My Child is Failing Kindergarten, Part II: Auditory Processing Problems (with Dillen Hartley)

Auditory processing is only one piece of the puzzle that might impact a child’s performance in the classroom. The fact of the matter is that we all process information in our environment with all of our senses. All of our senses work together to affirm and support what you are seeing, hearing, and doing.

For example, as Dillen explains, “If my wife asked me a question about our finances while I’m watching TV, there’s a very small chance that I’m actually processing what she is saying. Right?”

“I can respond because I heard her, ”Sure, whatever” but it doesn’t mean that I processed the implications of her request or the future.”

Here’s an example related to how our children process in their everyday lives. We can tell our child, “We’re going to Grandma’s house.”  We can tell them exactly where we’re going, when we’re leaving the house, etc. 

Now, we love Grandma, so it’s not an issue of not wanting to go. But they haven’t processed that my instructions imply that they need to put away the video game, put on their shoes, and grab their jacket. Not until they see the keys in your hands and see you walking toward the door.

This happens because the visual system is typically more powerful in interrupting their thought process than the auditory system. Especially in boys.

It is really important for our auditory sense and processing to be “online” because it effects:

• The way your system processes auditory information affects your ability to follow directions.
• It affects whether you understand the context of what someone has said within a specific scenario.
• It affects whether you pick up on intonation and inflection, such as whether someone is joking or being sarcastic or angry. They might rely on the visual cues of facial expressions to fill in the blanks.

Thus, almost all of our interactions with other people. Especially in the classroom.

With Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) there is an impaired neural function that results in jumbled, confused messages. This is distinctly different from hearing loss. APD causes difficulties with processing of sounds and speech even when the person has normal hearing.

APD isn’t terribly common – it’s estimated that there could be roughly 5% children with an auditory processing disorder diagnosis. However, a far greater amount of children experience auditory processing weakness.

 

An Example of a Child Dealing with Auditory Processing Problems at School

Kindergarten is typically the first time a child is spending a large amount of time around other kids his or her age. They have a teacher who is giving them instructions all day long. They are expected to follow instructions and work as a group. So, it’s difficult. And a lot of parents panic when they get reports of their child struggling a bit.

They think, “My child is failing kindergarten, I have to fix this!”  And so they might be exploring reasons their child is struggling, and there are so many approaches to helping their child get the support to help them long-term in school.

“I can relate,” says Dillen.

“My son has an auditory processing disorder.  We identified early in preschool and kindergarten that he was having difficulty discriminating the differences in vowel sounds. There are many words that are different only by one vowel sound that don’t look different visually when pronounced, if you’re lip-reading.

 

Then in first grade, his teacher called us and said that he was hiding under the table and that he was incredibly anxious and avoiding certain activities.

 

And so we were like, ‘What’s going on?’ That’s when parents have to become a behavioral detective.

My son’s auditory testing revealed that when there are multiple sounds going on at the same time at the same level  (that’s equivalent to your capacity to be able to sit in a restaurant and block out the conversation of the table next to you so that you can hear your mates in front of you) – my son can only process 50%.

So with my son, it turns out that the teacher gives the instructions for the activities from the back of the classroom, where she can see everybody.  She asks them to go collect their things.  My son doesn’t hear that, but he suddenly sees all his friends getting up and leaving, “What’s going on?”

That’s where the anxiety was kicking in. Because he doesn’t know what’s going on. And it creates a panic.

 

In auditory processing challenges, there’s almost always an anxiety component.

 

A teacher gives directions with multiple steps. Even if it’s just one or two steps that a child his or her age should be capable of following. And he’s like, “What did you say again? What, what do you want me to do?”

And he goes to do something else, and he ends up making the wrong choice. Which often looks like disrespect from a behavioral perspective.

It’s not necessarily that he’s not hearing what you’re saying. He’s not decoding what you’re saying. And it could be that he’s not integrating as well into the action, or that there’s another noise.

 

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Another Angle of Auditory Processing to Consider: Auditory Filtration

Auditory closure is your capacity to fill in the gaps with context when you can’t filter sounds that are muffled.

 

If I said these words to you:

STAND – BAT – THROW – HIT – RUN – BASE – SLIDE – CROWD – SHOUT.

Can you put together what happened?

 

We’re talking about playing baseball, right? A guy hit a ball, went in for a home run. He ran around the bases. He slid in and they won the game. Okay. So, you don’t need all the information to put things together, right? Our amazing brains have the capacity to fill in the gaps.

But if a child or an adult has difficulty identifying the sounds when they are not clear (muffled), then they will need the auditory closure skill to understand what someone is saying, so they can’t fill in the gaps of the sounds if it’s muffled.

We see this in our COVID world when someone is not speaking clearly or behind a booth or a face mask, the child with auditory processing disorder cannot put together the missing pieces to figure out what is being asked of them.

