Jo Frost's Blog

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Check back soon for a NEW Giveaway!

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Check back soon for a NEW Giveaway!

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Lauren fills us in on the girls' second birthday festivities!

We had a great time celebrating my girls 2nd birthday. On the day of their actual birthday, Joe, my mom, my aunt, and myself, took the girls to their first restaurant. Nothing fancy, only Friendly's, but they were so good and enjoyed themselves to the max. We showered them with lots of goodies and their favorite thing, balloons!!! It was a great day!

The following weekend we celebrated with all of our family and friends at my mom's house. We had a backyard, Sesame Street-themed party for the girls. They had a wonderful time -- and so did we! Seeing them so happy makes us very happy!

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Lauren fills us in on the girls' second birthday festivities!

We had a great time celebrating my girls 2nd birthday. On the day of their actual birthday, Joe, my mom, my aunt, and myself, took the girls to their first restaurant. Nothing fancy, only Friendly's, but they were so good and enjoyed themselves to the max. We showered them with lots of goodies and their favorite thing, balloons!!! It was a great day!

The following weekend we celebrated with all of our family and friends at my mom's house. We had a backyard, Sesame Street-themed party for the girls. They had a wonderful time -- and so did we! Seeing them so happy makes us very happy!

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As we enter into August, many families begin thinking (sometimes even counting down) the days left till the new school year commences. However, for the parents of those going off to college, the days are bittersweet. Filled with loves, tears, battles, stress, and excitement, college is an excellent and tumultuous time for parents and their newly minted college students. To help ease the transition, we've compiled a few links that will help parents and their teens to mentally and physically prepare for the journey ahead.

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As we enter into August, many families begin thinking (sometimes even counting down) the days left till the new school year commences. However, for the parents of those going off to college, the days are bittersweet. Filled with loves, tears, battles, stress, and excitement, college is an excellent and tumultuous time for parents and their newly minted college students. To help ease the transition, we've compiled a few links that will help parents and their teens to mentally and physically prepare for the journey ahead.

ADVICE

Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times spoke to deans and counselors at three colleges to see what advice they had for students. We also encourage parents and teens to read the comments on this post, as they're some great advice from fellow college students and parents, alike. We especially like the suggestions offered in the first comment from a rising sophomore. CLICK HERE for the link.

CHECKLIST

What did we do before stores like Bed, Bath, and Beyond? Not only do they provide a great dorm room supply checklist, but they also have resources for college students on how to deal with everything from stress, time management, proper eating and staying cigarette-free.

For their dorm room checklist, CLICK HERE.

For their healthy mind/body resources, CLICK HERE.

STAYING IN TOUCH

In the age of technology, it's easy to stay in touch with your teens through emails, text message, by cell phone and even Facebook. Sometimes, however, you just need to see their beautiful faces! If you and your teen have a web cam on your computer (relatively inexpensive to purchase, f you don't have one), set aside a time twice a month to Skype with your college student. Skype allows you to set up a free account where you and your teen can chat, via video, online for free. Visit http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/ to set up and account. For the first month of school, it's a good idea to have your kid (ahem, adult) check-in with you, so make sure you set aside at least two dates and times (weekly, bi-weekly, whatever you all agree on) and stick to it! It's important to touch base with them and let them know you are there if they need you.

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FOR YOUR COLLEGE STUDENT

Some kids adjust quickly and happily to college life, while others take a little longer. This article from Psychology Today talks about those that need some extra support and how parents can offer it to them. CLICK HERE.

EMPTY NEST SYNDROME

  Yes, it's real and can sometimes be really difficult. However, many parents rediscover each other, their relationships, their old friends, new interests and more time to pursue all of these things. Naomi Barr penned an essay entitled "The End of Empty Nest Syndrome" for O, The Oprah Magazine, which gives her bird's-eye view of life in an empty nest. You might be surprised by some of her findings. CLICK HERE to read.

PARTING GIFTS

We've given Ann Patchett's book, What Now, as gifts to graduating teens, those who are leaving for college, beginning their first jobs, or simply moving out and moving on. But sometimes, it was their parents who received more solace from the book than their offspring did. You've devoted 18 years to your child's development, wellbeing and every move. Now, it's time for them to test all of those skills out, without you. So, you ask yourself, "What Now?" Patchett, a calm guide amidst the storm of this question, flips the script. "What now," she writes, "represents our excitement and our future, the very vitality of life."

