no (known) magic bullet. It is not a statement about the future or the past. It is simply a statement that no one has developed a magic bullet, researched that magic bullet to prove that it works, and published that magic bullet to the world so that others can provide that magic bullet for their clients.

Over many years, with thousands of clinicians, academics, and researchers working with many different techniques, no one has found the magic bullet. No one has found the magic bullet for these developmental difficulties. The field has become so compartmentalized that researchers are rarely searching for something to get your children to complete the chinks in their movement through the developmental tasks. They are only working on the symptoms of hyperactivity or whatever is their speciality. Because of this specialization, they cannot see that all the different diagnoses are all based on the same problem: the classic developmental process is not working and something needs to be done to get your children to complete the chinks in their movement through the developmental tasks.

People in the field have distorted the present-tense phrase, there is no cure, to mean that there never was a cure (past), there is no cure now (present), and there never will be a cure (future). This paradigm, that a cure does not exist and is not possible, is crippling any investigation into the cure for these developmental difficulties. There is little funding for finding, developing, or delivering a magic bullet for these developmental difficulties. One of the difficulties of any paradigm is that it defines the what is possible. In this case, if the prevailing paradigm is that there is no cure, a possible magic bullet will never be found because it is not possible in the minds of the researchers in the field. As a paradigm in this field of developmental difficulties, there is no cure, is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Teach as much as possible to an un-teachable child

There is little or no service available to solve your children's developmental difficulties. Almost all services are designed to teach as much as possible to an un-teachable child. Because there is no cure, there is little work being done in investigation to find the magic bullet.

Floor Time is the most promising concept in the field. This is an attempt to reach the child at their developmentally not working place and work with the developmental tasks that are not working. It is a good idea, because it tries to go beyond the symptoms and get to the processes at that developmentally not working place. It falls short because it is not addressing what caused the developmental blockage and it is not working on the brain circuits needed for a smooth, classic developmental process (after the blockage is removed).

ABA therapy is one of the more popular therapy services available. Many children make some behavioral improvements using ABA. This is one of those approaches which is deeply seated in the paradigm that there is no cure. ABA Therapy has no concept of a person using ABA to become age-appropriate; their patients will continue being developmentally disabled after working with them. ABA does nothing to get your children to complete the chinks in their movement through the developmental tasks.

Summary

Normally, when we have medical or psychological difficulties we get a diagnosis and then some treatment. For developmental difficulties there is strong emphasis in the diagnosis, and little to offer for treatment.

The basic problem for all developmental difficulties is that the developmental process is not working. None of the services commonly in use in this field are focused on, or are successful at, getting your children to complete the chinks in their movement through the developmental tasks. The usual services for children with developmental difficulties are designed to teach the children how to become an adult with developmental difficulties.

The paradigm of there is no cure, is so strong that you are not encouraged to have hope for your child to have a normal life. The future for your child, based on the common paradigm, is to learn as many behaviors as possible to survive as an adult with developmental difficulties. Special education and ABA and most other services are designed to prepare your child for transition into adulthood with these problems, but not for transition away from developmental difficulties.

These services need to grow into something which prepares their students for a normal life. That is what we deliver with our consulting program. We get your children to complete the chinks in their movement through the developmental tasks; we offer the opportunity for these children to transition to a normal life.

Rodger C Bailey, MS has degrees in Social Science and Counseling. He provides www.gotofocus.com/ Developmental Discovery System™ consulting for families, in English and Spanish), which awakens the child’s concealed facility for developing. Checkout his Blog developmentald.blogspot.com/ Blog and his free Developmental Checklist www.developmental.gotofocus.com/

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