Researchers have documented significant improvements in children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who underwent a short course in auditory processing training (APT).
The small study extended the researchers’ previous work by examining the potential benefits of an APT program designed to address the auditory processing difficulties in people with ASD via auditory training and the use of remote-microphone technology.
“The APT program significantly improved spatial processing, binaural integration, phonological processing, auditory memory, auditory cohesion, and speech recognition in noise in individuals with ASD when the remote-microphone system was used,” they concluded.
“PCA (principal component analysis) of pre- and post-training data showed a strong relationship among all test measures, suggesting an abbreviated auditory processing test battery may be feasible for individuals with ASD.
“Training duration (minutes) and training improvements were associated with performance outcomes measured by the test battery.”
The researchers from the Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of North Texas, Denton, published their findings in the American Journal of Audiology on 1 October 2024.
They said children and young adults with ASD often reported and exhibited significant auditory processing difficulties, particularly in background noise.
Their study calculated effect sizes of training benefits, and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to consolidate performance across various tests into fewer meaningful constructs related to auditory processing in this population.
Twenty-eight children and young adults with ASD participated in the 12-week APT program that included one-on-one speech-in-noise training, computerised dichotic training, and use of remote-microphone technology at home and at school.
Before and after training, each participant completed tests of speech recognition in noise, spatial processing, binaural integration, and general auditory processing skills.
“Significant performance improvements and medium-to-large effect sizes were found across most test measures after the participants completed the APT program and when using the remote-microphone system,” the researchers said.
“PCA identified strong relationships among all test measures as well as documented the relationships between behavioural performance, training duration, and training improvements.”
The researchers were Professor Erin Schafer, Professor Kamakshi Gopal, Ms Lauren Mathews, Assistant Professor Sharon Miller and Mr Boji Lam.