CLICK HERE.

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A true classic with a timeless message, The Story of Ferdinand has enchanted readers since it was first published in 1936. All the other bulls would run and jump and butt their heads together. But Ferdinand would rather sit and smell the flowers.

So what will happen when our pacifist hero is picked for the bullfights in Madrid? This new edition contains the complete original text of the story and the original illustrations with watercolor tones added.

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A true classic with a timeless message, The Story of Ferdinand has enchanted readers since it was first published in 1936. All the other bulls would run and jump and butt their heads together. But Ferdinand would rather sit and smell the flowers.

So what will happen when our pacifist hero is picked for the bullfights in Madrid? This new edition contains the complete original text of the story and the original illustrations with watercolor tones added.

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In the age-old battle between cats and dogs, one crazed feline has taken things a paw too far.

Kitty Galore, formerly an agent for cat spy organization MEOWS, has gone rogue and hatched a diabolical plan to not only bring her canine enemies to heel, but to take down her former kitty comrades and make the world her scratching post.

Faced with this unprecedented threat, cats and dogs will be forced to join forces for the first time in history in an unlikely alliance to save themselves -- and their humans.

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In the age-old battle between cats and dogs, one crazed feline has taken things a paw too far.

Kitty Galore, formerly an agent for cat spy organization MEOWS, has gone rogue and hatched a diabolical plan to not only bring her canine enemies to heel, but to take down her former kitty comrades and make the world her scratching post.

Faced with this unprecedented threat, cats and dogs will be forced to join forces for the first time in history in an unlikely alliance to save themselves -- and their humans.

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I see a lot of issues with children's behavior (or lack there of) in my work with families, but the truth of the matter is, it's not just the child: How your child behaves is your responsibility.

This might sound obvious but you'd be surprised how many parents I meet who blame everybody but themselves for how their child is turning out. Make sure you set a good example I've learnt that you need to take responsibility from day one. You've been blessed with the incredible miracle of a life, this blank canvas, that's up to you to paint in a positive way. All her values for these upcoming years are set by you – you're the major voice in your child's life. So as well as telling her how to behave from infancy, you also need to be a positive role model. Setting a good example is essential, right from the start. You should have learned this by now, if not…Start today!

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I see a lot of issues with children's behavior (or lack there of) in my work with families, but the truth of the matter is, it's not just the child: How your child behaves is your responsibility.

This might sound obvious but you'd be surprised how many parents I meet who blame everybody but themselves for how their child is turning out. Make sure you set a good example I've learnt that you need to take responsibility from day one. You've been blessed with the incredible miracle of a life, this blank canvas, that's up to you to paint in a positive way. All her values for these upcoming years are set by you – you're the major voice in your child's life. So as well as telling her how to behave from infancy, you also need to be a positive role model. Setting a good example is essential, right from the start. You should have learned this by now, if not…Start today!

Don't wait until she is four years old and a challenging child. Believe me, you should start instilling good values, behaviour and respect from the earliest time your baby can understand. This will make your job as a parent so much more enjoyable and your child so much nicer to have around.

Don't start making excuses STOP the "I don't have time."

"It's other people's fault" or "I've got too many kids."

I've heard all these excuses before and I'm afraid that none of them really wash with me – c'mon, let's be real. It can be done and you can do it. Remember, be accountable.

This family I saw…whilst I was working in America recently, I saw a mum with her family in a hotel. She had four young children eating lunch in the restaurant and they were all sitting around the table together, with a napkin on their laps, having a wonderful conversation with each other and behaving beautifully. It was refreshing to see – I gave her such a big smile because I knew she'd got it spot on.

In these days where consumerism is king and we all find ourselves increasingly time poor, it's too easy to think you're showing your child how much you love her by giving her things she wants, all the time. Well, material items can't replace giving your child the time and attention they need.

Don't use excuses.

You can't replace memories with possessions, so you need to understand the importance of spending time together. Don't use the excuse that you're at work all the time. Even if you only get two hours a day with your child, try to make sure those two hours are quality time for you and her. Believe me, your child will value this much more than anything you could buy her.

