Able Kids Foundation's management program allows individuals with CAPD to manage their auditory environment more easily rather than it control them.
Able Kids Foundation's management plan incorporates strategies to improve one's ability to understand auditory information, to concentrate, and to feel less overwhelmed and/or exhausted in their daily environments. Recommendations are based on evidence and research and may include compensatory, filter, and FM system solutions.
Compensatory management is beneficial, and even necessary, for people with CAPD. Recommendations for home, school, work, and social settings can include preferential seating, working in quiet environments, written directions, wearing sound attenuating headphones and/or earplugs for concentration and quiet breaks, and receiving advance notice of schedule changes, etc. For students, these recommendations can be included in Section 504 and Individualized Education Plans (IEP) Plans.
The benefits of the passive filter for mitigating CAPD were discovered over thirty years ago. The passive filter synchronizes the ears together allowing for improved speech understanding. In a Foundation review of 1000 clients diagnosed with CAPD, the passive filter improved their ability to understand speech in the presence of background noise by 20%. This information can be found on our Resources Page.
FM systems are most commonly used in academic environments, allowing students to receive instruction on a more on-on-one basis. FM systems have been particularly helpful for college students attending classes in large lecture halls. Individualized and speaker FM systems have been recommended and used successfully for the management of CAPD for over forty years.
The Spoon Theory helps to convey why CAPD can be exhausting and why even routine activities are challenging at the end of the day. Some students may struggle with homework or forego activities after school because they do not have the energy to participate. Adults may not engage in activities with friends or family or be able to complete simple tasks. With appropriate management of their CAPD, individuals can "conserve" their spoons during the day.
“I don’t know how to thank you for everything. My daughter received her filter and it fits perfectly. She doesn’t even feel it. She noticed a difference immediately. It was so significant she started crying. She said she could hear us talking and that it was clear – very, very clear. She wears it from the time she gets up to the time she goes to sleep. She is taking very good care of it because she says it has changed everything. I can see a difference as well. She is more confident and able to participate in conversations. Her GPA went from a 2.0 to a 3.749 – enough to make it on honor roll. Thank you!”
We would never tell a blind student to go home every day and try harder to read a book, just as we should not tell an individual with CAPD to try harder to listen and focus during their day.
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724 Whalers Way, Building I, Suite 101
Fort Collins, CO 80525
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