My Anne Ford Scholarship Essay

Happy holidays everyone! I hope you all are having a somewhat relaxing and very safe break. Something I have been working on and submitted yesterday was my Anne Ford Scholarship essay with a chance to win a $10,000 scholarship for college! It's a contest for anyone who is a senior in high school with a learning disability and plans to go to a four year college. Here is more information on the scholarship at this website: http://www.ncld.org/about-us/learning-disability-scholarships-awards/anne-ford-allegra-ford-scholarships#anne

  I just wanted to share the essay I wrote with you!

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"What does Mrs. Jones mean we will be bent tomorrow?" I thought to myself.
"I don't get it?" I asked my friend.
"We are presenting tomorrow?" she responded, laughing as she walked away after the bell.
"Oh, wow" I thought, shaking my head. 

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) can be confusing to understand. The best way to explain it is this. Our five senses are touching, smelling, hearing, seeing, and tasting. All of my five senses work just fine. APD does have the “auditory” in it, which has to do with hearing. The processing part is my brain. My brain and ears don’t work well together, and my brain doesn’t process all the gazillion things I hear correctly. It’s like if someone is half sleeping. They can hear fine, but their brain isn’t fully on. That’s what I deal with on a daily basis, but use strategies to be successful and get around this day to day battle.

It was several years before I was accurately diagnosed with APD. I was adopted so my biological history isn’t available. In fourth grade I took ADD medication and attended speech therapy classes. In sixth grade I had an Individual Education Program, but I didn’t understand why. It wasn’t until seventh grade that I was accurately diagnosed with APD.

It took me practice asking for assistance, and now I can proudly announce that self-advocating is a huge achievement and tool. I now understand why advocating leads to success in life. All it took was a little push from a middle school teacher. At conferences my sophomore math teacher said to my mom, “Your daughter’s questions are helpful because I know she is asking questions the class isn’t.” We never thought this would come from a teacher's mouth. I confidently can raise my hand and ask for help. I utilize the opportunity to go in for extra help or clarification. Teachers love talking about their subjects so much that they tend to speak too fast, so I try to repeat what they say to let them know what I processed. Other times, I flat out tell them that “I am still confused”.

I must consistently remind my teachers of the accommodations they have to provide for me under my 504 plan. “Please use your microphone," "May I have a copy of the notes, please?” “I really need to sit in the front row," “Remember, I take my tests in an isolated setting?” At first, I was timid about reminding teachers. I felt like I was nagging my teachers, but eventually, I realized how relieved and excited they were when I approached them. Teachers have numerous things to do for their 100 plus students, and frankly, I will never be their number one priority. Once I do give them a friendly nudge, however, I am able to achieve greater academic success.

Another way that I have helped myself and others is by writing and sharing. One of my best friends who blogs, encouraged me to blog about my learning disability. I always knew I was an above average writer, and loved the idea of blogging about APD so I gave in and started blogging. I did not expect to get so many hits. Not only do I get people throughout America who stumble upon my blog, but I have people from all over the world who follow it. The link to my blog is apdwarrior17.blogspot.com, and many parents believe I am an APD warrior because I inspire and help them. I get responses saying, “You are such an inspiration!”. These comments give me a warm feeling because I am doing what I love -- helping people. I should thank my readers because they are truly my inspiration. My readers made me realize by helping people understand the way I am wired helps me understand how wonderful I am despite my learning difficulty.

Kids worldwide are intrigued by my blog when their parents tell them about it. They often say that they want to be like me. One parent told me that his daughter printed out a blog of mine and would hold onto it and read it before bed. I am a role model for the kids, and parents as well. Parents who don’t know about disabilities usually have many worries of how awful and difficult it will be for their child. I am able show them the ropes and it is not so bad. There are tools to use to navigate around the difficult things.

My knowledge of the feelings a learning disability can give will go to Susquehanna University with me where I plan to major in Child Life. When I am older, I dream of helping children and their families cope with challenges of being hospitalized because of illness or a disability. My love and compassion for children who have challenges makes my heart beat loud as I want to do all I can to help. While my family is better off than many others, my father retired and my brother is in college. I feel that it is my duty to carry my share of the costs of college and become more self reliant -- just as I learned how to advocate for myself. Applying and receiving scholarships for college is my way of chipping in so I can continue my education successfully with flying colors.