It takes time to become a mum and dad. You can't clock in and out and it doesn't come instantly for some. Your relationship with your child takes time to grow, so don't try and rush things. Sometimes there are no instant fixes as a parent. Bear in mind it will take time to find solutions to your parenting dilemmas and sometimes you need to make decisions and hope they are the right ones – better to make them, than not at all. But have the confidence to trust yourself, and don't be too hard on yourself. And when you're wrong, just tell yourself you're learning from your mistakes and do it differently next time. This creates healthy, positive behaviors for you and sets a healthy, positive example for your child as well. And, that's the best thing you can offer your family.

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Sweltering hot and no air-conditioning?

Help your little one (and yourself) sleep more comfortably by folding up your pillowcase and top sheet, putting it in a plastic bag, and throwing it in the freezer. When you're ready to go to sleep, take it out and quickly make your bed and hop in. The cold sheet and pillowcases stay cool long enough for you to fall asleep in comfort!

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Sweltering hot and no air-conditioning?

Help your little one (and yourself) sleep more comfortably by folding up your pillowcase and top sheet, putting it in a plastic bag, and throwing it in the freezer. When you're ready to go to sleep, take it out and quickly make your bed and hop in. The cold sheet and pillowcases stay cool long enough for you to fall asleep in comfort!

Book info: 


Hardcover: 224 pages

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (27 July 2006)

Language English

ISBN-10: 0340921315

ISBN-13: 978-0340921319

Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 18.8 x 2.2 cm



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Jo Frost has no problem handling even the most, er, precocious children. Her upbeat, efficient methods and warm personality have endeared her to parents all over the United States -- and she’s got the fan mail to prove it. In Ask Supernanny, Jo responds to the questions she hears time and time again in emails, letters, and personal appearances.

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America’s favorite Supernanny returns to answer questions from confused, conflicted, and confounded parents across the country as ABC’s Supernanny and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller of the same name (which has sold nearly 300,000 copies), Jo Frost has no problem handling even the most, er, precocious children. Her upbeat, efficient methods and warm personality have endeared her to parents all over the United States -- and she’s got the fan mail to prove it.

In Ask Supernanny, Jo responds to the questions she hears time and time again in emails, letters, and personal appearances.

Questions like: My son refuses to go to bed at the appointed hour. How can I put a stop to the endless pleading and cajoling? My daughter will only eat food that’s not touching anything else on the plate. What can I do to change this obsessive behavior? Our two boys get into raging fights on a daily basis. Short of buying separate houses, what can we do?

And many more, on subjects like bed-wetting, bath time, homework, and independence.

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Amazon.com



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http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Supernanny-...




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Amazon.co.uk



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http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-list...




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Barnes & Noble



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http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ask-...




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Powell's Books



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http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9781...




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Waterstones.com



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Reviews
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Entertainment Weekly



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"Like Mary Poppins without the dark arts, Frost transforms yowling demon spawn into

angelic little darlings."

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Barnes & Noble.com



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Supernanny TV star Jo Frost reassures parents in two ways: First, she provides

reasonable advice for correcting the rowdy behavior of children; and second, after seeing her show, none of us will fret that our kids are the worst on earth. In this stand-alone follow-up to Supernanny the book, she delivers decisive guidance for parents about issues including bedtime, sibling squabbling, homework, eating habits, and preadolescent anarchy.

Book info: 


Paperback: 224 pages

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd (14 Mar 2005)

Language English

ISBN-10: 0340895179

ISBN-13: 978-0340895177

Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 19.2 x 1.6 cm



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Jo Frost, a.k.a. Supernanny, is the answer to every stressed-out parent's dreams.In Supernanny, Jo works miracles on problem children by dispensing hard-won wisdom and reassuring us that parents really do know best. The Supernanny method gives parents the know-how to tackle problem areas such as mealtime, bath time, bedtime, bedwetting, homework, sibling rivalry, aggressive behavior, or a child who just won't do what he or she is told to do.

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Meet Supernanny Jo Frost, a modern-day Mary Poppins here to rescue today's beleaguered parents by offering up her practical, road-tested methods of childrearing in an indispensable new book based on her upcoming ABC-TV series. Jo Frost, a.k.a. Supernanny, is the answer to every stressed-out parent's dreams.

