Learning Difficulties and Sound Therapy

Any approach for treating learning difficulties requires first that we normalise the child’s ability to accurately perceive sensory information.

When you find out that your child has a learning difficulty you are naturally concerned to do everything possible to help with their development. You want to make their studies easier and to find ways to help them work around their difficulties so they can still reach their potential. First you will be trying to understand what is a learning difficulty and how might it affect your child.

Learning difficulties and auditory processing problems

Learning difficulties is a general term meaning that a child (or adult) has difficulty learning in a typical manner because the brain has trouble processing information. A learning difficulty is not an indication of intelligence level, but it means the child will have trouble learning in the same way others do and may have trouble performing certain types of tasks.

Global learning difficulties

If a child has “global learning problems” then s/he will find all aspects of learning and understanding difficult regardless of what method of teaching is used. These children used to be called “slow learners”. Such a child will typically get a low score on IQ tests or other types of learning assessments.

Specific learning difficulties

Others may have “specific learning difficulties” meaning that only certain aspects of processing are problematic. These pupils are often quite bright, but are sometimes misunderstood and mistaken for being lazy or careless, when in fact they are compensating for some type of sensory processing problem. They may need a different type of instruction that suits their processing style. Specific therapeutic intervention may alleviate the difficulty considerably and enable these pupils to excel.

Can it be fixed?

While a learning difficulty cannot normally be fixed completely, the right stimulation and inputs to the nervous system can significantly improve a child’s processing ability, and this can go a long way towards reducing the effects of the learning difficulty.

Remedial instruction, tutoring, speech therapy etc can be very helpful. However this type of individual remedial help will have a greater chance of working if the processing problem is addressed first. Sound Therapy is an easy, affordable and effective way to improve sensory processing to address the cause of the problem.

Terminology

Some of the terms for different types of learning difficulties include dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia, sensory integration disorder, auditory processing disorder or central auditory processing disorder.

Auditory processing

Common to most learning difficulties is auditory processing disorder. Even if the primary functional problem is a visual or motor problem, this processing is highly interactive and involved with the auditory system. This is because the brain is a highly integrated structure where each sensory system interacts with others to help us make sense of our world.

The auditory sense is, in many ways, the sense with the most profound impact on our learning ability. Language is how we communicate about all topics, and hearing is more highly integrated into our nervous system than any other sense.

For this reason, any child with a learning difficulty is likely to benefit from Sound Therapy. Sound Therapy definitely assists auditory processing, but it has also been found to improve other types of sensory processing (visual, motor skills, balance) as well as integration between the senses.

Make an informed choice—get the eBook

After 26 years in the Sound Therapy field, we really understand the importance of giving children every possible sensory stimulation to address learning difficulties as early as possible. Every week we hear from our listeners thanking us for the benefits their children have found. Listeners have reported very dramatic changes in the way their children approach learning, social relationships and life in general.

If you would like to learn more in depth about how Sound Therapy helps learning difficulties, order Rafaele Joudry’s FREE eBook here and benefit from her decades of experience helping thousands of children to learn better with Sound Therapy.

Or call and speak to one of our qualified Sound Therapy consultants right away.

Give your children the gift to accelerate their potential today!