These are all ways I help myself and others worldwide get to what we want to do with our countless skills. I hope my writings and actions help people understand APD and what other learning difficulties are like. There is good behind everyone despite a little day to day battle they may face. With methods for getting around my battle of APD I am able to accomplish things in life I strive to get to at the end of each day. My life experiences in managing my LD taught me many lessons that I will continue to share with others on their individual journeys.

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I'd love to hear what you think of it! Wish me luck in winning! :-)  

A Fun Way to Learn Vocabulary -- Imagine That!

If you’ve ever had an iPhone or iPad, I’m going to guess that the game “Words With Friends” is familiar to you! I think you can play it through Facebook now too. It’s a pretty popular game, and now there is “Hanging With Friends”, and “Scramble With Friends.” It’s not supposed to be an educational game. It’s just supposed to be another app that steals your money and time, and sucks you into the fun. These games do steal your money, and suck you into the fun, but I’ve kind of found also that they are educational. I highly encourage kids that struggle with vocabulary to play them!
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Let me explain these three games to you. “Hanging With Friends” is essentially Hangman, and you are given 5 balloons that you are hanging from. Each time you don’t guess a word correctly (you’re given only 5 letters that you can get wrong), one of your balloons will pop. The first one to fall loses. “Scramble With Friends” is basically a 4 by 4 grid with random letters, and you have to find words within the grid, and you receive points for different combinations. “Words With Friends” is exactly like scrabble. You get 7 letters, and have to make words off of other words played by your friend playing, and you receive a certain amount of points per turn. Each letter has a different amount of points, and sometimes you can land on a “bonus” part of the playing board and get more points that way.

ANYWAYS. These game have helped my vocabulary. I wasn’t at all expecting to learn new words because my memory tends to quickly forget stuff that I’m not interested in. BUT, since the games “suck me into the fun” I pay attention more because they interest me. I am very competitive, and like winning. I want to know how whomever I am playing against came up with such a funky looking word. So, I study the word and sometimes they are words I have never heard of. I’ll message them and ask “What kind of word is that??” and they tell me, or I’ll just look it up myself. But truthfully I am lazy sometimes and don’t do either of those, but I do ponder upon the word and wonder what it means. What normally happens then is I start to recognize the new funky looking word, and see or hear it in different places. Even though I may not know the meaning of it, seeing and hearing it in different scenarios helps me puzzle together what it may mean by seeing it in different contexts. It helps me recognize new words which is helpful for me! Just recognizing them is a start, and many times I am able to figure out what it means. Cool, huh?

Honestly, learning vocabulary in school is way harder to remember than the word games I play. In school, I am given a lesson of ten words each week, and have to complete a worksheet of the ten words to practice using them. After we are given three lessons, we have a test on it. I know, ew! Not offense English teachers, but I really don’t learn the vocabulary because it’s not fun or interesting to me. Sorry. It’s not you, it’s me :-D. I’ll memorize them for the test, but wouldn’t be able to pass that same test three days after. I’m not saying if you were to quiz me on the words in the word games I play that I would remember all of those, but I am learning and recognizing new words from the game which is pretty cool!

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These games are fun, but they also have helped me recognize new words and sometimes I am able to puzzle what they mean out after seeing and hearing the same weird words in different scenarios. It’s FUN! Get playing :-D

Echo, Echo, Echo!

Happy Holidays everyone! It’s that time of year again. So exciting! The family time, visiting relatives, the giving of presents, and my personal favorite -- Treats!!! Speaking of treats, it’s that time of year where most people have to work extra hard to keep in-shape because they are eating so many yummy treats! -- Or maybe that’s just me :D. I went to a yoga class the other day which surprisingly was pretty hard. Hard not because of the yoga poses, but because it was hard to understand the instructor. It was SO echoey, and was very hard to follow instructions! It was hard when I played basketball, too. What-wha-t Did-id-d you-ou-u say-say-say?
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I’ve always had a hard time in echoey locations. I played a lot of basketball in my life, and never liked the echo feeling I hear, and the confusion from echoey spots like basketball and yoga for a few reasons.

