Auditory Decoding Deficit is thought to be based in the primary auditory cortex in the left hemisphere of the brain. It is considered the most “classic” manifestation of an auditory processing disorder and is linked to significant language deficits in most individuals.
Communication and Educational Problems
▫ “I didn’t hear you” or “huh?”
▫ Excessive auditory fatigue/tiredness
▫ Poor sound recognition, sound blending, reading decoding, writing
▫ Problems with new information reduced redundancy
▫ Weak semantic and syntactic/grammatical skills
▫ Weak vocabulary
▫ Difficulty following directions, taking notes
▫ Often better in maths
▫ Poor auditory discrimination
▫ Weak receptive/expressive vocabulary
▫ Difficulty spelling words the way they sound
Integration Deficit is thought to be based in the area that integrates information between the two brain hemispheres. It results in delayed or abnormal communication of information in the auditory modality.
Communication and Educational Problems
▫ Problems knowing “how to” do some tasks
▫ Problems getting started with a task
▫ Need additional time to process information and complete work
▫ Often say “I don’t know” or “I have no idea” or “I don’t get it”
▫ Variable speech-in-noise skills
▫ Phonological deficits
▫ Difficulty linking prosodic elements (rhythm, stress) with linguistic content of message
▫ Difficulty processing ongoing discourse
▫ Difficulty following verbally presented directions
▫ Deficits in auditory verbal learning
▫ Memory deficits
▫ Syntactic, pragmatic, and semantic receptive language deficits
▫ Poor sight word and word attack skills
▫ Difficulty with reading comprehension
▫ Poor writing skills
▫ Difficulty combining auditory and visual input
Prosodic Deficit is thought to be based in the primary auditory cortex and its associated areas in the right hemisphere. It is the “opposite” of the Auditory Decoding Deficit, and is thought to occur because of inefficiencies in the right hemisphere for the processing of left ear stimuli. It also involves a deficiency in an ability to process the suprasegmental (i.e. pitch, intonation, stress) features involved in the perception of speech.
Communication and Educational Problems
▫ Hears but does not understand
▫ Pragmatic language problems, difficulty judging communicative intent
▫ Trouble with nonverbal cues (facial expressions, body language, gestures)
▫ Difficulty perceiving prosodic cues (sarcasm, jokes/humour, irony, question forms)
▫ Weak social communication skills
▫ May make inappropriate responses, especially to linguistically complex messages
▫ May have flat or monotonic speech and oral reading
▫ Difficulty with rhythm, stress, intonation
▫ Good word attack skills, but problems with sight words
▫ Difficulty comprehending main idea of spoken or written narrative
▫ Difficulty taking notes during lecture-based classes
▫ May demonstrate typical manifestations of ADHD
▫ Bright but unmotivated
▫ Highly verbal but with little meaningful content
▫ Interacts well with adults, but poor social interaction with peers
▫ Late identification of learning disability
