Activities for Children With Auditory Processing Problems

Auditory Memory

• Children who have trouble with auditory processing often have auditory memory problems. This means children have difficulty in remembering auditory information, such as directions, study material and lists. Fun group activities in which each person adds a new word with each letter of the alphabet aim to develop auditory memory. Every player must repeat all the words before choosing a new word with the next letter of the alphabet. Getting together to sing songs with repetitive verses, such as ̶0;Old Macdonald Had a Farm̶1; or ̶0;The Twelve Days of Christmas̶1; are useful activities. Practice and develop auditory memory by giving your child a set of directions to follow. Start with two directions, before gradually increasing the elaboration and complexity.

Sound Discrimination

• Learning how to discriminate and identify different sounds is important for improving auditory processing skills. Have your child listen to a selection of different sounds, such as environmental sounds, recorded sounds of trains, typewriters and other recognizable sounds or sounds you can make yourself, for example tearing up paper, before trying to identify them. Get your child to discriminate between loud and soft, and high and low sounds. Blindfold your child and have him judge whether a sound is near or far, or have him follow a sound, such as a whistle blowing or somebody speaking.

Attention

• There are certain activities that can be done with your child to improve auditory attention. Often children with auditory processing problems will have trouble maintaining focus to finish a task or requirement, such as listening to a lecture at school. Activities in which the child must concentrate on and then recall sounds are particularly effective. Try maintaining eye contact when giving directions to your child and have the directions repeated back to you. Play out a pattern of sounds by clapping or playing a musical instrument with your child facing away from you. Ask him to play the sound pattern back to you as accurately as possible. Gradually build the complexity of this activity by introducing a variety of sounds from different objects.

Understanding Language

• A child with auditory processing problems will most likely experience difficulty with auditory cohesion. Auditory cohesion skills, such as comprehending verbal math problems and understanding riddles, require developed auditory processing. They are vital for decoding written language. Ask your child to try to identify rhyming words in poems or nursery rhymes, then make up riddles that rhyme and ask your child to guess the final rhyming words. Practice activities that teach your child how to identify initial consonants, before teaching consonant blends, endings and vowels so your child can learn to understand different phonic elements.