First, echoey areas are always LOUD! For anyone it is loud, but everything is amplified for me and other people with APD! My ears ring a lot in these types of settings because it’s so loud. Then, if my ears ring, I feel a little anxious just like anything that bothers me, but obviously I don’t act out about it or anything. Think about it though... My basketball tournaments, where there’s more than one game going on in the same gym, can get SUPER echoey. Talk about a headache. Coaches screaming, fans screaming, four or five basketballs bouncing, shoes squeaking on the “squeaky” clean basketball courts, and teammates getting excited all at the same time all in the same location is equivalent to L-O-U-D, LOUD! In the yoga setting it wasn’t screeching loud because let’s be honest... It’s yoga.

I did have a hard time following the yoga instructor though (I’m going to call her “Kim” for the sake of referring to her as a short name rather than the long name “yoga instructor” haha). The constant breaking and repeating of words caused by the bouncing off the walls in the small yoga gym on top of new words, after the words I am still trying to process, are coming at me are both hard to process. (Does that make sense?) It took me a few moments more to process what she had to say than everyone else as I saw everyone going into the pose faster. I could catch myself and understand in the moment that I was processing the information a little later than when Kim spoke the instructions. It was kind of neat to be able to pick up on when I was able to process it. I could literally feel myself process the information slower.

With that said, processing the chaotic sounds and putting them together is not easy, and sometimes I’m not able to put them together in especially echoey spots. It’s like a bunch of dust particles floating in the air and trying to catch it and keep it in your hand. Very hard. It may stay in your hand for a split second, but then it’s gone. That’s what happens with me. I’m able to put the sounds together, but then it falls apart quickly like a puzzle does. And when that happens I do not feel like putting the a thousand piece puzzle back together, and the echo’s I hear do not at all make my decision change! Echoes just don’t help and only make things worse. I just want to hear/process words once, and would love it if it wouldn’t overlap because my whole world is an overlapping echo. That’s what I hear on a daily basis in my head -- echoes. When there’s actually an echo, it’s two times the echo. It’s like I’m processing things out loud with the echo in the air, and in my head and can’t choose which one to listen to. So Kim’s instructions were hard because it was all verbal, but I was able to look up to see what she was doing to see it visually. In basketball though it was all verbal. I’d hear instructions, mainly yelling from the sidelines from my coach with no visual to put it with. I’d literally be dribbling the ball and say “What!?” or look at them with a puzzled look. Don’t get me wrong, I love basketball but it was hard with my APD. (That is not why I stopped playing to be clear. I stopped because I loved field hockey more!)

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That was a longer blog than expected, but wanted to explain it to the best of my ability! Hopefully you understood a little glimpse into my world! As always, I love your questions!

How I Manage My Homework

Hey everyone! Long time, no blog haha. I really haven’t had much time to write a blog in a while. My apologies. Senior year has been quite the experience, but a good one so far! I ended my field hockey season placing second in division two! If you didn’t know, there are four divisions and division one is the best. But anyways! I am sitting on an airplane so decided this is a great time to write a blog. You are probably wondering how I am able to balance everything with school, right? -- Well if your not, I’m going to talk about it anyways, haha.
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So here we go. I usually have 2-3 hours of homework a night at the most right now (and fingers crossed that it doesn’t get any longer!). I am now done with field hockey season, so that has freed up my schedule a lot. I do lots of babysitting now, and that has taken up most of my time with school work too now. 

Doing My Homework NOT at Home:

What I have come to realize is doing homework NOT at home has been a big help. Not that I don’t like my home or anything, but I am more productive when I am away from any distractions that I might be tempted to linger towards. For example, the television (and I don’t really watch t.v but it is something other than homework), getting distracted by my very adorable puppy, my family doing whatever they may do, and stuff like that. I also just know if I’m away from my house doing homework, and had a plan to DO homework somewhere else that I will do homework wherever I go. 

These places include the library, Starbucks (but Starbucks can get loud if you don’t have headphones on), my school library or guidance office, and my moms office. Now, many of you probably have kids that cannot drive and stay by themselves in these places. If you have a nice quiet office around your child’s homework time, it really is beneficial to go there. You parents can be in the next room working on whatever yourself, and be right there for your child if he/she would have any questions. Same goes for the library, Starbucks, or any of these places. I have to say, it's extremely helpful for me, and I take advantage of this

A plan of the Time I Spend on Homework:

I give myself a time of how long I will work on homework as well which helps me be productive. It helps so I don’t have to look at the fact that I have English, Math, and Science to do. I look at time instead. For example, I’ll tell myself that I will do homework for 2 hours, from 7pm-9pm.

