Dear
How Difficult Is It For A Child To Participate In A Conversation?
Let's imagine a scenario where a boy with Auditory Processing difficulties
is taking part in a conversation in the school playground where there is some background noise with other children playing, running around, shouting, laughing and the boy is having a chat with three of his friends.
Child number one starts talking about what they did at the weekend.
Child number two then starts talking about what they did
Child number three also contributes
Unfortunately, because the boy's processing speed is slower than it should be he struggled to take in everything child number one said before and was still processing it when child number two started speaking so he didn't get all of what they said either nor did he get all of what child number 3 said.
So what are the possible consequences of that?
1. He may misinterpret the point of the conversation.
2. He may want to contribute but when he does his contribution is also off
point
3. His contribution may have been relevant two or three sentences ago but not
now.
4. He may not have gotten the nuances of what was talked about.
5. He may decide not to contribute at all and retreat into himself.
6. He may prefer to play with one child only.
7. He may prefer to play with younger children who are easier to understand
because their language is less mature.
8. He may lose the listener.
9. He may not always get the jokes or the sarcasm.
10. Friends may become unkind or even make fun of
him.
Let's imagine that the children were making up rules to a game. What would be the consequences of him not getting everything that was said?
1. He may not fully understand the rules of the
game.
2. He may wish to lead the play because he CAN understand the rules in
his own head.
3. He may become frustrated and upset when others won't follow.
4. Behaviour issues may arise as a result.
What if the boy becomes involved in a negotiation or argument?
1. He may not be able to think quickly enough
to negotiate or argue
competently.
2. He may get upset.
3. His behaviour may become an issue.
The background noise certainly won't help either.
Fast ForWord helps to strengthen Memory, Attention, Processing Speed, Processing Accuracy and Sequencing. All of these are needed for good receptive and expressive language skills which are necessary for good social communications and
negotiations.
Regards
Joyce Kerins
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