5 things teachers ask me about Auditory Memory

Auditory memory involves being able to take in the information presented orally (i.e spoken), to process that information, store it in your mind ... Skiptocontent 5thingsteachersaskmeaboutAuditoryMemory MarthaCurrie Jun4,20192:26:03PM Contents Jan4,201712:04:29PM TheImpactofAuditoryMemoryonLanguageDevelopment May24,201710:08:31AM MeasuringtheImpactofSpeechandLanguageInterventions Mar17,20221:26:15PM ATeacher'sGuidetoSupportingPupilswithAuditoryMemoryProblems Tweet DifficultieswithAuditorymemorycanhaveasignificantimpactonapupil’sabilitytoattendandlearnatthesamerateastherestoftheirclass. Ihaveworkedasaspeechandlanguagetherapistforanumberofyearsofferingadvicetoteachersaboutwhatexactlyauditorymemoryisandwhatarethebestwaystosupportchildrenstrugglingwiththesedifficulties.HerearethetopfivequestionsIamaskedbyeducatorsaboutauditorymemory.Ifyouhaveanycommentsorfurtherquestionspleasefeelfreetoaskmeatthebottomofthisblog.   1.Whatisauditorymemory? Auditorymemoryinvolvesbeingabletotakeintheinformationpresentedorally(i.espoken),toprocessthatinformation,storeitinyourmindandthenrecalltheinformationwhenyouneedto.Basically,itinvolvestheskillsofattending,listening,processing,storingandrecalling.Alargepercentageofwhatweteachispresentedthroughthespokenword.Anypupilstrugglingwithanylevelofauditorymemoryisgoingtomissoutonkeymessageswithoutoursupportsoit’simportantwehaveagoodunderstandingofwhatitis. 2.Whatareauditorymemorydifficulties? Pupilswithauditorymemorydifficultieswillonlypickuppartsofwhatisbeingsaidduringalessonandtheywillfindrecallingthisinformationlateronverydifficult.Theywilloftenexperiencedifficultydevelopingagoodunderstandingofwordsandrememberingspecificvocabularythathasbeenpresentedtothemorally. Childrenwithweakauditorymemoryskillsareunabletorememberandapplycrucialinformationinordertomovetothenextstepofatask.Theyfalterwhenataskrequiresthattheyrememberaseriesofdirections,generateideasinresponsetothedirectionsandthenexpresstheirideas.Informationjustdoesn’t“stick”forthem.It’simportanttonotethatAuditorymemorydifficultiesaredifferentfromauditoryprocessingdisorder,butstrategiesadvisedtousewiththosewithAPDcanbeusefulforpupil’swithauditorymemorydifficultiestoo.Youcanfindoutmoreaboutauditoryprocessingdisorderhere.     3.Dovisualshelppupilswithauditorymemoryproblems? Yes,infact,recentresearchfromtheUniversityofIowahavefoundthatwhenitcomestomemory,wedon’trememberthingswehearnearlyaswellasthingsweseeortouch. “Wetendtothinkthatthepartsofourbrainwiredformemoryareintegrated.Butthesefindingsindicateourbrainmayuseseparatepathwaystoprocessinformation.Evenmore,ourstudysuggeststhebrainmayprocessauditoryinformationdifferentlythanvisualandtactileinformation”.  Theresultsofthisresearchreinforcetheimportanceofmultisensorylearninganddemonstratethatvisualandtactilesupportcanbeveryimportant.Theuseofvisualsupportintheformsofvisualtimetables,props,picturesandvideocanenhancethelearningexperienceforallstudentsnotjustthosewithauditorymemorydifficulties.Similarly,usingtechnologythatcombinesmultisensoryandmultimediacomponentsrequirestudentstotouchandmovetheirfingersoverthescreentoaccessvideos,voiceovers,andadditionaltextcanenablemultisensoryprocessing.     4.DoesauditorymemoryaffectpupilswithADHDmorethanotherpupils? ThisisatrickyquestionasresearcheffortstoestablishasetofcommonbehavioursinchildrenwithADHDhasproducedmixedresults.However,mostpeopleagreesignificantweaknessesacrosscertainareassuchasresponseinhibition,vigilance,auditorymemory,andplanninghavebeenconsistentlyreportedinstudysamplesofADHD.(Nigg,Willcutt,Doyle,&Sounga-Barke,2005;Willcutt,Doyle,Nigg,Faraone,&Pennington,2005). Inaddition,auditoryattentionisaprerequisiteforthedevelopmentoftheauditorymemoryprocess.Soitiscriticalthatapupilhasauditoryattentioninordertodevelopauditorymemoryandinturn,comprehensionskills.FormanypupilswithADHD,theystruggletoattendtoinformationpresentedorally.Thiscanimpacttheirabilitytorememberkeyinstructionsandtocompletetaskswithoutvisualprompting.   5.HowcanIsupportpupilswithpoorauditorymemory? Selftalk Thisisastrategyweknowwealldoastypicallanguagelearnersandlisteners.Weuseself-talktohelpusrememberthingsandwecanhelppupilswithpoorauditorymemoryskillsrememberthingsinthesameway.Forexample,wemightbeginbyhavingapupilrepeatalistofobjects,pictures,wordsorevendirectionsoutloud.Itgivesthemachancetousethatrehearsalstrategy,whichisavocalrehearsalstrategyinthiscase,sincetheywillsaybackwhattheyheard.Asyoumoveforward,youcanhavethechildrehearsethatinformationtohimself,thenhemovestowhisperitorsayingtheinformationorquietly,andthennotsayingitatallbutrepeatingitinhishead.Helpcompensateforaweakness Helpcompensateforaweakness Breakuporchunkinformation.Thistakesupfewer“slots”inworkingauditoryworkingmemory.Forexample,giveoneortwoinstructionsratherthanalongstringofthem.Ifauditoryworkingmemoryisweak,don’texpectthemtodependonitforimportantthings.Encouragethemtoadvocatefortheirneedsbyaskingteachersforthiskindof“informationmanagement.”   Encourageselfadvocacy  Getthepupiltounderstandtheirdifficultyandthestrategiesthataremosteffectiveforthem.Thatwaytheycantellstaffandpeersthat“sometimesIhavetroublerememberingthings,couldyourepeatthatplease?”.Youcouldencouragethepupiltocarryanotebookaroundandaskthemtowritedownkeymessagestheywillneedtorecallinordertocarryouttasks.Usingatimetableanddairywillalsohelpthepupilrememberwheretheyhavetobeatcertaintimesoftheday.Foryoungerpupils,avisualtimetableisausefulsupport.   Schools Jan4,201712:04:29PM TheImpactofAuditoryMemoryonLanguageDevelopment May24,201710:08:31AM MeasuringtheImpactofSpeechandLanguageInterventions Mar17,20221:26:15PM ATeacher'sGuidetoSupportingPupilswithAuditoryMemoryProblems Previous ListenUp!Adviceonhearing,listeningandprocessingauditoryinformation Next DyslexiaandSpeech&LanguageTherapy?