NOTICE: I did not say that I would work on math for an hour, and science for another. Just “homework” for two hours. For me, that is a stressful thing to say. I was never a fan of timed-tests or anything like that. If you just say homework, that will give you, or your child a wide chunk of time to work on whatever they want for however long it will take them. Reading may take longer than Math will, so be careful of those little words so you don’t stress yourself or your child out.

For younger kids you may say 45 minutes or an hour. -- Whatever they may have left after that time, give them at least 15 minute break or whatever you think in reasonable to your child’s needs before you quickly finish up whatever. OR if they have a sports practice or something, continue after that. I usually give myself enough time for a “bathroom break”, fix a snack, sit down and play a quick game on my phone, and then that usually relaxes my brain. -- The game is important though. I know it gives me a processing break from all of the school stuff I’ve been processing for those 2 hours. VERY helpful! BUT make sure you don’t spend another 45 minutes or however long you spent initially on homework if you notice you or your child is not able to focus very well. Enough is enough. I know it’s important for your child to finish all the homework, but you will only make them tired for the next day and he or she will have a hard time focusing in school. For those parents that are experts about APD, you will then know the tired cycle will begin, and your kid will get behind if you don’t give your child enough down time.

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So, those are my two big things I do to manage my time for doing homework, and doing homework well. I hope this is helpful, and as always I love your questions!

Neurocore (Brain training)

Hey everyone! I have been so busy this summer, and it was a really great one. I didn't really have much to say on my blog this summer, and decided not to brag too much about how awesome it was =) One thing I will brag about this summer is that my mom signed me up for Neurocore! Let me try to explain it in the simplest way....

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What is it?
So what Neurocore is, is a brain training exercise essentially. It trains your brain, your breathing and heart to all work nicely together. A lot of people come in for ADHD, ADD, anxiety, and learning disabilities. I am going through Neurocore because of anxiety and my learning disability, Auditory processing disorder. http://www.drsuber.com/neurocore.html

What do the appointments look like?
Ok, so when my mom first told me about this I was thinking... "Oh great.. So I'm going to have to take all these tests and exercises that will remind me of school... Ugh, no thanks" But, to my surprise the appointments are SO fun! The first 5 minutes is a breathing training exercise, while wearing a breathing belt which is just a velcro strap around your stomach, and wearing this thingy on your finger that takes your heart rate.. The next part... This is the most dreadful part, especially for kids (just kidding!), you watch a movie of your choice that you can bring in for 50 minutes. How awesome is that appointment! How it helps is that there are two ear pieces hanging from your ear lobes, and another thing on top of your head and everytime your brain goes off when it shouldn't, the video seems glitchy. When that happens your brain will say "Oh, I liked that, go back!". Ok maybe it won't actually "say" that but that's how your brain will be trained. The last part is a "cool down" which is 90 seconds of just relaxing. Sound ok to you?

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Now I have heard many many good things about this program. I am hoping it will help with both anxiety and my Auditory Processing Disorder. I have only gone through a few appointments so far, so I haven't been able to look at my progress yet. I am really excited to "train my brain" without any boring doctors appointments, or awful medications. I will definitely let you all know after the program how it has gone, and if it has actually helped, but I'm pretty sure it will! I know I didn't give you an educational lecture about Neurocore, but this is the gist of it. Take a peak at the video and online, and I'm sure you'll find yourself quickly getting your child into an appointment. I wouldn't recommend you something if I didn't think it would be helpful! Let me know if you have any questions at all!

My Buddy!

I finally finished my junior year of high school! I am free!!! The last few weeks of school were a bit rough going for me to say the least. The stress of all the homework teachers kept demanding, final exams, and how I was going to finish all of that in just a short amount of time. I just wanted time to freeze so I could not be running a thousand miles per hour all the time. But now it’s done! I don’t have all that stress on my shoulders! Not only school being done has helped, but my new puppy has helped immensely!