In ABC's upcoming primetime TV series by the same name, Jo works miracles on problem children by dispensing hard-won wisdom and reassuring us that parents really do know best. The Supernanny method gives parents the know-how to tackle problem areas such as mealtime, bath time, bedtime, bedwetting, homework, sibling rivalry, aggressive behavior, or a child who just won't do what he or she is told to do. Divided into action-oriented problem and solution sections, Supernanny will show parents how to restore harmony and authority in the home using the Supernanny's ten basic rules and her effective, no-nonsense approach to problem-solving.

For example:

Problem: What if your child refuses to go to bed?

Supernanny Solution: Develop a bedtime routine so that the child can get used to a consistent pattern that she is not going to be able to change or manipulate. A routine will set up a calming sequence of events that will be designed to help the child relax.

Problem: Toilet-training

Supernanny Solution: Prepare your child by taking any hint of shame or disgust out of what is simply a natural fact of life. Keep the door open, bring her into the bathroom with you, and explain what's happening, including the use of toilet paper and the washing of hands afterward.

Store: 


Amazon.com



US link: 


http://www.amazon.com/Supernanny-How-...




Store: 


Barnes & Noble



US link: 


http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Supe...




Store: 


Powell's Books



US link: 


http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9781...




Store: 


Waterstones.com



UK link: 


http://www.waterstones.com/waterstone...




Store: 


Amazon.co.uk



UK link: 


http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-list...




Reviews
Author: 


Sunday Express



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'Kim and Aggie for naughty toddlers' -- The Times 'Don't miss it. We're hoping for a second series ... heartwarming stuff.' -- Heat (Five Star review) on Channel 4's Supernanny 'An invaluable guide' -- The Sun 'It's Jo's experience and geniune warmth that really sets this apart from all other childcare manuals ... a must-buy' -- heat (5 star review) 'The answer to every mother's prayers'

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Erica Jorgensen, Amazon.com



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For despairing moms and dads everywhere, "Supernanny" Jo Frost may as well be wearing a Wonder Woman costume. Her no-nonsense rules--not tips, not advice, but rules--for consistently managing one's offspring leave no room for arguments (or wrestling matches). From her arms-akimbo stance on the book's cover, it's clear she's in charge, and ready to instruct all wishy-washy (overworked American) parents how to lay down the law in their own home. She offers her "top ten rules" for setting boundaries, managing mealtimes, even surviving toilet training, and it's mostly rock-solid, and peppered liberally with British wit. (For parents who obsess over their toddler's every meal, she warns: "It doesn't take long for them to work out the obvious: you can't make them eat.") Frost may not have a degree in child development, but she was raised in a stable, doting family, and has 15 years' experience taking care of tots, a combination which puts her way ahead of most parents. She may be firm, but by setting definite boundaries, she sets the stage for parenting to be more of a "joy" and much less of a "slog." You can raise your sippy cups to that.

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Lois K. Heymann (MA, CCC-SLP), is a Speech and Language Pathologist with over 30 years experience working with children with hearing, listening, and learning challenges and their parents. Heymann's book, THE SOUND OF HOPE: Recognizing, Coping with, and Treating Your Child's Auditory Processing Disorder [http://www.listenlovelearn.com/].

We talked to Lois about her book, the diagnosis and treatment of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD/CAPD), and how parents need to learn to listen just as much as their children do.

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Lois K. Heymann (MA, CCC-SLP), is a Speech and Language Pathologist with over 30 years experience working with children with hearing, listening, and learning challenges and their parents. Heymann's book, THE SOUND OF HOPE: Recognizing, Coping with, and Treating Your Child's Auditory Processing Disorder [http://www.listenlovelearn.com/].

We talked to Lois about her book, the diagnosis and treatment of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD/CAPD), and how parents need to learn to listen just as much as their children do.

1: What is APD and how is it different from ADD, ADHD, etc?

LOIS: APD (sometimes identified as CAPD) stands for Auditory Processing Disorder. To understand what an APD is, it's important to remember that sorting out and using the sounds we hear with our ears and engaging with the world by listening is accomplished primarily in the brain. An APD affects the transfer of sound information within the brain not the ability to hear with our ears. A person with an APD may be physically able to hear, but as sound moves from the outer and inner ear into the brain to be identified, understood, and transformed into useful information, along the way the message gets confused, garbled or distorted. When the language and speech centers within the brain repeatedly receive unclear or distorted messages because of an APD, the act of listening, the use of language, learning, and social interactions can all become extremely difficult.

