Hello! Welcome to my very, first Weblog! My name is Megan. I am 12 years old. I was diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder a couple of years ago. It’s a disorder that causes my brain to think slower than other people my age. My brain is unable to take in information as quickly or as easily as everyone else’s brain does. I had a rough time living with my disorder for a long time, but I’m getting use to it now.

People use to look at me funny or make fun of me. I hated when people would treat me badly, just because I’m a little bit different. I’m not that different from every one else my age. I enjoy a lot of the same things that they do. I love to ride my bike, swim, and go to the movies.

Before my mom and I found out what is wrong with me, we traveling all over the place to see doctors. Once, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, ADD. I know you know what that is because half the kids in my class have ADD. CAPD is kinda like ADD. They have similar symptoms, which is why I was diagnosed with ADD in the first place. If you know someone with ADD then you may understand what I was like before getting help. I was restless, easily frustrated, had a short attention span, and never paid much attention to what people would say to me. I didn’t do those things on purpose; I really couldn’t help the way I acted. ADD and CAPD may have similar symptoms, but the disorders and their therapies are very different.

Unlike ADD, CAPD cannot be helped with Ritalin. I took Ritalin for a little while, but I hated it. I felt like a zombie on the stuff. Thankfully, I have a mom who really cares for me and knew that the pills weren’t working. She took me off the pills and searched for more options about what we could do to help my disorder. That’s when we met a doctor who sent me to have hearing tests. The ear doctor told me that I have CAPD and we have been working to help me deal with it for a while now.

I work with a speech teacher at school. She is so nice and friendly. I love it when I get to go to her class. We do exercises that will help me do better in my regular classes at school. Sometimes, the speech teacher gives me candy. I love it when she gives me candy. My speech teacher is the one that told me to create this weblog. I told her about how everyone treats me like I’m weird and that I didn’t like it. She said that it is because no one really understands what it is like to have CAPD. She said that I should create a weblog to explain what it’s like to live with my disorder. She said that if I worked really hard on it that we would show it to my class and maybe they wouldn’t treat me differently. She has been helping me a lot with it. She has given me all sorts of things to put in it and has helped me put them onto the computer.

Several of the things that I have included within my weblog will give you a better understanding about what it is like to be me, my family, and even my speech teacher; to live with or around CAPD.

I have a really good friend that is going to school to be a speech teacher. Her name is Valerie, but everyone calls her Val. She’s my brother’s girlfriend. She is really nice to me. She also has a weblog. Her weblog talks about the different things that she likes. If you would like to look at her weblog, click Val's Webliography.

I wrote a poem that tells everyone what it was like to visit doctor after doctor, waiting for someone to tell you what is wrong with you. It was a really rough time in my life. I remember getting so aggravated and frustrated. My mom did too. I read it to my class and they seemed to like it. My teacher told me that it was the best poem that she heard in years. If you want to read my poem, click poem. It is a really personal poem and I am really proud of it. Usually, I wouldn’t let strangers read my poems, but if it might cause you to treat me or someone like me better than it is worth it. I hope you like it.

There is a computer program called Fast Forword. The link connects you to a copy of the presentation that they make to try to sale the progam. This program is suppose to really help people with CAPD. I tried it for a little while and really liked it. The games and activities were really fun. But mom said that it was too expensive and things weren’t going as well with the program as she had hoped for. She said that we might try the program some other time, maybe when I get a little older, or we get more money.

Here is the Newsletter that my mom gets. This newsletter is for an organization called PCC. It is for parents with children of CAPD. I love this organization. I don’t care much for the newsletter, but I love when mom goes to a meeting or something. There are always a lot of kids around that are my age and we get to do all sorts of fun things. The best part is that all the kids like me for me. They have CAPD too so they don’t think that I’m weird. I love when I get to hand out with them.

My speech teacher let me have one of her Lesson Plans to put on my weblog. She said that it is important to let everyone get a good idea about the sorts of things that we do in therapy.

