Dyslexia & auditory processing disorders

Our speech therapists help kids succeed in school by helping them develop skills needed for great learning in the classroom.

Dyslexia

There are serious short and long‑term effects of dyslexia. Young children with dyslexia gain less pleasure from reading, and so read less. Educational development is often delayed because of the need for reading and writing and spelling skills throughout schooling. Academic failure and a lack of qualifications impacts on the occupational choices and opportunities in adulthood.

Things that influence better outcomes

Early intervention
High quality intervention
Strong oral language skills
Ability to maintain attention
Good family/carer support

Problems which may cause poorer outcomes:

Severity of phonological problems
Auditory processing disorder
Slow speed of processing
Lack of compensatory resources
Co-occurring learning difficulties
Late recognition and intervention
Poor teaching

Auditory processing problems

Auditory processing disorder (APD) makes it hard for kids to process auditory information (ie what other people are saying).

Symptoms of Auditory Processing Disorder

Poor listening skills
Speech and/or language and/or literacy problems
Problems discriminating similar-sounding speech sounds
Difficulty paying attention to and remembering information
Problems following multi-step directions
More time needed to process information
Difficulty listening in noise
Poor organization of verbal material
Difficulty with reading, comprehension, spelling and vocabulary
Low academic performance
Behavior problems
Ask speakers to repeat what they’ve said, or saying, “huh?” or “what?”
Be easily distracted, especially by background noise or loud and sudden noises
Struggle with oral (word) math problems
Find it hard to follow conversations
Have poor musical ability
Find it hard to learn songs or nursery rhymes
Have trouble remembering details of what was read or heard

Our speech therapists screen for literacy and auditory processing disorders as part of your child's speech and language intervention. We provide fun, engaging intervention programs based on the latest research.