The major difference between APD and ADD, ADHD, PDD and some of the more commonly diagnosed disorders that your readers are likely familiar with is that APD solely effects the transfer of sound information within the brain and diagnosis and treatment focus specifically on how the brain listens. It gets confusing, though, because an APD can stand-alone or co-exist with other disorders and difficulties like ADD, etc. The behavioral symptoms of these varied conditions can also appear quite similar to one another. As I said, APD primarily affects the language-oriented parts of learning and communication. But since so much of healthy development, effective education, and positive social interaction depends on communicating and listening, a child with APD can become extremely isolated and frustrated as they try to successfully interact in an ever-expanding world of words and sounds.

Children with APD struggle in classroom situations and at home and can appear to act out or tune out when dealing with parents, teachers, and other children. Impulsive, inattentive, or aggravated behavior in a child with APD is usually not the direct result of hyperactivity or attention deficit, it's an expression of feelings of confusion, frustration and failure coming from a perfectly intelligent growing person who is repeatedly not understanding and not being understood. Also, ADD and ADHD may respond to medication while APD does not.

2: What kind of testing would a child need to undergo to determine they have APD?/ How early can it be recognized?

LOIS: Testing for APD involves evaluating auditory processing – the ability to transfer and translate sound into information within their brain – and determining if and to what extent an APD handicaps or restrict an individual child's ability to communicate, learn, and deal with emotions. That's a lot to consider. A full APD assessment involves testing, interviews, and a process of elimination that looks at several different areas of an individual child's life.

First, an Audiologist tests the child for hearing loss – problems with the physical act of hearing, rather than the processing of sound within the brain. Once hearing loss is ruled out, a Speech-Language Pathologist like myself works with the Audiologist and explores whether a child may have an APD by looking at the way the child uses speech, language and listening skills through audiological (APD) and speech and language testing. Getting a complete picture also involves parents and teachers filling out a checklist questionnaire detailing aspects of the child's behavior in school and at home. Additional information from psychological and educational tests helps distinguish APD from other diagnoses such as AD/HD and PDD.

It's a lot of information requiring a collaboration between the Audiologist and the Speech-Language Pathologist and input from several specialists including the most important and unfortunately sometimes overlooked child specialist – the parent. But, once that detailed diagnosis is complete, appropriate interventions and therapies best suited to an individual child can begin immediately.

Because so much happens physically and developmentally in the first half decade of a child's life and children grow and mature at different rates through those years, a conclusive diagnosis of Auditory Processing Disorder cannot be made until a child is around seven years old. APD screening by the Audiologist and the Speech-Language Pathologist looks at listening behavior and communication skills. Testing these abilities in children under six just doesn't yield definitive and reliable enough results to form a complete APD diagnosis. Nevertheless, if a parent suspects their 6 and under child is struggling with listening and comprehension, testing by a Speech-Language Pathologist can help suggest intervention strategies to build listening and language skills before a precise APD diagnosis gets made. If you feel that your child is challenged by listening at any age, have him or her evaluated by a Speech-Language Pathologist. The developmental path from hearing to listening to effectively understanding and using language begins at birth and early intervention is very important if any listening or hearing roadblocks develop as a child grows from infant to toddler to pre-teen and beyond.

3: Is this a disorder that can be "cured" or will a child outgrow it or is it lifelong?

LOIS: The bad news about APD is that there is no cure. The good news is that once an APD is appropriately and accurately diagnosed it will usually respond well, even dramatically, to treatment. Targeted intervention using strategies for helping the APD child learn to listen and understand language to the best of their ability can work wonders. After an APD diagnosis is made a Speech-Language Pathologist formulates specific intervention goals and strategies tailored to specific listening and language weaknesses and difficulties identified during testing and evaluation. Once we know a child's individual problem areas and deficiencies in processing auditory information, we can map out a plan to address and minimize the impact those deficiencies have at school, at home and at play.

A child with an APD needs to "build their listening muscles." Since listening and using language is something children do in every part of their lives, parents, teachers and the therapist share the responsibility for helping a child to strengthen those listening skills. Specific accommodations and changes to the child's school and home environment are also part of most APD intervention plans as is yearly follow-up testing by an audiologist.

