Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP.Ĭourchesne, E. Kemper (Eds.), The Neurobiology of Autism.

Neuroanatomic observations of the brain in autism. The better we understand the autistic child, the better we can develop ways to intervene in an effective manner.īauman, M.L., & Kemper, T.L. The better that autistic children understand auditory information, the better they can comprehend their environment, both socially and academically.

It is possible to add visual support to the auditory component of ABA programs to help the visual learner process the information more easily. Given this, one might suspect that many visual learners have auditory processing problems and that they will do well with a visual communication/instruction approach. Interestingly, individuals who do not have auditory processing problems are often ‘auditory learners.’ These children do very well using the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approach, whereas those who are visual learners do not (McEachin, Smith and Lovaas, 1993). Since auditory information is processed in the hippocampus, in people with autism the information may not be properly transferred to long-term memory.Īuditory processing problems might be linked to other autistic characteristics, such as anxiety or confusion in social situations, and inattentiveness. In simple terms, information is transferred from the senses to the hippocampus, where it is processed and then transferred to areas of the cerebral cortex for long-term storage.

The hippocampus is responsible for sensory input as well as learning and memory. Bauman and Kemper have shown that an area in the limbic system, the hippocampus, is neurologically immature in autistic individuals (Bauman & Kemper, 1994). We do not know the underlying reason for auditory processing problems in autism, but we have an idea autopsy research by Drs. Three months following AIT, the results showed dramatic improvement in P300 activity for those who received AIT (i.e., a normalization of P300 activity) and found no change in those who received the placebo. Prior to AIT, all five individuals had abnormal auditory P300 activity, indicating problems. Three subjects with autism participated in the experimental AIT group and two others participated in a placebo group. (1999) examined auditory P300 activity prior to and three months following auditory integration training (AIT). (The ‘P’ refers to the positive polarity of the brain wave.) The P300 is associated with cognitive processing, and this brain wave is considered an indication of long-term memory retrieval (Donchin, Ritter, & McCallum, 1978). The P300 brain wave occurs 300 milliseconds after the presentation of a stimulus. Sometimes the lack of speech comprehension is interpreted by others as an unwillingness to comply, when in fact the person simply isn’t able to retrieve the meaning at that moment.Įric Courchesne, Ph.D., of the Neurosciences Department, University of California at San Diego, has found significant impairments in auditory processing in autistic individuals using P300 brain wave technology (see Courchesne, 1987 for a review). For example, if someone says the word ‘shoe,’ the person might hear the sound clearly, but doesn’t understand the meaning. One problem occurs when a person hears speech sounds but does not perceive the meaning of the sounds. Processing auditory information is a critical component of social communication, and people with autism spectrum disorders typically have problems processing this information. Autism is sometimes described as a social/communication problem.

Adhd auditory processing disorder