Auditory Processing

MAKING COMMUNICATION EASIER

Auditory processing has been informally defined as "what we do with what we hear." It includes remembering, discriminating, sequencing, and understanding verbal information. It is how well we pay attention to, discriminate, associate, integrate, and organize what we hear.

The following symptoms are often exhibited by a child with an Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). Not all of these symptoms are exhibited by all children with APD.

• Frequently asks for repetitions
• Often “mishears” words
• Often “speaks to himself,” repeating a question to himself or reading aloud test questions
• Exhibits difficulty with oral directions
• Exhibits poor sound/symbol associations for letters
• Displays difficulty discriminating similar sounds and similarly sounding words
• Exhibits poor decoding and spelling skills
• Has difficulty remembering sequences
• Makes grammatical errors, especially involving word endings (past tense, plurals, possessives, etc.)
• Is easily distracted by extraneous noise (the air conditioner, noise from a class next door, noise from a lawn-mower outside)
• Experiences difficulty understanding speech in background noise
• Has difficulty taking notes during lectures
• Exhibits poor inferencing and reasoning skills
• Exhibits poor short and long term memory
• Organizes his thoughts poorly
• Exhibits delays before responding
• Uses poor organization in his written language

The speech-language pathologists at Abilities can assist in determining if your child is having difficulties processing language through the auditory channel. Appropriate referrals to an audiologist, if needed, and recommendations for language interventions can be made.