4: How does one explain APD to the child diagnosed? (Say for a child in the 7-11 age range)

LOIS: Like any serious conversation you have with a child, explaining an APD diagnosis requires that you be honest and give a clear and simple description that's appropriate to your child's age and experience. A parent might begin with "Tommy, you know how when the classroom gets noisy and the teacher gives a homework assignment, sometimes you don't hear it correctly even though you were listening? This is something called Auditory Processing. It has nothing to do with being smart or hearing well. You are smart and you hear just fine. Sometimes it just becomes harder to listen. We're going to learn ways to help you learn to listen even better so that it won't be so hard."

Letting your child know that you are going to face this challenge together is as important as keeping your explanation honest, simple and rooted in actual experiences. Your child will feel more secure knowing that his or her parent or parents are partners and will be learning new skills and exploring new territory together. Helping a child with APD understand that everyone struggles with something can also make things easier. I often counsel parents to remind their child of things that are fun and come easily to them and to share a struggle that the parent has had and still sometimes works to overcome.

5: What are simple things a parent can do at home to make the sound quality better for an APD child?

LOIS: Children with APD have a very difficult time listening in environments with a lot of extraneous noise. We're all bombarded by sound 24/7 and for a child with an APD even a seemingly innocuous sound that few of us consciously register like a scraping chair or a sneeze can cause or increase confusion. I'm not suggesting that parents keep their children out of all noisy environments and maintain complete silence at all times. Parents do however need to be aware that dealing effectively with noise and the problems it causes for children with APD begins at home and that they have the power to make enormously helpful common sense choices that will address their child's listening needs. Any home can be made less noisy and more comfortable for a child who struggles with listening. Think about the individual rooms in your home.

Is one room noisier than another because of outside traffic? Do the sounds of appliances like a dishwasher or running the sink make your kitchen a particularly loud place? Do you eat dinner with the television or radio on or is there a TV on in several rooms in your house or apartment? Once you realize that background noise interferes with your child getting all the auditory information they need, you can begin to gauge where the noisiest places are in your home and in your life together and begin to make adjustments. Turn the TV off. Make an effort to conduct important learning activities and conversations and give directions in quieter rooms. Perhaps your kitchen isn't the best place to deliver detailed instructions. Think about how you speak to your child.

Do you talk to them from another room or from a great distance away? Do you shoehorn your child into alternating conversations with several people in the family or while talking on the phone? A child with APD needs the advantage of focused, face-to-face, one on one conversation. Cutting down on unnecessary background noise and cross talk will help them understand and participate in the conversation and benefit from the words you share.

6: How is communication different for an APD child? What do they process (or not process in a sentence) vs. what the average child would?

LOIS: Listening is such a varied and pervasive skill that an APD may adversely affect a child in several ways. If a child has difficulty with what's called "Auditory Attention" they may miss the beginning of a sentence and have to guess at a word or meaning to fill in the piece that they didn't catch. If the child's difficulty is a matter of "Auditory Discrimination" they may confuse similar sounding words. For instance, when their teacher says what sounds like, "she went to the dog," when in fact what was actually said was, "she went to the door," though the child knows the sentence didn't make any sense the way they heard it, a girl or boy with an APD still has to stop and think about it. While they're doing that repair work on their own, their teacher continues and the child then misses whatever information comes next.

If a child has what's identified as "Figure-Ground" difficulty, words and sounds will cut in and out or get canceled out by background noise such as another child's cough, a door closing, or a lawn mower running outside the school building. For these children extraneous noises most of their peers ignore are just as prominent as the words the child is expected to hear and understand. Any one of these situations can wreak havoc on verbal comprehension, understanding instructions and participating in conversations. Constantly having to think over what they thought or believe they heard and mentally repair mistakes, sorting out jumbled sentences, and asking for words to be repeated is incredibly demanding for a child. Children with APD simply become exhausted, frustrated by most verbal communication and quickly lose interest.

A child without APD who has typical auditory processing abilities doesn't shoulder these burdens. With no additional barriers to listening effectively, he or she is understands a message appropriately and in context without all that extra confusion and struggle and is free to communicate clearly and happily throughout the day.