My puppy’s name is Buddy. He’s about 14 weeks old now. He is a Havanese puppy, and he is literally my Buddy! My mom got him for me thinking he would help me with my stress, and to distract myself when I am feeling overwhelmed and stressed. I have to say, I never thought a puppy would help me so much with my stress! By me taking care of him, I get to watch this little puppy be so cute, and at the same time be responsible for him. I let him out when I get up, I feed him, I train him (I already taught him how to sit!-- We are working on “staying”), and I love him! He has been the biggest help for me, and I got a bonus that he’s really adorable.

Havanese dog’s are a type of dogs that get REALLY into their owner. They are a type that LOVES I mean LOVES people. Buddy is very smart, too. He acts like a little kid, and maybe that’s also why I like him so much (I love kids!). Havanese dogs don’t shed. Buddy truly has the best personality for me!

They always say that dog’s are a “Man’s best friend”. It’s scary how accurate that is. I promise you Buddy was the smartest addition to our family. I have a cat, and a yellow lab, too. But Buddy just completed it. He kind of makes everyone happier in the family. I suggest getting a puppy like buddy for yourself, your family, and your kids!! Again, emphasising how much help he’s given me, Buddy is My Best Buddy :). Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Auditory Processing Awareness Day (in Minnesota)!!!

Today is APD awareness day in Minnesota. I'm so glad they have an awareness day, because if they didn't, I was about to start one myself! Think I'm kidding? It's hard to explain APD to someone in conversation, because you can't explain it in depth so they are missing a whole bunch of stuff about APD. If you've ever tried explaining it to someone, you know what I mean. It's the the most exiting and fun thing to do. I want APD to be heard not just in Minnesota, but everywhere all over the world. Have you ever felt like no one understands you? With the silent disorder I have, I feel like this all the time. If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, sister brother, husband, wife, or a friend of someone that has APD it would make us SO heard if you put awareness out there. I'm betting so many people will just read this and say "Awwww. How thoughtful." Then they will think about doing something, and then "never have time to get to it". Don't be that percentage of people who doesn't do anything. Make your Facebook status "APD Awareness Day of breaking the silent Disorder", post a picture of an ear, a child in school, or whatever and post it to your Facebook, tumblr, or whatever website you wish, or send out an email with the photo and some nice words. This would only mean the WORLD to me and my APD friends. It's awful when I feel this feeling of not being understood and heard. At least 5 times a day I say to myself "They don't understand" or "Ugh, no one cares what I'm trying to say". You can at least change spread the word and I'm sure NUMEROUS of kids and their parents would feel so special someone "hears" them. :-)

Thankyou so much readers :-). Now time for me to get back to the beach!

-apdwarrior17

My World Without Noise

Can you imagine yourself with no noises around you? Can you imagine except for the noises you may make? I can imagine it, and I can also live it with my amazing headphones. All the gazillion noises just shut off, except for the sounds I may make and my music a love. Best feeling ever is when I put my headphones on because I CAN take a break from all the access noises that I run into hourly. Even though they were expensive to buy (90$) they have made my world completely different for me and relieving.
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Parents and siblings are gonna like this one... My dad and mom can watch t.v in the same room as I am in while I’m working on homework! It doesn’t bother me once I put my headphones on, and it makes everyone happy. I don’t get angry that the t.v is on because I can’t hear it, so I’m not distracted. It’s awesome for all of us. Another thing that changes is that my family can have a conversation while I’m working on homework and I can barely hear their words.

At school, I can listen to music during individual work time in my classes. -- Now this doesn’t fly with some teachers, but this year all my teachers are pretty chill about it. I honestly love love love the sound of NOTHING except music and especially at school because school is where the most noises, side conversations, and random unheard of outbursts take place. And all of those loud obnoxious fans... Yeah those too are out of my ears and head. I can concentrate so much better. If your teacher doesn’t allow music, you should definitely show them my blog, or write an explanation why it should be allowed (because music should be allowed during “quiet” work time, or at least that’s what it’s called).
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I strongly suggest getting a really good pair of headphones. It would be worth every penny you put into them, I promise.Sound cancelling would be the best! I don't have sound cancelling, but they work just as well! The headphones I have are called Klipsch S4i (The number one in Klipsch headpones). I hope you invest in some of these! They would be wonders for people with APD.

