WE DIAGNOSE TO TREAT RATHER THAN DIAGNOSE TO DISMISS.
“beneath every behaviour is a feeling. and beneath each feeling is a need. and when we meet that need rather than focus on the behaviour, we begin to deal with the cause, not the symptom” - Ashleigh Warner.
WE USE ASSESSMENTS AS A WAY OF GATHERING INFORMATION RELATING TO THE UNDERLYING CONDITIONS AND REASONS BEHIND PROBLEMS AND SYMPTOMS IN ORDER TO TREAT ISSUES AT THEIR ROOT CAUSE.
Auditory PROCESSING Screening
The Auditory Processing screening test is a form of “pre” assessment for individuals who think there may be a processing issue. We use the Scan-C (or Scan-A for adults) which is a standardised testing for Auditory Processing Disorders in Children (or adults).
It tests listening in 4 different listening environments; filtered words, auditory figure ground, competing words and competing sentences and also gives us an overall listening competency rating with comparison to the age norms of the individual.
Filtered Words: a diagnostic test used to assess the ability to process distorted speech. Speech or words that are filtered out in a way that only the very low frequency sounds in the word are given and tests the brains ability to fill in the blank when not all the auditory information is present.
Auditory Figure Ground: a test used to assess the ablility to discriminate or differentiate speech sounds in the presence of background noise, for example a busy classroom or cafe.
Competing Words: a dichotic listening test used to assess the ability to repeat two words, in a specific order, when they are presented simultaneously but with one in each ear.
Competing Sentences: a second dichotic listening test used to assess the ability to screen out unwanted auditory information and focus solely on the intended information being presented. In this test each ear is presented with a short sentence simultaneously with the individual instructed to repeat only one (specified) ears sentence.
This test takes around 20 minutes to administer and allows us to determine if there is likely to be more extensive processing difficulties and whether or not more testing is advisable or not.
The screening includes a brief written report.
Full Auditory PROCESSING Assessment
The Full Auditory Processing Assessment includes testing of hearing, listening and academic achievement.
Hearing: to rule out hearing loss or hearing problems we administer a basic (Tomatis) listening test using an audiometer to test the thresholds for various frequencies for both air and bone pathways and pitch discrimination.
Listening:
Scan C/Scan A - see Auditory Processing Screening description for more detail.
TAPS - tests auditory discrimination, phonological segmentation, number memory forward and number memory backwards.
ASM - auditory sequential memory (ability to remember information in a sequence - important skill for following multi-step instructions.
Rosner - tests the ability to separate out the sounds within spoken words and determine the temporal sequence of those sounds.
Academics:
Neale - Reading
Single Word Spelling Test - Spelling
Maths
Writing
The full assessment takes roughly 1.5-2 hours depending on the individuals abilities. The testing in conjunction with the pre assessment forms filled out by caregiver and teachers allows us to write a full written report of all the observations and findings, along with a series of recommendations.
iLs/auditory retraining therapy
iLs is a therapy system that is designed to target the difficulties in ones processing of auditory stimuli. It focuses on how the auditory pathway in the brain processes sound through both the air and bone conduction pathways. The therapy administers electronically altered music determined by an individual’s assessment results. The music is given in a sequence that builds on the foundations of how listening should have developed as the child developed in order to develop optimal processing.
The therapy is broken up into three blocks of sessions separated by integration periods. The first block consists of 20 sessions, the second and third blocks consists of 10 sessions each for a total of 40 sessions over a period of around 3 months. Sessions run daily Monday-Friday with weekends off with 2 weeks break in between each block. Each session runs for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Each sessions of the therapy consists of the child wearing a set of headphones with a bone conductor built into it. The headphones are attached to a pack clipped around the waist that plays electronically altered music for the full 1 hour 20 minutes. The first 20 minutes is made up of sensory motor exercises to target sensory integration. The remainder of the sessions comprises quiet play whilst the music works on the neurological pathways because of how it is altered and how it is administered.
The cost of this therapy is dependent on the number of sessions required, which is determined from the results of the assessment. Please feel free to contact us for further information about how this is calculated.
