Children With Auditory Problems

Reading Practice
Children with auditory problems

A
Hearing impairment or other auditory function deficit in young children can have a major
impact on their development of speech and communication, resulting in a detrimental effect
on their ability to learn at school. This is likely to have major consequences for the
individual and the population as a whole. The New Zealand Ministry of Health has found
from research carried out over two decades that 6-10% of children in that country are
affected by hearing loss.
A preliminary study in New Zealand has shown that classroom noise presents a major
concern for teachers and pupils. Modern teaching practices, the organisation of desks in
the classroom, poor classroom acoustics, and mechanical means of ventilation such as air-
conditioning units all contribute to the number of children unable to comprehend
the teacher's voice. Education researchers Nelson and Soli have also suggested that
recent trends in learning often involve collaborative interaction of multiple minds and tools
as much as individual possession of information. This all amounts to heightened activity
and noise levels, which have the potential to be particularly serious for children
experiencing auditory function deficit. Noise in classrooms can only exacerbate their
difficulty in comprehending and processing verbal communication with other children and
instructions from the teacher.
Children with auditory function deficit are potentially failing to learn to their
maximum potential because of noise levels generated in classrooms. The effects of noise
on the ability of children to learn effectively in typical classroom environments are now the
subject of increasing concern. The International Institute of Noise Control Engineering (I-
INCE), on the advice of the World Health Organization, has established an
international working party, which includes New Zealand, to evaluate noise and
reverberation control for school rooms.
While the detrimental effects of noise in classroom situations are not limited to children
experiencing disability, those with a disability that affects their processing of speech
and verbal communication could be extremely vulnerable. The auditory function deficits
in question include hearing impairment, autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention
deficit disorders (ADD/ADHD).
Autism is considered a neurological and genetic life-long disorder that causes

discrepancies in the way information is processed. This disorder is characterised by
interlinking problems with social imagination, social communication and social interaction.
According to Janzen, this affects the ability to understand and relate in typical ways to
people, understand events and objects in the environment, and understand or respond to
sensory stimuli. Autism does not allow learning or thinking in the same ways as in children
Access http://mini-ielts.com for more practices 1

who are developing normally.
Autistic spectrum disorders often result in major difficulties in comprehending verbal

information and speech processing. Those experiencing these disorders often find
sounds such as crowd noise and the noise generated by machinery painful and distressing.
This is difficult to scientifically quantify as such extra-sensory stimuli vary greatly from one
autistic individual to another. But a child who finds any type of noise in their classroom or
learning space intrusive is likely to be adversely affected in their ability to process
information.
The attention deficit disorders are indicative of neurological and genetic disorders and are
characterised by difficulties with sustaining attention, effort and persistence,
organisation skills and disinhibition. Children experiencing these disorders find it difficult to
screen out unimportant information, and focus on everything in the environment rather than
attending to a single activity. Background noise in the classroom becomes a major
distraction, which can affect their ability to concentrate.
Children experiencing an auditory function deficit can often find speech and communication
very difficult to isolate and process when set against high levels of background noise.
These levels come from outside activities that penetrate the classroom structure, from
teaching activities, and other noise generated inside, which can be exacerbated by
room reverberation. Strategies are needed to obtain the optimum classroom construction
and perhaps a change in classroom culture and methods of teaching. In particular, the
effects of noisy classrooms and activities on those experiencing disabilities in the form of
auditory function deficit need thorough investigation. It is probable that many undiagnosed
children exist in the education system with 'invisible' disabilities. Their needs are less likely
to be met than those of children with known disabilities.
The New Zealand Government has developed a New Zealand Disability Strategy and has
embarked on a wide-ranging consultation process. The strategy recognises that
people experiencing disability face significant barriers in achieving a full quality of life in
areas such as attitude, education, employment and access to services. Objective 3 of the
New Zealand Disability Strategy is to 'Provide the Best Education for Disabled People' by
improving education so that all children, youth learners and adult learners will have equal
opportunities to learn and develop within their already existing local school. For a
successful education, the learning environment is vitally significant, so any effort to improve
this is likely to be of great benefit to all children, but especially to those with auditory
function disabilities.
A number of countries are already in the process of formulating their own standards for the
control and reduction of classroom noise. New Zealand will probably follow their example.
The literature to date on noise in school rooms appears to focus on the effects
on schoolchildren in general, their teachers and the hearing impaired. Only limited
attention appears to have been given to those students experiencing the other disabilities

involving auditory function deficit. It is imperative that the needs of these children are taken
into account in the setting of appropriate international standards to be promulgated in
future.

Questions 1-6
Reading Passage has nine sections, A-I.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
1..................... an account of a national policy initiative
2..................... a description of a global team effort
3..................... a hypothesis as to one reason behind the growth in classroom noise
4..................... a demand for suitable worldwide regulations
5..................... a list of medical conditions which place some children more at risk from
noise than others
6..................... the estimated proportion of children in New Zealand with auditory

problems
Questions 7-10
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.
7 For what period of time has hearing loss in schoolchildren been studied in
New Zealand? 7.....................
8 In addition to machinery noise, what other type of noise can upset children with autism?
8.....................
9 What term is used to describe the hearing problems of schoolchildren which have not
been diagnosed? 9.....................
10 What part of the New Zealand Disability Strategy aims to give schoolchildren
equal opportunity? 10.....................
Questions 11-12
Choose TWO letters, A-F.
Write the correct letters in boxes 11-12 on your answer sheet.
The list below includes factors contributing to classroom noise.

Which TWO are mentioned by the writer of the passage?
A current teaching methods
B echoing corridors
C cooling systems
D large class sizes
E loud-voiced teachers
F playground games
Questions 13
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in box 13 on your answer sheet.
What is the writer’s overall purpose in writing this article?
A to compare different methods of dealing with auditory problems
B to provide solutions for overly noisy learning environments
C to increase awareness of the situation of children with auditory problems
D to promote New Zealand as a model for other countries to follow

Solution:
1. H 8. crowd (noise)
9. invisible
2. C
(disabilities/disability)
3. B 10. Objective 3
4. I 11. A, C IN EITHER ORDER
5. D 12. A, C IN EITHER ORDER
6. A 13. C
7. two
decades

Children With Auditory Problems

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Children With Auditory Problems

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Children With Auditory Problems

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reading Practice

Children with auditory problems

Autism is considered a neurological and genetic life-long disorder that causes

Access http://mini-ielts.com for more practices 1

Autistic spectrum disorders often result in major difficulties in comprehending verbal

Access http://mini-ielts.com for more practices 2

Access http://mini-ielts.com for more practices 3

Which section contains the following information?

1..................... an account of a national policy initiative

2..................... a description of a global team effort

3..................... a hypothesis as to one reason behind the growth in classroom noise

4..................... a demand for suitable worldwide regulations

6..................... the estimated proportion of children in New Zealand with auditory

Write your answers in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

Write the correct letters in boxes 11-12 on your answer sheet.

The list below includes factors contributing to classroom noise.

Access http://mini-ielts.com for more practices 4

A current teaching methods

D large class sizes

Write the correct letter in box 13 on your answer sheet.

What is the writer’s overall purpose in writing this article?

A to compare different methods of dealing with auditory problems

B to provide solutions for overly noisy learning environments

C to increase awareness of the situation of children with auditory problems

D to promote New Zealand as a model for other countries to follow

Access http://mini-ielts.com for more practices 5

Access http://mini-ielts.com for more practices 6

You might also like