Christine was a junior in my American Literature class. From the beginning, she didn’t follow directions, often messing up assignments and/or not doing the whole assignment. When I talked with her privately, she would assure me she understood the assignments and then continue turning in work with all kinds of “careless” mistakes.

I asked other teachers about her work with them and was told she was “spacey” and didn’t pay attention. Christine was a beautiful girl, and a couple teachers told me she was a socialite and just didn’t care about school.

I was more puzzled than ever because she seemed to be paying attention in class –she looked at me while I explained how to do an assignment; she asked questions about the work; and she took copious notes. But then, when she turned in her assignments, they indicated she hadn’t been paying attention at all.

I talked with her some more, and she explained that she had always had this problem and just wasn’t smart. I consulted the special education teacher, and she gave me invaluable advice; “Ask her to paraphrase her understanding of what you said in your explanation. After you and Christine have done this a few times, you may see a pattern that shows she isn’t understanding what you say – she may be hearing the words, but she isn’t making sense out of them. She may have an auditory processing problem.”

I explained to Christine what we were going to do. WOW, her understanding had very little resemblance to what I had said. She omitted some information and added other information. From her misunderstandings, I was able to know just where I needed to clarify.

This strategy “helped” but Christine had an auditory processing problem and needed much greater help. Yes, the pediatrician may well have checked her hearing and discovered she heard individual words and simple sentences just fine. BUT doctors don’t usually check for understanding of what was said. An audiologist is what she needed.

The saddest part of this story is that so many had written her off as “careless” and “spacey,” and, she believed it of herself as well. In truth, she had been quite successful throughout school because she was smart.

Happy Ending: Christine went on to a successful college experience.

AUDITORY PROCESSING: YOUR CHILD MAY “HEAR” JUST FINE, BUT MAY NOT BE MAKING COMPLETE MEANING OUT OF THE WORDS AND SENTENCES HE HEARS. Christine was 17, but auditory processing problems usually evidence themselves as behavior issues in young children. The behavior may even be mistaken for ADHD.

THE STRATEGY OF ASKING YOUR CHILD OR STUDENT TO PARAPHRASE – TO SAY THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF – EXPLANATIONS, JOBS THEY’RE TO DO, DIRECTIONS, ETC. ALLOWS YOU TO FILL IN GAPS AND CLARIFY MISUNDERSTANDINGS. And if you find a pattern of misunderstanding, you may want to have the child assessed by an audiologist.

Copyright 2016 Judy Harmon Holmes

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