u/JobAffectionate4078

Taking the temperature on design jobs in the Cincinnati area - agency or in-house… where are good/terrible roles, where is stable/unstable, what’s the current job market like?

my son (12 yo, 6th grade at a public middle school in the US) wears a low gain hearing aid for APD. This is connected to a HAT system at school. The school provides a teacher microphone that connects wirelessly to his personal hearing aid. The microphone is provided by the county and he has regular visits from an educational audiologist from the county.

we have had endless troubles this school year with the teacher microphone not being charged. I believe we worked out that a teacher is responsible for this. but it’s almost the end of the school year and yesterday it wasn’t charged and the charger wasn’t plugged into the wall. the educational audiologist has visited several times to check equipment and assist teachers in using it. my son told me at one point the educational audiologist was frustrated and firm with the teachers, so she is advocating for him.

wondering:

in others 504 plans, who is responsible for charging the teacher microphone. for clarity, the microphone is provided by our county, it does not belong to our family

does anyone take home a school owned device for charging? He would be more likely to keep it charged. he charges his hearing aid everyday.

does anyone own their own teacher microphone? it is an expense, but would assure it’s in good working order and charged daily.

I know policy wise the school is responsible for this. If they don’t do what it says in his 504, we can report problems (and have done this) and we could get a lawyer and all that. instead Of all that battling, I wonder if it would just be better to buy a microphone and have it be his property and his responsibility to charge it. The 504 would just say teachers will participate in using it.

any feedback, ideas, advice, alternatives appreciated… thanks!

I think it’s pretty typical for US public schoolers to be required to run a mile as part of PE.

my kids’ school turned this mile run into an event. parents come watch, followed by the yearly school picnic.

sounds OK at first, but each year when it rolls around, I’m reminded that many kids hate this day. one of my sons friends has so much anxiety about it, he hasn’t turned up the last few.

this year when I showed up, there was a lot of aggressive sports parent cheering. “pace yourself” “push yourself” “don’t stop” the worst was one mom screaming “you don’t cry” to her kid who was starting to cry while she finished the last leg of the race. followed by the mom laughing about it.

the few kids at the lead are having a good day. the top few boys and girls are rewarded. none of these kids achieved their running endurance from PE class. they’re playing organized sports in their free time and often are very long and light in their body build. The heavy and out of shape kids are in the back. now being asked to do this mile run in front of the whole school and everyone’s parents and grandparents.

not sure what I’m asking. is it good? bad? every year I go it feels kinda awful to witness. I sort of sit in a quiet spot and tell my kids that whatever they do is fine, it’s ok to walk. the majority of the kids kinda just go with it, jog and walk in the middle of the pack. curious what others think.

TO CLARIFY: this is their presidential fitness mile. Field day is a separate event. This is not a “fun run” in that there’s no obstacles, dance breaks, etc. b/c they’re following the guidelines to meet the run requirement for PE.

Looking for advice from teens/adults with APD/auditory fatigue:

I have a 12 yo with APD. At school he wears a low gain hearing aid and uses a HAT system that connects his hearing aid to a teacher microphone. He has a 504 with other accommodations that give him more support.

Auditory fatigue is a factor in his day to day. On a regular school day, he usually comes home and has an hour of a quiet house on his own to reset. He often wants/needs to hang out in his room and read and that gives him some quiet time to recover. Needs adequate sleep/rest, when he’s not rested his ability to function and process is much less. Will struggle to brush teeth, shower, take care of basic needs, follow directions when he is not well rested and has auditory fatigue.

He can at times have really significant auditory fatigue. One example is a school field trip that involved 2 hrs on the bus with very loud/excited kids. He was spent that evening… grouchy, not cooperative, has a hard time just doing what needs done like showering, brushing teeth. Another was a sleep over birthday party. stayed up late with a group of friends on a Saturday. Sunday completely wiped out. still took 2 more (school days) to recover his rest so he can keep up with processing effort needed to function day to day. The next opportunity for a sleep over, he opted out and we came up with an alternative that he’d go to the party until 9 and then we picked him up so he could sleep at home. On the extreme end- If he is sick or very tired, he can have major delays in responding or not respond at all.

Anyhow... next fall he will have the opportunity to do a 4 day/3 night school camping trip. Kids will sleep in bunk houses.

Questions for teens/Adults with APD and manage auditory fatigue:

* is an overnight school trip worth it? life experience vs coping with auditory fatigue?

* would asking for any accommodations for this trip be helpful? what accommodations?

* would an escape hatch be reassuring? We could tell him to call us and we can pick him up if he’s really miserable. (can plan this possibility advance with school)

also important to note- this is not just my concern as a mother … he is not sure he wants to go because he knows it’s really hard to function if he doesn’t get enough rest. If he was invited to just a regular 1 night sleep over right now, I think he would hesitate to go, maybe opt out or come up with a compromise.

i struggle to explain this to others. yes, other kids have sleep overs and are tired. but, there’s this other layer of auditory fatigue. of potentially using all his spoons. as a parent I want to offer access to opportunities but I also want to be teaching him to take care of his individual needs.