Auditory+Processing

**What is Auditory Processing?**
Difficulty processing auditory information

**How Does this effect learning?**
These students can not follow more than one direction at a time, misunderstand what is being said, have problems discriminating between words and certain letter sounds, need information repeated, and are distracted by background noise or sudden noises

Understanding Auditory Processing Disorders in Children
This article, posted by American Speech- Language-Hearing Association, defines what auditory processing disorders are, how they are diagnosed and how they are treated.

Auditory Processing Disorderr This article has questions parents can ask themselves when discerning whether or not their child has a difficulty with auditory processing.

Auditory Processing Disorder in Children A comprehensive article that defines auditory processing disorders and lists causes and symptoms. It also explains how it is diagnosed, talks about current trends in research and treatment for people with these disorders.

Deaf or Hard of Hearing This article addresses hard of hearing, deaf and people with auditory processing difficulty. Includes a list of possible accomodations and what teachers can do to help all students hear better.

**Assistive Technologies**
iPods- Teachers can record and/or download lectures, instructions, audiobooks, classical music or other audio files that would be beneficial for the student.

FM Amplication Device- The teacher wears a transmitter which picks up her conversation and helps eliminate any background noise. The student wears a receiver to better hear the teacher regardless of where the teacher is in the room.

Earobics- A software program designed to help students learn phonetics and phonemic awareness. Can help all students in PreK-3rd but its individualized instruction can specifically help students in special education.

**What Teachers Can Do:**
There are also several ways you can direct your speaking style and adjust the "pace" of the classroom to make information more accessible to a student with a hearing impairment.These strategies will benefit all students.

 Consider the following example as you think about accommodating a student with a hearing impairment in your class. Suppose you use several commercial videos that do not come with a captioning option to present essential instructional content. How would you accommodate a student who is hearing impaired? Choose a response."
 * When speaking, make sure the student can see your face and avoid unnecessary pacing and moving.
 * When speaking, avoid obscuring your lips or face with hands, books, etc.
 * Repeat discussion questions and statements made by other students.
 * Write discussion questions/answers on the board or overhead projector.
 * Speak clearly and at a normal rate.
 * Use visual aids with few words and large images and fonts.
 * Allow for preferential seating.
 * Eliminate unnecessary background noise.
 * Provide written lecture outlines, class assignments, lab instructions, and demonstration summaries and distribute them before class when possible.
 * 1) Have the videos captioned.
 * 2) Provide a sign language interpreter.
 * 3) Waive the requirement to watch the videos for this student.
 * 4) Provide the student with a transcript of the content to read [|.http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/Strategies/Disability/Hearing/]