Auditory Processing Disorder?

Why Choose PRIDE?

Auditory Processing Disorder

 

Almost every school activity, including listening to teachers, interacting with classmates, singing along in music class, following instructions in physical education, etc, depends on the ability for students to process sounds and have a strong auditory system in learning.  But what happens if this auditory system has deficits?

Does my child have Auditory Processing Disorder?

 

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), also referred to as Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), is very common and affects about 5% of school-age children.

Auditory Processing can present itself with many different symptoms and behaviors.  Often these behaviors resemble those seen with other learning challenges, like language difficulties, attention problems and autism.  Most children with auditory processing difficulties show only a few of the following behaviors.  No child will show all of them.  However, any child who displays several of these symptoms should be carefully evaluated for auditory processing disorder.

  • Delayed speech.
  • Persistent articulation errors.
  • Abnormally soft, loud, flat, formal, or “pedantic” speaking voice.
  • Difficulty conducting casual conversations.
  • Difficulty reading or spelling due to problems discriminating word sounds.
  • Difficulty following oral directions.
  • Difficulty organizing behaviors.
  • A tendency to appear quiet, distracted, or off topic during group discussions or to interrupt or blurt out answers.
  • Long delays before responding to questions or instructions.
  • Preferences for nonverbal tasks or a markedly higher performance IQ than verbal IQ.
  • Difficulty taking notes.
  • Worsening performance in higher grades as oral instruction load and receptive language demands increase.
  • Difficulties with inference, abstraction, and figurative language
  • Difficulty hearing in the presence of background noise.
  • Difficulty understanding what’s said.
  • A tendency to ask for restatement or clarification, or repeatedly saying “what?” or “huh?”
  • Marked difficulty understanding speakers with particularly high or low-pitched voices or with prominent accents.

 

How does Auditory Processing affect my child’s learning?

 

Children with Auditory Processing Disorders have difficulties distinguishing the sounds or phonemes in spoken words, especially those in complex words and sentences.  This is referred to as Auditory Discrimination Deficits.   If a child has difficulties discriminating sounds in language, then words will sound unclear or distorted as well as many will sound alike.  This in turn will affect a child’s development of language skills.  They may have trouble speaking and listening, because of problems learning basic grammar and word meanings.  Many vowel and consonant sounds may sound the same to them, especially when spoken quickly.   As a result, not only will they have difficulty hearing the differences between words that sound alike (think, thing, sink, thin) they will also have difficulty understanding the connections between those words and the letters used to represent them.

This is why children with Auditory Processing Difficulties often have trouble with reading and spelling.  Since they cannot hear the sound distinctions between words, the rules linking sounds to letters and letter groups can be hard for them to master.

Most children with Auditory Processing Disorder have difficulty hearing in the presence of background noise.  This is referred to as Auditory Figure-Ground Deficits.  Although the children often hear well enough at home or in quiet environments, they may appear hard of hearing or even functionally deaf in noisy environments such as school.

In the classroom, a child with Auditory Processing Deficits will have great difficulties staying focused on a listening task.  This is referred to as Auditory Attention Deficits.   If a teacher is giving a lecture, for example, the student might listen in for a few minutes but then drift of and daydream.

Students with Auditory Processing Challenges have great difficulties remembering information given.  This is referred to as Auditory Memory Deficits.  If the teacher says, “get a piece of paper and a pencil out of your desk and write down your spelling words,” the student may get confused because there are too many commands at once.  Impairments in the auditory memory deficits can severely weaken not only long-term memory but also language development and comprehension.

 

How can a child with Auditory Processing Disorder get help?

 

Auditory Processing is a persistent learning disability that one does not outgrow.  With early detection, certain accommodations at school, and specialized tutoring from trained professionals, these students can improve their learning deficits significantly and succeed academically.

The sooner a child with auditory processing disorder is given proper teaching strategies, particularly in the very early grades, the more likely it is that they will have fewer or milder difficulties later in life.  These students will need a very structured, systematic, cumulative, repetitive and multisensory teaching method such as the Orton-Gillingham approach.

