THE AUDITORY RECEPTIVE

SKILL PROBLEMS
 THE AUDITORY RECEPTIVE SKILL
PROBLEMS
• Auditory discrimination: The ability to notice,
compare and distinguish between distinct and
separate sounds. The words seventy and seventeen
may sound alike, for instance.

• Auditory figure-ground discrimination: The ability to

focus on the important sounds in a noisy setting. It
would be like sitting at a party and not being able
to hear the person next to you because there’s so
much background chatter.
• Auditory memory: The ability to recall what you’ve
heard, either immediately or when you need it later.

• Auditory sequencing: The ability to understand and

recall the order of sounds and words. A child might
say or write “ephelant” instead of “elephant,” or
hear the number 357 but write 735.
 HOW THE PROBLEM CAN BE
REMEDIATED

 Accommodations (such as changes in timing, formatting, setting or

presentation of assignments)
 Modifications (altering assignments to minimize the area of weakness)
 Remediation (training and therapy to build skills)

Among the therapies and treatments that may help:

• Reading instruction: Your child could have one-on-one or group

instruction in reading skills, targeting any areas of weakness.
• Speech therapy: Speech therapists can provide exercises and training
to build kids’ ability to identify sounds and develop conversational
and listening skills.
Accommodations you and the school may want to consider include:

• Preferential seating: Seating kids with APD in the front of the room and
away from distractions can help them focus.
• Improved acoustics: Closing doors and windows minimizes outside
noise.
• Assistive technology: An amplification system, such as a wireless FM
system, reduces background noise and poor acoustics. The child
wears a headset and the teacher wears a clip-on microphone.[10]
• Classroom visuals: The teacher uses images and gestures to reinforce
the child’s understanding and memory.
• Quiet rooms for taking tests.
• Special instruction: Research funded by the NIDCD found that some
computer programs helped improve children’s language-processing
skills when the programs were used intensively.
Even small steps can have a big impact on how your child
functions at home. Here are some suggestions you may
want to try:

• Provide a quiet spot for studying, with background noise

kept to a minimum.
• Have your child look at you when you’re speaking.
• Use simple, one-step directions.
• Speak at a slightly slower rate and at a slightly higher
volume.
• Ask your child to repeat directions back to you. If he’ll
need to act on the directions later, ask him to write notes
to remind himself.