Being on Sport Teams Has Buffed Me Up!

As I am sitting in school looking around me I see a lot of kids with sport t-shirts on. My school’s athletic program is HUGE and very well recognized. Not to mention our football team won five state championships in a row while our in-a-row ended this year. But anyways, I have been playing soccer since I was a five year old little girl. I have participated in sports for 12 years now (soccer, baseball/softball, basketball, one year of girls lacrosse, snowboarding and field hockey). I am very athletic and love sports. Not to mention I received All-State second team for field hockey this year! Being a part in sports teams has only been a positive experience for me and continues to stay that way.

Expressing Myself With The Team:
Sports, and right now Field hockey gives me a way to express my emotions. Anger, excitement, frustration, how strong I can be, and other emotions. Verbally emotions don’t come out the way I plan them to. Mentally, up in my head they spin like crazy, but a lot of times I don’t know what they mean. Physically, when I have the option, they just take off and fly. In sports there are many emotions left out on the field, the court, or in the pool. In my case, it’s on the field playing on my field hockey team. It's one thing to express these emotions alone, but another thing to express them with others. My team wins together, laughs together, sings together, cries together, yells together, and gets frustrated together. Together, together, together.. Everything is TOGETHER. I don’t have to try to express myself alone anymore because I have a team to do this with. I often find myself not expressing myself very well when I am at home, with friends, and especially in the school environment I am sitting in right now (but when I write, like I am now...Well that's a different story!). I don’t really know why it is, but I do recognize my emotions inside, but that doesn't do me or anyone else much good. So, having a team and a sport to express myself is a huge help! We are not a bunch of mini cliques like some teams at my clique-filled school has. We are one BIG clique, but an unusual clique because we let anyone in that wants to be a part as well and I am very proud to say that I am one of the captains that makes this happen.

The Nasty Social Situations Only Made/Makes Me Stronger:
Yes, I have endured many uncomfortable situations on some teams and yes I´ve been put down sometimes, but that has made me only that much stronger. You never want to see your children go through that pain, but really in the end there are great results. (Look at who I am now! I never on the face of this Earth thought that I would ever write a blog about Auditory Processing Disorder and become this strong about explaining it.) I mean think about it... If you never introduce your children to social settings or shelter them to what you believe is going to be a bad social situation, why complain that they have a hard time socially? Yeah, they might have it harder than most people, but if you shelter them from this, how will they ever learn? One day they will be on their own and will need to know what to do.

My Social Skills Have Improved:
I am not the outgoing one, or the talkative story teller, but I have developed lots of skills from being on sports teams. I have learned through my team how to communicate with different types of people. Although I don´t communicate as well as most people, I have improved my social skills immensely. When to say what, when to laugh, when to make a joke, etc... Appropriate timing of when to ______ was a hard concept for me as a child, and today I still mess up, but that’s just the APD I can’t control barking at me. BUT I do have to say, from the times I do mess up I know how to cover it up. Someone- “What did you have for lunch?” Me- “Um, I had like a salad with ugh chicken on it” Someone- “So a chicken ceaser salad? (giggles from people)” Me- “You just one the lottery! (giggles from people)” or “Well, that’s what I meant (giggles from people)”. I turn those “awkward” mistakes around with a little humor. Gotta say, it works like a charm! 

My Confidence Level Jumped:

School isn't my thing, and usually is a huge burden... I try to imagine myself not being involved in a sport, and I can't because who would I be? It's something I LOVE verses school which I can HATE sometimes. Sports come easy for me and then on the flip side there is school which does not come easy at all! Recognizing my talents in sports gives me a lot of confidence in myself. It let's me know and say that I am in fact GOOD at something. I can't imagine going through life disliking and just finding all the tasks I do to be hard. I wouldn't have much confidence in myself, would you? I know I wouldn't. I deal with enough daily hard tasks and it's tiring. Sports are fun BECAUSE they come natural for me. Having confidence in life is very important for everyone to have! 

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If there is anything that has helped me, it has been being a part of a team. If it isn’t a sport team, maybe it’s drama, or a church group, but “team building” is very important and great practice for everyone, but especially people with APD.

"I promise you that for every disability you have, you are blessed with more than enough abilities to overcome your challenges" – Nick Vujicic