The best learning environment for a student with auditory processing is always one-to-one with very minimal distractions and outside noises.  Students who have severe auditory processing disorder may need an intensive training program to catch up and stay up with the rest of their class.  During this intensive training, students will overcome many reading, writing, spelling and comprehension difficulties and learn strategies that will last a lifetime.

Teachers and parents both need to remember that Auditory Processing Disorder is a real condition.  The symptoms and behaviors are not within the child’s control.  Children with Auditory Processing Disorder are not being defiant or being lazy.  A child with Auditory Processing Disorder can go on in life and become just as successful as other classmates.

How The PRIDE Reading Program Works?

To teach a struggling reader, we begin with recognition of the letters, the sounds of the letters, and the sounds of letter combinations (phonemes). Our structured program is structured, systematic and cumulative. This means that, like a pyramid, the base must first be strong enough to support the entire structure. After our students receive a strong foundation, they are able to recognize words using the skills we teach.

The final element of the PRIDE System is that we act to increase intrinsic motivation and resultant self-esteem with every second of interaction. This means that our students feel approval and accomplishment because they know we like them — and admire their efforts and their perseverance. Every student at PRIDE becomes a reader.

To Learn More and Get Started, Give PRIDE A Call:  1-866-774-3342

How To Get Help And What To Expect?

Step 1:

Contact PRIDE by phone:  1-866-774-3342

You can also contact us by email (info@pridelearningcenter.com). Our Director will be glad to talk with you and can answer any questions you may have about the program and staff.

Step 2:

Sign Up for the PRIDE Reading Program and request your preferred schedule with the PRIDE Director.  The PRIDE Director will work with you to identify your child’s specific needs and choose a PRIDE Reading Specialist based on the information provided.

Step 3:

Your PRIDE Reading Specialists first visit to the home will identify your child’s placement in the PRIDE Reading Program.  The PRIDE Reading Specialist will then order your PRIDE Reading Program materials to be delivered to your home.  The PRIDE Director also receives the placement information.  Depending on information received from the placement, the PRIDE Director may contact you to create a personalized learning plan best suited for your child.

Step 4:

Your PRIDE Reading Program materials arrive at your home.   The PRIDE Reading Specialist will prepare the PRIDE Reading Program materials based on your child’s personal needs.  Your child begins receiving instruction.

Step 5:

Parents receive progress updates at every instructional step of our program. Our dedicated PRIDE Reading Specialists and staff is committed to seeing every child succeed, and will support you at all times. Failure is never an option, and we are so committed to our families that younger siblings are frequently enrolled because they see the excitement of an older brother or sister and want to begin with us. We are proud of every referral we receive from a teacher, friend, neighbor and classmate of someone who succeeded at PRIDE Learning Center.

For more information and to get started call:  1-866-774-3342

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“Pride Learning Center has made such a huge impact on my family, I feel forever indebted and incredibly blessed to have experienced it. My daughter exhibited all the signs of a learning difference, but her schoolteachers were clueless, labeling her as lazy and inattentive. Pride’s website helped to identify my daughter’s specific learning issues. Working with Pride’s team of gifted tutors allowed her to regain confidence in her ability to perform schoolwork. She enjoyed every minute at PRIDE and always looked forward to her lessons.”

PRIDE Parent, Manhattan Beach, Ca

“Our daughter Brianna came to Pride when she was struggling with reading during 1st grade at our local public school in West Los Angles. At that point, she was near the bottom of her class and hated to read. After working with Pride’s excellent tutors and staff, Brianna is now ahead of her peers and, more importantly, enjoys reading. Brianna also looks forward to attending her Pride tutor sessions and is proud of her accomplishments. We are lucky to have found Pride when we did, and I would highly recommend its program.”

PRIDE Parent, Los Angeles, Ca

“Excellent Program. I do Psychoeducational and Neuropsychological Assessments. I have seen a lot of progress with the children that have gone through Pride’s program. It is a great resource that specifically addresses reading difficulties with a multi-sensory approach. It is also important that the people giving the services are well-trained. I highly recommend Pride.”

– Dr. Abbe Barron, DMD PhD, Los Angeles, Ca

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