Symptoms of APD in Preschool and Kindergarten
Symptoms of APD in Preschool / Kindergarten Age Children
- Delayed speech and language abilities
- Confusion of similar sounding words (cap/cat)
- Articulation errors that are not consistent or that suggest acoustic confusions (such as substituting d for g)
- Difficulty following directions that other children the same age can follow easily (e.g. “Put your notebook away, and line up for recess.”)
- Highly distractible, especially in noisy situations
- Need to have directions repeated
- Need tactile or visual cues to attend when spoken to.
- Prefer puzzles or watching videos and television to listening to books.
- Seems to “tune out” others “daydream” or be “in a world of his/her own.”
- Difficulty staying focused on a person’s voice
- Difficulty sitting for story time
- Over sensitivity to sounds
- Difficulty learning new verbally presented concepts, instructions, or activities (may stare back with a blank face, wait and watch other children, or refuse to participate)
- Learns better through hands on activities when shown what to do, rather than being told what to do
- Has an easier time with “nonverbal” concepts such as matching colors and shapes
- Difficulty learning nursery rhymes
- May sing way off-tune or have a monotone voice
- May appear shy or keep to himself/herself to avoid talking with other children
- Poor phonological awareness skills such as sound discrimination, sound-symbol relationships, and identifying the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words
- May avoid noisy situations such as loud parties and group play activities
- May like music but have difficulty learning the words to children’s songs. (i.e.. “The ABC’s, “Happy Birthday” or “Old MacDonald”)
- Prefer action games to listening to stories