Children with problems with Auditory Processing Disorders have difficulty listening and discriminating between sounds in words. They often mishear a word in conversation. They may have trouble following auditory directions, and become distracted by background noise in a typical classroom. In addition, they may have problems learning to sequence sound combinations, and decoding words for reading. The audiological tests for APD can determine the type of auditory processing disorder that is present. The speech pathologist will work on these areas of auditory processing: auditory attention, auditory closure, auditory discrimination, memory and sequencing, and also the listening skills that help the child hear what is relevant in auditory information.
“Some children had poor performance on the Pitch Pattern Sequence Test that indicates a temporal pattern disorder, an aspect of temporal processing.” According to audiologist, Gerri Shubow, M.S., CCC-A. The child will have difficulty hearing inflection in speech, timing of speech phrases, and prosody of speech that affect a child’s ability to follow directions.
Auditory processing disorders are an aspect of language development that includes the rate at which information can be processed, the accuracy it is perceived, and the ability to hold in a correct sequence, according to Gerri Shubow (4.20.15).
The child will need explicit teaching of strategies for listening skills, seating near the teacher, direct and uncomplicated instructions, study guides and preteaching and graphic organizers. Some student benefit from “Fast ForWord”, a computer program that helps with temporal processing, sequencing, working memory, and following complex directions.”