• Background
• Test administered
• Result – Scan-C
• Result –TAPS – R
• Result – Auditory Perceptual Assessment
• Conclusion
• Recommendation

Background

To monitor progress in listening remediation and sound therapy, another auditory processing assessment was conducted at the beginning of primary 6 when I was around 12 years of age.

Test Administered

• Screening and Behavior Checklist
• Basic audiometric assessment
• Scan-C
• Test of Auditory Perceptual Skills-revised (TAPS-R)
• Auditory Perceptual Assessment

Result – Scan-C

Subtest 1: Filtered Words – Normal (previously borderline)

Subtest 2: Auditory Figure-Ground – Normal (previously borderline)

Subtest 3: Competing Words – Normal range

Subtest 4: Competing Sentences – Normal range

Result – TAPS-R

TAPS-R result indicates that child has below age auditory short-term memory including number and linguistically loaded task eg words and sentences. In contrast, she has very good working memory (auditory number memory in reversed order). Besides, her auditory words discrimination ability is also well below her age. Poor auditory memory may affect her ability to retain information that she hears which indirectly affects on her learning and ability to follow lengthy or complex verbal instructions.

Result – Auditory Perceptual assessment

Despite having age appropriate in most of the auditory processes, child displayed weakness in binaural integration ability. Binaural integration is the ability to process information presented to both ears at the same time with the information to each ear being different. This skill is critical for everyday listening particularly in environment with more than one person is talking; one has to attend to information from both speakers. This is evident in right deficit for dichotic digit test.

This finding suggestive of left hemisphere (hemisphere dominance for language) deficit. Poor binaural integration ability also resulting in significant listening in noise. Functionally, it will affect on her learning in the classroom, which is noisy in general. Big group setting will be also disadvantage to her in view of her difficulty in the presence of competing speeches.

Conclusion

The test result does not warrant the diagnosis of auditory processing disorder. However, this result may not be reflective of the initial auditory processing difficulties that she was facing in the past since she had gone through various intensive auditory training in the past few years. Auditory processing could have been improved and does not show up in this test result.

Recommendation

• Preferential seating
• Avoid giving multiple instructions
• Auditory memory activities and training
• Informal Dichotic listening training by parents

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