Central Auditory Processing Disorder and Sensory
Integration Problems: A Testimonial

The email below was forwarded by Don McCabe, founder of AVKO:

Dear Mr. McCabe,

I am interested in using AVKO as my spelling program next year with my son, Zachary. We homeschool and Zachary will be in fifth grade. He was VERY delayed this year and is now on grade level. Which program should I use? "Sequential Spelling" or "If it is to be...?"

Also, am I right that you are looking for testimonies from Audiblox users? I have very successfully used Audiblox. Zachary could read at the beginning of this school year, but Writing, Spelling and Math were all difficult and frustrating for him. He has (had?) Central Auditory Processing Disorder and Sensory Integration problems. He very much wanted to be "caught up" (which in his mind means not working below the level of his younger sister). At the time, he was misspelling three letter words (which he had studied for several weeks!), could not write a complete sentence without bursting into tears and could not remember how to do simple Math problems.

I purchased Audiblox in November, after seeing a demonstration and began using the program five hours a day. (At the same time, I also began using Earobics and he was going to Occupational Therapy. Earobics is a program that teaches children how to hear the difference between sounds). At first, we just did the Audiblox, but no academic work. I could not really understand how the activities would "transfer" over to academic work, so I video-taped Zachary reading before he began the program and then 10 hours after using the program. We were surprised to watch both segments and see the difference. While his reading hadn't changed, the way he read and held his body did. In the first segment he was moving/wiggling while reading (and had chosen a rocking chair to sit in). His face was very tense. In the second portion of the video-tape, he was very relaxed and was sitting still. He had chosen to sit on the couch. After using the program for two weeks, I told Zachary I was going to set a timer for 30 minutes. He was to write a story (even if it was just one sentence) and he was to spell all the words by his best guess (he has a small booklet of words he usually uses to spell words). I asked him not to cry about it, but just to do his best. In 30 minutes he had written THE MOST BEAUTIFUL story about a rabbit in a pet store. All of his sentences were in proper chronological order!!! (He had only just begun learning how to do this in his spoken speech!) The most surprising thing, though, was that he had CORRECTLY spelled many 5 letter words!!!

Whenever I meet someone with a child who is struggling, I do not hesitate to recommend Audiblox. I think every child who is struggling deserves the opportunity to try this program. It is wonderful!!!

I mention the other two things Zachary was doing (Earobics and Occupational Therapy), because I think both of them contributed to his increased academic ability. However, I do give much of the credit to Audiblox> because it addressed so many problems Zachary was having. (I think he needed all three programs to be completely successful.)

I look forward to your response concerning your spelling programs. I would like to pick the program that would be most suitable for Zachary.

Thanks so much!