By Carol Atkins, MA, CCC-A, Clinical Audiologist

Many children are referred to me to evaluate their auditory processing skills. The test results dictate the type of recommendations best suited the child’s needs.  Many of the children on the Autism Spectrum or those with delayed language development demonstrate a DECODING AUDITORY PROCESSING profile. These children often mishear or hear vague approximations of what is being said. The goal for this child is to make speech clearer for better understanding and eventually better expression of their wants and needs.

There are many ways to get the speech to be heard more clearly such as speaking into their ear using a normal volume, face them so they can take advantage of facial and body language cues, and to speak in a nature, concise manner. However, even then some children miss portions of the message and act confused or as if they did not hear at all.

Another solution is to use an assistive listening device also called an auditory trainer that transmits frequency modulated (FM) signals through the air and not be hard wired between the person transmitting the information and the child receiving the information. These systems work well indoors and outdoors up to approximately 50 feet and the signal sounds as if the person speaking is about 6 inches from the child’s ear. It enables the child to receive the teacher’s voice at any time without difficulty even in loud background and ambient noise conditions. This has the advantage of improving the signal to noise ratio to overcome the negative effect of chaotic auditory conditions often found in classrooms, restaurants and when riding in a car.

There are personal auditory trainers and group auditory trainers. A personal system requires the child to wear the receiver a small device that looks like a hearing aid, earphones, or headphones, on one or both ears. A group trainer sends the instructor’s voice to a small speaker on the student’s desk or wall-mounted speakers. There are many systems from a variety of companies available. Phonak is releasing a miniaturized behind the ear receiver called an EduLink with a user volume control that may increase the teacher’s voice up to 20 dB louder.

Parents of children who have used these devices say:

• My child increased from hearing 2-3 words in a sentence to 7-8 words in the sentence
• My child is discriminating better between multi step directions
• My child is responding more appropriately
• My child’s ability to access and respond to verbal prompts has greatly improved
• My child is more focused and engaged throughout group sessions
• My child appears to understand better in class
• My child is less tired at the end of a school day

Assistive listening devices are fit with a 10-30 day trial. Parents and teachers rate the child’s behavior before use of a trainer and at the end of the trial period. The trainer may be returned within 10-30 days for a refund if the device does not show language or social changes. Assistive devices are dispensed from audiologists and speech language pathologists often offer the auditory training.