One of the characteristics of auditory dysfunction is difficulty modulating auditory sensations. According to Mimouni-Bloch et al. (2018), children with sensory modulating difficulties may have sensory over-responsivity manifested by perceiving non-painful stimuli as abnormally unpleasant, painful, or irritating. For example, a child may be distressed by a loud noise from human voices. Children with this disorder may also be irritated by sudden noises, including those from balloon popping, sirens, thunder, and fire alarms. Another example of a child’s modulating auditory sensation is when they are distressed by metallic or tiny sounds like those of clinking silverware or xylophone. The study by Kranowitz (2005) showed that a child who seeks or shows interest in sounds that would be loud or annoying to others may have sensory modulating difficulties. Such a child might also be irritated by normal sounds from soft music and a toilet flushing.
Another characteristic of auditory dysfunction is poor auditory discrimination. Poor auditory discrimination is trouble or difficulty distinguishing between syllables and words with similar sounds (Shipstead et al., 2019). Such children may show difficulties differentiating sounds from varied sources. For example, the child may not recognize the difference between a door bang and an angry voice or the difference when these sounds are of low or high notes. Children with poor auditory dysfunction may not maintain attention to a story or conversation in the presence of other noises. For example, a child watching a cartoon story on the television may find difficulties listening to another child talking to them on the side. Such children may seem unaware of the sound sources around them. For example, a child hears a music sound but looks all around to find the source of the music.
References
Kranowitz, C. S. (2005). The out-of-sync child: Recognizing and coping with sensory processing disorder. Penguin.
Mimouni-Bloch, A., Offek, H., Rosenblum, S., Posener, I., Silman, Z., & Engel-Yeger, B. (2018). Association between sensory modulation and daily activity function of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and children with typical development. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 83, 69-76.
Shipstead, Z., Martin, J. D., & Nespodzany, A. (2019). Visuospatial working memory, auditory discrimination, and attention. Memory, 27(4), 568-574.