This happens a lot in the classroom when the teacher has given an instruction, but she’s facing away from the kids to the blackboard. It’s not a clear sound. And so they cannot process what the teacher said.

We all have this problem now in masks, right? So you have a conversation with a mask and you don’t have the visual support or confirmation of what they’re saying, or sounds like this. You’re like, I don’t know what you’re saying. You don’t realize how much information you really need to be able to process auditory information.”

 

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Attention Problems: At Some Point, They Stop Caring and Tune it All Out

Here’s another point to be made about attention span relating to auditory processing problems. It takes so much effort and causes so much anxiety to figure out what’s happening. Do I really care what you were saying – enough to work this hard and get this worked up?

There’s a certain time when a child just kind of tunes out because they get tired physically, emotionally, and socially. Like, “I kind of don’t care anymore. I’m just going to start tuning it out.”

And therefore, anyone who has an auditory processing disorder is going to miss a lot of social cues.

“My Child is Failing Kindergarten! How Do I Know If It’s Auditory Problems?”

A child with APD may have difficulty:

• Hearing in noisy places (e.g. classroom or shopping centres) or in reverberant environments (e.g. swimming pool).
• Following long conversations.
• Learning a foreign language or challenging vocabulary words.
• Remembering spoken information (auditory memory deficits).
• Taking notes.
• Maintaining focus on an activity (easily distracted).
• With organizational skills.
• Following multi-step directions.
• In directing, sustaining, or dividing attention.
• With reading and/or spelling.
• With nonverbal information (lack of music appreciation, inflection/tone of voice).

Typically, your pediatrician would, at some point, have conducted a hearing test.  If your child’s hearing test presents normal, but your child is acting in ways that make you suspect hearing loss, an auditory processing evaluation could be conducted.

A diagnosis of APD is made by an Audiologist using specific audiological tests. In order to make the diagnosis of an APD, it is highly recommended that the student’s language and cognition abilities are assessed by a Psychologist and/or Speech-Language Therapist. The next step is to consider auditory processing disorder treatment.

The good news is that our children’s brain and body are capable of re-wiring and development. This means that through therapeutic intervention and practice, children can be successful academically and socially with APD.

Consider a free 15-minute consultation with one of our early childhood development experts to find out whether you might pursue auditory processing evaluation for your child.

Can CoordiKids Help Children With Auditory Processing Disorders in School?

Indirectly, improvement in sensory motor skills will improve listening, self-regulation and subsequently auditory processing – just like the processing of the other senses. 

Usually when sensory processing improves in one area of sensory processing, the body calms to be less anxious and the processing of the other senses improve, too. 

For example, being more adaptable to tactile defensiveness with food will allow a child to be able to enjoy the smell of food in the same moment. Or a child who doesn’t expend as much energy and focus on coordinating movement and sensory integration, they can focus more on processing the sounds and instructions they are hearing audibly.

Secondly, auditory sense and the vestibular sense are registered in the inner ear and are closely linked.  Thus, movement processing abilities are linked to auditory processing.

Thirdly, CoordiKids helps to calm the body, and encourage regulated reactions and thought processes – all essential for listening and following a conversation.

Dillen Hartley, OT graduated from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, school of Occupational Therapy in 1995 and moved to the United States in 1996. He is co-owner of Advanced Therapy Solutions, Inc,

an outpatient Physical and Occupational Therapy practice serving adult and pediatric clients in seven locations and 13 schools. Dillen is also a CoordiKids provider.

Mr. Hartley has 23 years of clinical experience and is trained in multiple treatment approaches with both adults and pediatrics. Mr. Hartley’s interest and expertise is the areas of Functional Capacity Evaluations, autism, development and Sensory Processing Disorders, ADHD, ADD and learning disabilities in infants, children and adults. He is trained and experienced in sensory integration, neuromuscular re-education, brain gym, vision therapy and various other treatment approaches.

Mr. Hartley serves on the Clinical Advisory Board for Interactive Metronome and has conducted more than 100 certification courses for professionals. Mr. Hartley is also a certified trainer in the Integrated Listening Systems and is frequently asked to present different treatment approaches in Occupational Therapy treatment for children both nationally and internationally.

Mr. Hartley created and serves as Chairman of the Board for an Organization called the Institute for Development and Learning, a non-profit dedicated providing Speech Therapy, Feeding Team, GROW Education Center and parent support programs.

 

If you’re looking for more help with “Why My Child is Failing Kindergarten,” you might also like:

When You Have a Child Struggling in Kindergarten: 9 Common Struggles & Solutions

 9 Mihttp://9sunderstood Behaviors in Children with Auditory Processing Disorder Diagnosis

Step-by-Step Guide to Troubleshoot & Improve Children’s Handwriting Skills

When the Brain Can’t Hear: Unraveling the Mystery of Auditory Processing Disorder – July 1, 2003. by Ph.d. Teri James Bellis