She and her parents are so grateful for the early diagnosis and the assistance they received from the Valley View School District. She worked many hours a week with Speech Therapist Dale Hornyan through 5th grade. She took piano lessons, and started twirling all before the age of 5.
A lot of people misunderstand CAPD and think it is ADHD. This confusion was a big challenge, Nicci had a hard time learning how to speak, listening to her teachers, reading, and talking with friends. She “acted out” a lot because she had a difficult time communicating. Many people thought she had ADHD.
Fortunately, the early intervention program at VVSD helped immensely and she was able to enter a regular kindergarten and has been in a normal classroom since. That wasn’t supposed to happen for Nicci. Her accomplishments as an honor student, gold medalist twirler, percussionist and trombone player weren’t suppose to happen either. Most kids don’t get the diagnosis early; most kids don’t have the parents and the awesome VVSD teacher’s support.
So she wants to tell her story so kids like her continue to get the services to help. So that kids like Nicci don’t get misdiagnosed and labeled as having ADHD. Nicci wants to tell parents about early childhood testing which is available at Valley View. She thinks “no child left behind” should include kids like her with CAPD. Nicola enjoys sharing her story and is available to perform and speak locally. Please contact her at [email protected]