This stream focuses on diagnosing and addressing listening difficulties, including auditory processing disorders, in children. It introduces a relatively new, cohesive test battery assessing abilities that may affect speech identification in noise. Participants will have hands-on experience administering and receiving these tests, which evaluate sentence comprehension, phoneme identification, memory, attention, language, spatial processing and dichotic perception. Explanations of the tested abilities and an overview of typical result patterns will be complemented by clinical case studies.

The stream also covers management options for these children, including an overview of various auditory training programs, wireless remote microphone technology and low-gain hearing aids. Evidence supporting each option will be reviewed, along with clinical considerations such as device options, validation, and funding considerations.

While this stream is paediatric focused, the diagnostic approaches and remediation options discussed are also applicable to adult patients.

Learning goals

• To understand the potential causes of listening difficulties in children, including, but not limited to, auditory processing disorders.
• To acquire practical experience in administering and interpreting tests used to diagnose listening difficulties.
• To apply evidence-based clinical reasoning in selecting and implementing appropriate supports for various profiles of listening difficulties.
• To gain an understanding of selected auditory training programs used to treat different profiles of listening difficulties.
• To gain an overview of the current device options available for listening difficulties, including wireless remote microphone technology and low-gain hearing aids.