Auditory Processing 2018-05-04T19:48:18+00:00

Auditory Processing

BrainChild Auditory Program uses exercises, activities, and processes that effectively contribute to the brain’s recognition of frequencies for proper development and maturation. Many times auditory frequencies are not “heard” or not heard appropriately by the brain. If the brain does not recognize (or hear) these signals, it may misinterpret or not interpret the auditory signals at all.

An auditory processing deficit can interfere directly with speech and language and can affect learning, reading, comprehension and spelling. When instruction and communication relies primarily on spoken language, the individual with an auditory processing deficit may have serious difficulty understanding the information, lesson or directions.

The Auditory Program trains the brain to receive, process and interpret auditory signals for all frequencies appropriately.  This allows the brain to “hear” what is being said, completely without missing sounds.

With a thorough listening evaluation, specific listening and processing problems can be pinpointed and identified… and then specifically treated.

When looking at an individual’s ability to process auditory information we take into account several factors.

 

  • Neurodevelopment of the short term memory
  • The auditory cortex
  • The language centers
  • Word recognition ability
  • Learned listening personality traits

Our listening habits develop around our auditory abilities and the perceived effectiveness of this ability.

For example, when we measure short term memory both auditory and visually, we often find the individual tends to favors visual input over auditory input if there is a difference of even one increased digit span in the visual component.

Under moments where there is “extreme” pressure, that individual will be able to capture the auditory information, but may not fully process or interpret the information. This individual may appear to not be listening or paying attention to the conversation, which in turn interferes with communication.

The auditory programs are designed to break up neuro-inhibitors in feedback pathways. Once the neuro-inhibitors are reduced or eliminated, natural volitional, autonomic, and expressive responses can take place. Our approach to hearing and listening issues consists of first assessing the individual’s developmental age (which often differs from physical age). Next we assess listening skills.

Additional programs then works with the neuro-pathways that support the ability to comprehend what has been said and how the brain processes this information. We measure language comprehension activity as it occurs and how the individual discriminates and processes auditory vs. visual information.

Our Auditory Processing Programs are designed to aid proper development of:

  • Auditory cortex
  • Auditory memory
  • Neuro-pathways that provide connections from the auditory cortex to all other areas within the brain.

Hearing Vs Listening – What’s The Difference?

Hearing is the ability of the ears to take in sound. The ear’s mechanics or structure is capable of responding to sound.

Listening is the result of our auditory cortex processing and interpreting the sounds received from the ear. In other words….our understanding.

Listening Style is the learned behavior and how we prefer to listen.

Auditory Processing is the ability to make sense of the sound that comes into the ear and to process or interpret what is heard.

Difficulty with auditory processing does not mean the ear is not hearing, but rather indicates difficulty with how this information is interpreted or processed by the brain. Auditory processing affects how we understand the spoken word and therefore affects how we view the world.

Auditory discrimination is the ability to recognize differences in phonemes (sounds). This includes the ability to identify words and sounds that are similar and those which are different.

Auditory memory is the ability to store and recall information given verbally. An individual with difficulties in this area may not be able to follow instructions given verbally or may have trouble recalling information from a story read aloud.

Auditory sequencing is the ability to remember or reconstruct the order of items in a list or the order of sounds in a word or syllable. For instance, the word “task” may be heard by the brain as the word “tacks” because the order of the s and k were processed in reverse order, much like some individuals will see letters in reverse order, some hear or process sound in reverse order.

Auditory blending is the process of putting together phonemes to form words. For example, the individual phonemes “c”, “a”, and “t” are blended to from the word, “cat”. Some individuals will process these sounds out of order and repeat the word as “tac”. Or they may omit the first sound or last sound and repeat the word as “at” or “ca”.