7: How can parents become better listeners for an APD child?

LOIS: A few guidelines:

Try to speak to your child on the same physical level. When talking to your child, face-to-face always works best. There are all sorts of visual cues we take for granted in conversation. For a child who is learning and struggling with listening, the more they can see of your mouth, face and body language, the more advantage they'll have in paying attention and getting your meaning.

Give your child your full attention when she or he speaks. Your focus on what they are saying will work miracles.

Make eye contact and demonstrate with your expression that you are interested in what your child is telling you.

Listen patiently. Children with APD often take extra time to choose words and think about the meaning of what's been said.

Try not to interrupt your child before he or she has finished speaking. What's common courtesy amongst adults is a vital stepping-stone for a child learning to communicate effectively.

Remember that you are always teaching your child through your behavior. A child that is listened-to will become a good listener. Parents who work at being a better listener themselves help their children to do the same. Children return the respect they receive – not just to you but to anyone they engage with at home, school or play.

8: Are there simple things parents of an APD child can ask the child's teacher/school to do in order to help meet a child's needs?

LOIS: If your child has a diagnosed disorder, accommodations and recommendations will be outlined in their school system mandated Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). Even if your child does not have these accommodations detailed in an educational plan there are some simple and highly effective things that teachers can do to help your child do their best.

They include:

Arrange preferential seating – moving your child to a place in the classroom where the teacher can be seen and best heard during instructional time can work wonders.

Reduce classroom noise – especially while the teacher is giving lessons and directions. This can range from simply asking and waiting for quiet before saying anything important, to installing sound dampers on the tips of chair legs and other physical classroom modifications that minimize distracting noise.

Use closed captioning when showing videos and DVDs

Repeat and rephrase questions and comments from other children during class discussions

Implement a one-voice rule during discussions to avoid more than one speaker at a time creating cross talk.

Write homework assignments on the blackboard in addition to giving out the assignments verbally.

Many teachers may not have had a child with APD or listening challenges in their classroom before. It's important that parent and teacher work together to learn the best ways to help and support your child in their classroom.

9: As reading plays an important role in communicating with APD children, can you recommend some books that you've found most helpful?

LOIS: Books are an indispensable tool for expanding any child's perspective of the world and allowing them to experience new concepts, new words and new uses of language they would not otherwise encounter. Hearing stories read aloud is one of the most powerful ways for a child to develop and strengthen their listening and communicating skills. I list a variety of age and developmentally appropriate books in THE SOUND OF HOPE, but really almost any book is a "good" book if it captures your child's interest and helps the two of you form a bond of mutual curiosity and share a dual flight of imagination together. The children's librarian at your local library is another good resource for books appropriate to your child's age and interest level.

Having read to my two children as they grew up at home and worked with hundreds of children with listening issues in my clinical and therapeutic work, the books I've grown to love the best are classic fairy tales. The stories may be simple but they run deep through generations of re-telling, contain characters that have remained compelling for hundreds of years, and describe situations and concepts that are relevant and capture a child's (and adult's) imagination. The only children's books I caution about are one's that are too firmly based in characters and stories from other media. Children may like the familiarity of a TV or movie tie-in book, but those stories have already been shaped and defined on screen and can limit a child's imagination, ideas and choices. But again, any book that keeps your child interested and the two of you turning the pages together is fine.

10: What is one thing you would like to tell parents who suspect their child might have APD? Conversely, what is one thing you tell kids newly diagnosed with APD?

LOIS: I would tell parents to trust their instincts and seek help right away. Parents usually sense when there is something not quite right with their child's development even if they can't put their finger on precisely what it is or decide on their own what to do about it. If you suspect there is an issue with your child's listening and learning skills, don't wait; an evaluation will help you confirm if your child's skills are developing appropriately and give you peace of mind. Help is always available for children and finding the right help will make all the difference. Parents who suspect their birth to three-year-old child might have APD or a listening challenge should call their local Health Department for an Early Intervention evaluation. For a suspected problem with a child 3-5 or school age, they should call their school district's Department for Special Services and request a speech and language evaluation.

For a child diagnosed with APD the one thing I work hard to make them understand is that they are not alone. With the help of their parents and teachers, together we can and will find ways to make listening, learning and talking a whole lot easier and a whole lot of fun just like they should be!