Gabe
By Allia DeAngelis

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 24 No. 4, 2010 ©NACD

We could always tell there was "something" different with Gabe. He was friendly, inclusive, and very clever. He was softhearted by nature and adventurous with a LOT to say, although you couldn't understand him. For some reason his speech was not clear. And he was oddly clingy anywhere but at home. The private school Mistress and classroom teacher where he attended Kindergarten sat me down at the end of the school year and gave me the heads-up that Gabe would be in Special Ed. if he attended public school. They couldn't understand what it was. He often finished his work before anyone else. He was a great kid but got upset easily when it was noisy in class and on the playground. With all his strengths, he didn't even know the alphabet and could not master the basic letter sounds. His speech was also still unintelligible. We took him to the doctor and speech folks again. He was diagnosed with General Anxiety (we were offered a lot of medications) probably as a result of "The Divorce." That aside everyone said he was normal, just a late bloomer, and he would grow out of it.
 
The first indicator the "something" was serious was during our first grade parent conference. The public school first grade teacher insisted something was wrong. Gabe was always out of his seat during lecture, following her around. Got too close to kids when talking and talked too loud. He would cry out when someone bumped him in the lunch line and yell in pain when touched for tag. He couldn't read, couldn't learn the alphabet, make letter sounds, or do "on tape" lessons, although he was almost a year ahead in math. To her credit the teacher told us that, although everyone would try to insist we wait, the sooner we pushed for testing the better. Only after testing could Gabe get "services." We said we would consider it. Then one day Gabe came to me clearly not well. He told me that while in the lunch room, things go fine then all of a sudden he would feel like there were frogs jumping in his tummy, a wash of cold, then feeling like a toilet was flushing, swirling, through his body. It happened on the playground too, but his legs would freeze and he would fall to the ground.
 
So testing began: speech/language, hearing, OT, eyes, psychological, blood tests, physical competency, cognitive, and IQ. There were more tests than listed, and I have a 6-inch binder full of tests and results. It was the last test, done by Primary Children's Audiology Department, which was the kicker. Gabe not only had multiple sensory integration imbalances and vision which would never be 20/20 without the thick bifocals prescribed by Moran Eye Center Pediatrics, BUT also she stopped the test early to tell me that not only had Gabe scored low on the Auditory tests BUT on one (figure ground), he scored so low that there was nowhere to mark just how bad it was. She explained he was COMPLETELY deaf when there were more than a couple of sounds competing for his brain's attention (like two kids talking at the same time or when 2nd graders came in to the lunch room). She gently told me there was no treatment and he would be disabled his entire life, would not learn to read, and most likely be on assistance his entire life. In her entire career had only tested a handful of children in the range Gabe fell into. She was sorry.
 
School told me they were not responsible to do anything but provide speech therapy (which ended up happening once every three weeks although called for twice a week) and to *try* to keep him up with the other kids, but that they weren't hopeful with reading and language arts.

After three months and dozens of phone calls made around the U.S., a friend told us about NACD. She worked in Special Ed. and found the only kids that really made progress were affiliated with them, although she had no idea what NACD actually did. So I called three different times and talked to everyone, asked questions, and agreed to see Bob. It was hard to convince Gabe's dad to do some of the "unconventional" things that NACD recommended to address his vision and auditory skills, but six programs and a year and a half later, Gabe can finally play with other kids, read, and hear. He is able to communicate his needs clearly. He is better able to understand playground games, and so he can interact. Gabe is also better able to manage his emotions and loses his temper less frequently. Whereas before I had to repeat and repeat instructions, now he hears me the first time (but has learned the art of ignoring his mother so if he can't hear me, I know he doesn't want to). He is able to READ instructions and understand what they mean. To his credit, Gabe works five days a week, year round. He works hard but the medical reports and the happiness he exudes say it has paid off.

In early July 2010 the good news from Moran Eye Center was that our son Gabe had perfect vision, near and far sighted, without glasses. The Director was not sure how it happened but said to keep doing what we were doing. This news followed our OT telling us she had never seen someone complete therapy so quickly (less than six months) but it must be that NACD stuff. On top of that, end of the summer last year, Gabe ran screaming to me while at an entertainment center, saying that he could hear both the parents AND the kids for the first time ever. Just this last summer he completed over 6000 minutes of reading and listening to books on tape. Test results, which arrived from school Friday, said his reading was at upper 3rd grade level, which he JUST started. The poor school speech lady said Gabe maxed out all of her tests successfully. He is above grade for comprehension and social language. Most of all, there is a happiness exuding from him---a joy I have not seen since he was a baby. Thanks NACD!

Thoughts on Gabe from his NACD Developmentalist….

I feel very honored to talk about my buddy Gabe. Gabe started his NACD program in February of 2009. I remember talking to his mom prior to starting an evaluation with NACD, and she was a bit skeptical. After all, so many specialists had told her that he had significant auditory processing delays and that he would always need assistance. When he came in for his initial evaluation in February of 2009 at the age of 7, he was receiving OT and ST through the school. He had poor articulation, proprioceptive issues, was hypersensitive to sound, had auditory figure-ground problems, and had many visual issues, including convergence, macular, and acuity issues. Gabe was completely mixed dominant and had low processing as well. As a result he was struggling academically, and his self-esteem wasn't as high as we all would like.

I have to give credit to Mom…Gabe's mom has done all that we asked her to do, faithfully, everyday for the past year. (She of course did take some vacation!) But she was very diligent and worked with him one-on-one at home. His most recent evaluation took place in August of 2010. Academically Gabe has gone up 3 years in the past year and a half. His auditory short term and working memory has increased significantly. He is no longer mixed dominant. His visual issues are gone! He doesn't even need to wear prescriptive lenses. His articulation has improved greatly, and he no longer has proprioceptive or sound sensitivity issues. After completing our new TSI: Focused Attention program, his auditory figure-ground issues are no longer present. Most importantly, Gabe is HAPPY!

And some additional good news is that he had a psycho-educational assessment done at the start of this school year. Two years ago, his IQ score tested at 94. This year it was 113. While NACD believes that a child's intelligence can never accurately be measured, working on improving neurological function is essential for creating a significant impact in a child's ability. Gabe also won an award this summer for a reading program through our local news station and earned a chance to meet the governor!

I am very proud of Gabe and his mom for working so hard to create such positive change. Sky is the limit for you, buddy, and I am honored to know you and work with you!

Sara Erling