

“Our minds are designed to pick up automatically on these skill sets for taking in language,” explains Matthew Cruger, PhD, the director of the Learning and Development Center at the Child Mind Institute.
AUDITORY COMPREHENSION SKILLS PROFESSIONAL
The most common kind of professional help for kids with these difficulties is speech-language therapy, in which kids get explicit training to improve their skills at distinguishing sounds, remembering sounds, and sequencing sounds. The student wears headphones that reduce background noise, and the teachers wears a microphone wirelessly connected to his headset. For kids who need extra help following the teacher’s voice in a noisy classroom, there is technology that can help. “Using words like first, second, then, last help kids follow sequences, and teaching them to us these transition words in writing or telling a story helps them to organize their thoughts and their language,” explains Cortese. Use words that trigger or help a child to sequence events. It could be something as simple as, say: Are you ready? or Here’s the thing. Give kids a heads up when something important is coming. Cortese suggests using catchphrases to give kids a signal that you’re about to say something they need to pay attention to.“One of the things we advise teachers to do with these kids is to significantly slow their rate of speech and use emphasis on key words, to bring attention to important pieces of information by the way they’re talking,” explains Rachel Cortese, MS, a speech-language pathologist. Teachers and parents can help kids with auditory processing weakness by using intonation and slower speech to emphasize what is important. Encourage your child’s teacher to use visuals in instruction, and be sure your child is looking at you when you give directions or convey other important information. That usually means the front of the classroom, to minimize interference with the teacher’s voice, and get the most access to the teacher’s visual cues. Arrange for the child to have seating that will make it as easy as possible for him to tune into what the teacher is saying. Here are some of the changes parents and teachers can make in the environment to help kids with auditory processing difficulties listen and learn more effectively: Helping kids with weak auditory processing skills is a combination of building in supports in their environment, and intensive training to beef up skills they haven’t developed automatically, as most kids do. They often miss, or misunderstand, information that’s conveyed orally, in instruction or conversation. But waiting for that to happen can take a toll on how your child feels emotionally and socially.Ĭhildren with auditory processing problems are weak in some basic skills for decoding and remembering what they hear. Sometimes kids just grow out of these weaknesses. They help kids manage when they’re frustrated or upset about their learning issues. Educational therapists help kids more generally by coming up with ways to use their strengths and offset their weaknesses.

Speech-language therapy helps kids tell one sound from another, remember them and put them in order. Getting your child outside help can build up auditory processing skills that other kids develop naturally. There are also computer games aimed at helping kids with auditory processing disorder that you can try at home. Teachers can even wear microphones connected to the headphones. Kids can wear noise-cancelling headphones to block out distractions. Saying things like first, second, then and finally can help kids with auditory issues take in and process what they are hearing. Words can also help kids put instructions in order. It’s also helpful to give kids a warning when something important is coming. You can try speaking more slowly and stressing important words. It may help to make sure they can see you when you’re talking to them, especially when you’re giving instructions. The second is with training aimed at improving weak listening skills.Ĭhanging your kid’s surroundings means things like making sure they sit at the front of the class so they can see and focus on the teacher. The first is by changing things in their surroundings. Kids with this problem can be helped in two basic ways. It doesn’t mean your child isn’t trying their best to listen to you or their teachers. Auditory processing disorder means that kids have trouble understanding and remembering information when they hear it.
