Lesser Known Disorders
Each issue of this series contains at least three lesser known disorders. Some of these disorders may contain subtypes which will also be presented. You will also notice that each disorder has a code. These codes represent the coding system for all disabilities and disorders listed in the Educator’s Diagnostic Manual(EDM) Wiley Publications.
Disorders in this issue:
LD – 1.01- Auditory Association Processing Disorder
Disability Category: Learning Disability
Definition
An auditory processing disorder specifically associated with difficulties in relating to orally presented material (words and concepts) in a meaningful way (Florida Department of Education, 2001).
Explanation
A student with Auditory Association Processing Disorder will often have great difficulties organizing and associating aurally presented material in a meaningful way. For example, when speaking to this child, he/she does not appear to understand what is being said, needs you to repeat information, and frequently asks “what did you say? Or “could you repeat that?”
It should be noted that any medical problems associated with this child’s hearing have been ruled out as a primary cause of the child’s difficulties. The difficulties are in the internal processing of information, not due to a hearing impairment.
LD – 1.06- Auditory Language Classification Processing Disorder
Disability Category: Learning Disability
Definition
An auditory processing disorder specifically associated with difficulties in classifying objects by category when presented aurally to an individual (Terry, 2001).
Explanation
Auditory language association and classification difficulties can lead to difficulties with holding two or more concepts in relationship to one another, being able identify and verbalize concepts, and/or learning to classify or categorize concepts.
For example, a student with Auditory Language Classification Processing Disorder may have difficulties answering the following questions:
- Would “bat” go with “ball” or “mitten?”
- Would “bird” go with “airplane” or “car?”
- How are a dog and a cat alike?
It should be noted that any medical problems associated with this child’s hearing have been ruled out as a primary cause of the child’s difficulties. The difficulties are in the internal processing of information, not due to a hearing impairment.
LD – 1.07- Auditory Long Term-Memory Processing Disorder
Disability Category: Learning Disability
Definition
An auditory processing disorder specifically associated with difficulties in retaining and recalling general and specific long-term auditory information (Rabiner, 1999).
Explanation
Long-term auditory memory is the ability to remember something heard some time ago (National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2005). A child with Auditory Long Term-Memory Processing Disorder may not be able to retain orally presented information learned on Monday for a test on Friday. He/she may have difficulties remembering homework assigned on Wednesday morning for Wednesday night. When asked about an event from last year, the child may appear confused and have no recollection of the event itself.
It should be noted that any medical problems associated with this child’s hearing have been ruled out as a primary cause of the child’s difficulties. The difficulties are in the internal processing of information, not due to a hearing impairment.
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