CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING PROBLEMS
SUGGESTIONS FOR HOME AND SCHOOL

1. When giving verbal instructions or directions, make certain you have the child's attention.
   
2. Eliminate noise sources and visual distractions whenever possible.

   Provide preferential classroom seating, away from heavy traffic areas.
   
   Consider sound-attenuating ear muffs or ear plugs to help the child deal with noisy areas such as the cafeteria. Ear- plugs may also be beneficial when doing homework or working individually at a desk.
   
   Be sensitive to the noise level in a car with windows open and a radio playing. Do not give important verbal information in this situation.
   
   Homework should be done in a quiet room. Turn off the T.V. and stereo.

3. When talking to the child, use familiar language. Do not use long words when short words will do. Also, use short sentences with only one idea at a time.
   
4. Structure activities to avoid confusion. The formation of daily routines and schedules will help the child to achieve some measure of success--something every child needs to maintain self-esteem.
   
5. Periodic feedback from the child will give the parent/teacher and the child the opportunity to monitor what has been heard. it is better to train the child to routinely rephrase than to regularly ask if he/she understands. For the child with an auditory memory problem, there is often no realization that he/she is missing information.
   
6. Encourage older children to use a tape recorder. Instructions or directions can then be played back for review and reinforcement.
   
7. The older child should learn to carry a note pad for homework assignments and other reminders. Learning to make lists and checking items which have been completed is a good beginning to self-organization.
   
8. Teaching, or the delivery of instructions or directions, should use more than one sensory modality, whenever possible. Verbal information can be reinforced with the addition of written instructions, modeling the activity, gestures, etc.
   
9. Teaching should proceed from what is known and familiar to what is novel and new. This will help to build confidence and insure success.
   
10. Break new information into small steps. Be generous with praise—and specific about what behaviors are being praised-- for each accomplishment.
    
11. Interweave difficult activities with those with which the child has had success. Find some things the child does well, and give him/her some regular time to do them. Do not ever withhold these activities as a punishment. Success in non-academic activities is still success.
    
12. Be creative in developing new materials and activities to develop and train specific skills. For example, auditory memory training can be accomplished using focusing, listening with visual cues and retelling using those visual cues, games which involve repetition. Each of these will seem like a new activity to the child. It is very important to maintain interest and motivation. The keys to learning are fun and a sense of success.

CHILDREN WITH AUDITORY PROCESSING DEFICITS NEED TO EXPERIENCE SUCCESS AND BUILD SELF-ESTEEM, EVEN MORE THAN THEY NEED TO INCREASE MEMORY AND LEARNING SKILLS. NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT.