Who, When, and Why

Who will benefit

  • Any Speech-Language deficits, including articulation, fluency, and language processing issues
  • Difficulty understanding verbal directions
  • Needs repetition of information
  • Forgetful
  • Often says “what?” or “huh?”
  • Difficulty understanding speech in background noise
  • Experiences auditory “overload”
  • Hyper/ hypo-sensitivity to sounds (inconsistent responses when called)
  • Misses humor, sarcasm, language nuances (figurative/ play on words)
  • Distractibility / Inattentiveness- daydreaming/ Withdrawn/Anxious/ Depressed
  • Tired/ grumpy at end of school day
  • Academic underachievement
  • Dyslexia
  • Proprioceptive deficits- not able to sit in one place, seemingly ADHD
  • Poor handwriting
  • Resists homework
  • Unable to cope with peers socially (playground, parties, etc)
  • Low muscle tone

When will it benefit

  • Auditory Processing assessment can be done as early as 3 years of age
  • Intervention is appropriate at any age
  • Early intervention can facilitate brain to focus its resources on more age appropriate skill sets
  • The scaffolding of developmental processes is more meaningful when foundational skills are addressed and strengthened.

Why will it benefit

  • The assessment probes into the auditory function of the brain specifically
  • Intervention improves auditory skills due to neuroplasticity
  • Neuroplasticity is promoted by multiple variables including behavior, environment, thought, and emotions.
  • Neuroplasticity can be observed on multiple scales ranging from individual neurons to complete cortical remapping.
  • Neural pruning is the process of removing irrelevant synapses for brain efficiency.
  • Early synaptic pruning is mostly influenced by our genes, later on it is based on our experiences.
  • Ensures efficient multi-system integration and coordination in the brain when all processes are well established.