Lindsey Simpson: An Inspirational Young Woman Who Happens to Have Auditory Processing Disorder

Lindsey Simpson is a high school senior, artist, amazing photographer, and wonderfully inspiring young woman.  She is devoutly religious and credits God for always being there for her, supporting her, and helping her to be the amazing person He created her to be.

As a young child, Lindsey struggled in school and her parents, although knowing something was not quite right, did not know why.  In 7^th grade, she was blessed with a math tutor who suggested that her parents get her tested for auditory processing disorder.   To her parents and her relief, they finally had the answer they had been looking for!

“My spirits went sky high because I finally had an answer as to why I struggled so much.  I started to get accommodations and my grades improved.  I felt so relieved that there was a real reason for my struggles and it wasn’t my fault for doing so poorly.”

Although Lindsey continued to have to work very hard academically and rarely got the high marks children without learning disabilities/special needs did, she managed to succeed in getting honored with acceptance into the Beta Club (a high academic honor) her junior year!  It was the first time she was publicly recognized for her hard academic work.  Never shying away from hard work, Lindsey has also earned the honor of being editor of her high school yearbook and vice-president of the art club.

Beyond academic success, Lindsey has found that she is very talented in the arts.  Not even having graduated from high school yet, Lindsey has honed her entrepreneurial spirit and started her own photography business, Linds LensPhotography.  She has done many professional shoots for people and decided that this is her life’s passion.  “I wouldn’t want to do anything else!”

A phenomenal artist, Lindsey also paints and her artistic expression of what it is like to live with auditory processing disorder won 2^nd place in the 2012 Hidden Thoughts of LD Art Competition! 

"I have Auditory Processing Disorder. This is a painting of an ear with a question mark inside it. The colors on the right side represent sound in reality and the colors on the left side represent the sound through my ears. My ears and brain don’t connect right, so the things I hear sound broken and often don’t make sense. I can put bits and pieces together, but it’s hard to put it all together to make sense of everything that I hear."



After graduating high school, Lindsey plans on taking art-related classes at her local university.  Her goal is not necessarily to graduate with a degree, but to enhance her artistic abilities which she can use for all her creative pursuits and especially her intended career as a professional photographer.  Her hope is that her photography business will eventually provide her with a full-time income.

Outside of school, her photography business, and her art, Lindsey also co-founded a support group for teenagers with auditory processing disorder.  Reaching out for connection herself, she met another teenager with auditory processing disorder through a Facebook support group.  They were both so happy to have someone who understands what they are going through being a teenager with APD and became such great friends, they decided to share that experience with others.  They wanted other teenagers to feel the same support and understanding that has so blessed their own lives.

Being the kind, compassionate young woman that she is, Lindsey also reaches out to people whose lives have been affected by auditory processing disorder through her personal blog, apdgirl.blogspot.com, where she writes of her experiences as well as by being a personal mentor/older friend to some preteens with APD.

Lindsey is also very active with her church and volunteers her time to teach 2 year olds on Sunday mornings.  “I love little kids because they’re so precious and they don’t judge you.  They love you for who you are and don’t even notice your flaws.”

When asked what advice she would give to children with auditory processing disorder, Lindsey had this to say:

“I want every kid with any learning disability to understand that they're not alone. It's easy to be down on yourself and assume you're the only one. But I want them to know they're not and I'm living proof of that! Be confident and don't be afraid to ask if you need something repeated and don't be ashamed either. There's nothing 'wrong' with you, you just have a unique perspective that others don't have!" 

Celebrate Their Accomplishments!

Wow have we come a long way!  Hailey has been ice skating since September and she is still adoring it and doing very well.  I am so glad that we found something that she can excel in, and where her auditory processing disorder does not make a profound impact on her ability to learn it.

Her coach and the director of the ice skating program gave her an award recently for having great sit spins.  She was so proud to receive such an unexpected honor.

She also has just signed up to participate in an ice theater class. This class has a lot of acting, ice dancing, and figure skating. The kids work in small groups and in large casts to present a play on ice so to speak. Hailey is extremely excited about this class and enjoyed her first one immensely.  

The coach for the ice theater program has an accent and speaks in choppy English, but Hailey is okay with this.  She agreed to not let any misunderstanding interfere with her learning and enjoyment, so she will tell the coach, "Can you please show me" when she doesn't understand what was said.  We ran this scenario by the coach and she was more than willing to accomodate.  