Here’s a Letter from my speech teacher to my mom. This is when I first started working with my speech teacher. She was trying to see if my mom wanted to come to school to visit with us. She did. Mom stopped by school one day and worked with me and my speech teacher. We had a lot of fun that day. It was fun at the time, but now mom talks to my speech teacher all the time. My speech teacher tells my mom when I’m not doing anything in class and I get in trouble. Sometimes mom makes me do some of the stuff that I work on in speech class at home. I don’t like that, but if it will make me better sooner than it is ok.

That is all of the stuff that I have in my weblog. I hope that you enjoyed it and I hoped you learned more about CAPD. I really hope that you will be nicer to people that you met that are a little bit different from you because you viewed my weblog. I hope to add things to this page soon. See ya later!! Have a good day!!

And remember to be nice to everyone!!

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To view references for MRP, click References.

Can't Believe it's Over!
As I finish this summer semester, I am filled with a rush of different emotions. Feelings of relief, accomplishment, anxiety, and sadness are just a few of the emotions that I have been dealing with. I have a huge feeling of accomplishment to finish the Multi-genre project and the CD 315 summer class, but I also have feelings of anxiety and sadness. The ending of this class only means one thing; that summer is officially over. The end of the summer session is where my feelings of sadness and anxiety are coming from. It’s so hard to believe that this class and summer is over!!! There are only a few more days until we begin the busy fall season. I am not going to stress about the busy fall semester yet. All I am going to do for the next week or so is allow myself to relax and have fun. The fall semester will begin early enough so there is no reason for me to worry about it. (Even though worrying is a created art in my family and in me!) For the next week, I will do nothing but fun stuff. I’m not sure what I will do, but I know I can think of something!! I advise everyone else to do the same as me. Relax and have fun that is.

Outcomes
As I mentioned earlier, I have a huge feeling of accomplishment by completing this project and class. I am really proud of everything that I have created in my weblog. I worked really hard to create every piece and to make them as realistic as I could. And if I do say so myself, I think that most of the pieces sound like they were actually written by the characters that I created. This is one of the most difficult projects that I have ever had to create, probable the most difficult. But, I did it! I wasn’t always sure about what the MRP was or what it was suppose to accomplish, but I understand completely now. Through the completion of this assignment, I have learned a great deal. I have learned more about Central Auditory Processing Disorders, computers, and, most importantly, I have gained a deeper appreciation for the people that I will be helping in the future. I know that the pieces that we created were fictional, but the situations and feelings within them are very real to some people. I have always been a very sympathic person, but this assignment has given me a since of the real lives that people with disorders endure. Not only have I gained empathy, but I have also gained strength. One of the things that I have been terrified about is that my emotions will get in the way of my job as an SLP in the future. I have been scared to death that I would carry my sympathic emotions into the clinic with me. I can’t be sure that this project will help me in clinic, but it has helped me realize that even though people have problems, they still have good lives. We are just working to make their lives a little easier and better. I can’t begin to explain how much that I have learned about the computer within this short, summer semester. Upon my entrance into this class, I knew nothing about computers. NOTHING! Now, I am able to do much more on the computer than I realized possible. The most important thing that I learned in this semester is that eventually assignments will come together. Honestly, I was really confused about the MRP until the very last minute. I don’t think that I fully understood it until about last week. If I had another chance to complete these assignments I know I could do a much better job, but I think I did really well considering this type of project was completely new to me. Another thing that I am really proud of is that I took this class in the summer. The decision to take this class in the summer was a difficult one, but I am so glad that I took it now. I can’t imagine taking this class in the fall. My decision to take this class in the summer makes me feel like one of the smartest people around!

Advice for future CD-315 patrons
1. Try your best to understand the project as much as you can before you begin or choose your essential question.
2. Never type anything onto your blog! Trust me, this will save you time, energy, and frustration.
3. Don’t procrastinate anything. There is too much to do for you to start procrastinating assignments.
4. Trust your work. Peer reviews can be intimidating, but remember that if you worked hard on a genre, it will show.
5. Try not to get overwhelmed with the assignment lists. They look long and difficult, but once you get started, you will realize that they look worse than they are.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!! If you are having difficulty or have a question, more than likely someone else will encounter the same problems at some point in the semester.
7. Don’t worry! I promise, it will all come together!