Auditory Memory

When should I choose this Area of Focus for my Gabadoo?

Auditory memory (memory for spoken word) involves being able to take in the information presented orally (i.e spoken), to process that information, store it in your mind and then recall the information when you need to.

If your child is having difficulty in this area, they may miss key messages which can affect their social skills and ability to attend, listen, process, store and recall information.

Attention is a very important pre-verbal skill that must be developed prior to expressive, receptive and social/pragmatic language. As attention to spoken language falls under auditory memory, this may need to be your initial starting point to build this important pre-verbal skill with the guidance from our Gabadoo Team.

So what might you observe with your child?

You may notice that your child only picks up on parts of what is being said in conversations or during learning and may find recalling this information later very challenging.

Your child may also have difficulty developing a good understanding of words and remembering specific vocabulary that has been presented to them orally.

Your child may find it difficult to move to the next step in a task as they are unable to remember spoken instructions. Especially tasks that have a series of instructions like 'Get your copy, sit at your desk and do pages 5-7'.

Your child may appear to tune out or stop listening if there is too much information being provided orally.

Your child may mask their difficulty in this area by copying other children and watching what they are doing.

When reading a story, they may find it difficult to retain the information and answer questions.

It's important to rule out any hearing issues prior to completing a Gabadoo if you have any concerns in relation to this.

Our Gabadoo Team are experienced at working with children and families to support the development of their auditory memory and communication skills. Get individualised strategies and support today through a Gaba Plan.

Important to Note:

There is a separate 'Area of Focus' for auditory processing which you can learn more about here. If this is more appropriate for your child, you should select auditory processing when completing your Gabadoo.

There is a separate 'Area of Focus' for receptive language which you can learn more about here. If this is more appropriate for your child, you should select receptive language when completing your Gabadoo.

What information do I need to include in my Gabadoo?

As our Gabadoo Team have never met your family before and know nothing about your child, they can only provide strategies based on the information you provide so be very detailed!

After you have filled in the relevant information in your Gabadoo, go through this checklist to make sure you have included the following:

Family & Home Life:

Description of your family & the structure of your family including siblings, pets or any extended family who are living in your home. Also include if anyone else in the household has identified difficulties with their speech or language.

Your daily routine including school hours, child-care, free-time in evenings and weekends.

Strengths and Interests:

What does your child like to do?

What games, toys, T.V. programs, characters do they like?

What type of activities do they enjoy?

What school subjects do they enjoy?

What daily activities do they enjoy doing with a parent or family member? e.g. cooking, baking, jobs, walking the dog.

Do they respond to praise from adults?

Do they enjoy playing with other children?

Additional Information:

What class is your child in at school?

What type of schooling do they receive? i.e. homeschooling, mainstream N.S., gaelscoil, preschool, ASD class, Special School.

Have you seen any professionals in the past in relation to their communication or language? Or has your child ever had a medical review in relation to their hearing? If so, what was the outcome?

How does your child currently communicate? E.g. speech, Lamh, PECS, AAC, gesturing etc.

What parts of learning/subjects does your child (1) enjoy and (2) find more challenging? E.g. art, story-time, oral work, languages etc.

Make sure to include:

What have you tried before to work on this skill e.g. interventions, specific programmes, courses, books such as More Than Words.

Include a list of toys or books that you already have at home that your child likes to engage with so our team can use what you already have at home.

Detailed observations of what level your child is at - consider how they respond to multi-step instructions, understanding books during story-time, how they react when there are lots of instructions, how many steps can they follow in an instruction (one, two, three, four) etc.

Detail observations of how this is impacting on them day to day, both at home and in school.

Very Important: What would you you like to gain from this Gabadoo? What are some of your goals? E.g. I would like to get strategies to support my child's ability to..

Next include videos and images of your child and their environment:

A variety of video-clips where you or another family member is talking to your child, giving them unfamiliar commands, multi-step instructions or asking them questions about a book.

Remember: The more information you give our team, the more individualised and relevant your plan will be. Videos are vital when reviewing a child's communication.

What support will I receive for my child?

Your information will be reviewed by one of our Gabadoo Experts who is experienced in the area of auditory memory. They will detail individualised strategies, activities, next steps and helpful organisations and products that you can use at home to support your child.