Auditory Processing Disorder can only be diagnosed by an Audiologist. Others (psychologists, slps) may do screenings which may indicate the need for deeper assessment. My daughter was diagnosed by an audiologist who recommended the FM system. MCPS provided us with one. After one year, we purchased our own system that is higher quality and less noticeable. It has changed our lives.

Anonymous wrote:A friend of mine tried to get an FM system through MCPS for her ES age DD with a diagnosis of ADHD and mild auditory processing issues. They were flatly told no...by the same school who gave my DD an FM System for a serious case of APD. You could always buy one yourself and just ask the teachers to use it. Good Luck.

What type of professional diagnosed the APD and recommended the FM tuner for your child?

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mcahic/?yguid=215078058

You need to join this group. People who work in MCPS in the hearing impaired program are part of this listserve.
It is the Mont. Co. Assoc. of Hearing Impaired Children.

Or call Susan Russell

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/deafservices/

OP - there are other threads on this board - look for the info on Dr. Jay Lucker and do the eval with him.

It turns out after a couple years of speech therapists telling me my child likely had CAPD that really she just had inattentive ADD. All the remediation done for the auditory problems were worthless until we go the ADD under control. I would skip the FM tuner and go ahead and go with an eval for ADD.

A friend of mine tried to get an FM system through MCPS for her ES age DD with a diagnosis of ADHD and mild auditory processing issues. They were flatly told no...by the same school who gave my DD an FM System for a serious case of APD. You could always buy one yourself and just ask the teachers to use it. Good Luck.

HI, I am OP and back again .... and still trying to figure out if an assistive listening device would be helpful to my DC. We are in between IEP screening and final eligibility evaluation. DC does not have an APD or CAPD diagnosis from an audiologist (DC passed the audiology tests). But, language and neuropsych testing shows a problem with auditory comprehension, mixed expressive receptive language disorder and mild inattentive ADD, all of which combine to make auditory attention and comprehension difficult overall. The neuropsych will recommend a trial with a FM tuner system.

So, now I'm wondering if there are other people out there who have FM tuner/assistive listening devices for kids without a formal auditory processing disorder diagnosis from an audiologist? If so, what kind of specialist recommended the FM tuner? Has it been helpful?

If you're in MCPS, is it difficult to get an assistive listening device for a non-APD diagnosis?

I am OP and I want to thank everyone who has responded. It turns out, after evaluation by an audiologist, that our child does not have auditory processing disorder and so will not be prescribed the FM trainer. Instead it appears that his language processing and attention issues are probably causing his issues.