Now for the real kicker!  This particular coach is known to be a little tough in some ways. (I really think it might be a cultural thing and she certainly does not mean any harm by it.) She might say something like, "What you can't do that yet?" or "You should be better by now."  I made Hailey aware of this fact and told her that she might say something like that to her one day.  Hailey asserted that she would be okay if that happens, and she realizes that the coach is actually trying to motivate her. Wow!  I am so impressed. This child of mine is maturing into a very understanding, confident young lady.

Let's Have a Revolution! Schools Need to Radically Change

"Don't you know, they're talkin' bout a revolution

It sounds like a whisper"

---Tracy Chapman, "Talkin' Bout A Revolution"

A friend of mine wrote a post recently about dropping her daughter off at school and the feelings and thoughts that go through her mind every day.  Her hopes: "we drop them off in the morning and hope (beyond hope) that they survive the day, are happy, have friends and learn something along the way (in that order)." Her fears: "It wears our children out, the school yard has the power to break our children, and the teachers, they have the power to make or break our kids (not unlike my last blog - just hoping that the teacher will be the one to lift spirits and encourage our children to believe in themselves and their ability)." 1

This friend of mine has a child with auditory processing disorder, like my daughter, and so she has difficulty not only with academics, but also with socializing.  If you have trouble processing language and only hear and process 50-70% of what is being said, then of course socializing is harder.  The school yard can be a nightmare to navigate for children who hear and process 100% and let's face it, bullying occurs on school yards.  Children with disabilities, especially children with what are considered "hidden disabilities" (those that are not readily noticeable to peers), are more likely to be bullied than the typical child - which is high enough.

But I am not writing this post about bullying.  I am not even writing this post about learning disabilities.  This post is about the real need for our schools to radically change the way they function for ALL children.  I'm talkin' bout a revolution!

Children are more than their academic success.  Children are whole people with needs that are EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL, SOCIAL, INTRAPERSONAL, INTELLECTUAL, and let's not forget the need for PERSONAL/CREATIVE EXPRESSION.  Schools focus only on intellectual. (They may touch on the others, but it isn't their objective.) Why is that?  Are we as a society saying the others aren't as important?  If a child learns to read but in the process loses all sense of self-esteem, what have we done?  Is that really a good idea?

Why do children go out onto a playground with hundreds of other children in a Lord of the Flies2

scenario: survive or die?  The teachers don't go out there with them to help them learn social skills.  The teachers don't monitor to make sure bullying is not occurring (one or two aids to supervise hundreds of children is just not enough). The teachers don't actively teach self-advocating skills, empathy for others, how to include everyone, and sharing and taking turns mostly stops being taught in kindergarten.(Sure teachers do their best to encourage these character building skills, but it's not their prime directive.)

Why aren't children encouraged to pursue their own interests?  Why are they not allowed to continue studying something they are interested in or take as much time as needed on things they find difficult?  Why are tests timed and if they do art, it must be completed in the 30 minutes allotted to art that day?

Why are children grouped according to age?  Are we saying all 9 year olds are the same?  Wouldn't it make sense to allow children to be taught in groups according to their learning style, aptitude for that particular skill, and even amount of interest?

Schools are not conducive to the development of the whole child.  Schools do not treat children like real people; children are being processed through a system that seems to think you can plug slot A into slot B and somehow get the wonderful, unique person that each child is meant to be.

And if you say they can develop their interests, learn all the emotional, social, and intrapersonal things in their free time, I ask you this:  How much free time does a child have when they spend 1 hour eating and getting ready for school, 7 hours in school, 2 hours doing homework, 1/2 hour eating dinner, 1/2 hour bathing and getting ready for bed,  and 10 hours sleeping each day?  That leaves 3 hours each day to do whatever chores their parents might want them to do, play with their friends, spend time with their family, and figure out what they want to pursue for their own interests and pursue them.  This doesn't even include the kids that are put in after school care programs or other extra-curricular activities like sports and clubs that have their own set of agendas.  Oh yeah, let's not forget down time!  All children need time to just relax and destress from their day.  When is that supposed to happen?

I am advocating for revolution!  I want a radical change in the way schools work with children.  Children are whole people with more needs and more value than simply forcing them through a systematic academic factory, hoping they'll survive.


1) Nancy Outten, "Auditory Processing Disorder: Holly's Story, coping with and learning about this disorder", March 29, 2012
2) Lord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize winning author William Golding publish in 1954 about a group of British boys trying to govern themselves on a deserted island.


Update:  Check out this link to a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson who expresses so amazingly well his ideas about a "learning revolution."  Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning Revolution!