Can children with (central) auditory processing disorders ignore irrelevant sounds?
Kids with CAPD are distracted by any extra sound, not just speech, so cut overall noise in therapy and test rooms.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked kids to repeat lists of numbers while different sounds played in the background. Some kids had (central) auditory processing disorder, or CAPD. Others were typical listeners.
The sounds were either speech or simple tones. The goal was to see if CAPD kids were extra distracted by speech.
What they found
Irrelevant sounds hurt digit recall for every group. CAPD kids did not show extra disruption from speech compared with tones.
This hints that their brains treat speech like any other noise, not as special information.
How this fits with other research
Poelmans et al. (2011) and Nittrouer et al. (2018) also found that children with dyslexia struggle with speech-in-noise tasks. Yet those studies link the trouble to slow-rate or separate phonological deficits, not to equal distraction by speech and non-speech.
Sayyahi et al. (2017) showed that preschoolers with speech sound disorder have wider gap detection thresholds. Plant et al. (2007) extend this picture by showing that school-age CAPD kids fail to separate sound streams, even when timing gaps are normal.
Cook et al. (2014) tried white noise as a tool to help kids with ADHD stay on task. Their mixed results remind us that sound can hurt or help depending on the diagnosis and task. CAPD kids appear to need strategies that reduce all irrelevant input, not just speech.
Why it matters
If you test a child who has CAPD, do not assume speech is the only distractor to remove. Ticking clocks, fans, or hallway clatter can be just as disruptive. Use carpet, close doors, and give the child headphones with quiet or mild amplification. These simple changes can protect digit span, following directions, and other auditory working-memory targets during instruction or assessment.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Before your next session, turn off fans, shut the hallway door, and add soft pads to chair legs to lower background noise for your CAPD learner.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study investigated the effects of irrelevant sounds on the serial recall performance of visually presented digits in a sample of children diagnosed with (central) auditory processing disorders [(C)APD] and age- and span-matched control groups. The irrelevant sounds used were samples of tones and speech. Memory performance was significantly disrupted in the presence of irrelevant sounds in all three groups of children. While irrelevant speech was more disruptive than irrelevant tones in the two control groups, children diagnosed with (C)APD did not show larger disruption from irrelevant speech compared to irrelevant tones. Children diagnosed with (C)APD appear to process speech differently from their typically developing peers, and this may be remediated with auditory training procedures and the placement of these children in smaller classes.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2007 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2006.06.005