

	Some of the behavioral characteristics that can be considered “red flags” for a patient are “difficulty understanding spoken language in competing messages, noisy backgrounds, or in reverberant environments; misunderstanding messages; inconsistent or inappropriate responding; frequent requests for repetitions, saying “what” and “huh” frequently; taking longer to respond in oral communication situations; difficulty paying attention; being easily distracted; difficulty following complex auditory directions or commands; difficulty localizing sound; difficulty learning songs or nursery rhymes; poor musical and singing skills; and associated reading, spelling, and learning problems” (Ferre). However, every person’s brain functions differently, so the individuality of the case must be taken into consideration. 

	A regular classroom teacher who may have to teach mainstreamed students diagnosed with CAPD should first familiarize themselves with the records of the student in question and be aware of what equipment may be needed or what changes they may have to make to their teaching style. The most common way to deal with a CAPD diagnosis is through auditory training, which may include, but is not limited to “procedures targeting intensity, frequency, and duration discrimination; phoneme discrimination and phoneme-to-grapheme skills; temporal gap discrimination; temporal ordering or sequencing; pattern recognition; localization/lateralization; and recognition of auditory information presented within a background of noise or competition” (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2005). The teacher must be made aware of the student’s individual strengths and weaknesses, and a benchmark system may be put into place to chart the student’s growth in terms of measurable outcomes. 

Classrooms can be modified to reduce excess noise and echo, including removal or covering of unnecessary reflective surfaces (covering an unused chalkboard with a decorative tapestry, putting an area rug on linoleum tile), or with acoustic dividers (like plants) put into place to minimize sound vacuum. The student should be put in acoustically preferential seating toward the center of the room, away from distractions like the heater and the doorway but within view of the board. The teacher should also endeavor to use written direction as much as possible, and have multi-step instructions clearly listed either on the board or on an individualized worksheet. 

In addition to classroom arrangements, the student may also have accommodations to be allowed to wear a personal FM receiver in class. A personal FM receiver is a variation of a personal radio, which can be worn as a body pack or a headset, with the frequency being the teacher’s voice coming from a microphone the teacher wears, either on their shirt or as a headset. This allows the other noise to be cancelled out of the room and the student can tune in to the teacher’s voice, effectively an audio trainer. However, while “[t]he benefits of personal FM and sound-field technologies for the general population and individuals at risk for listening and learning are well documented, but little data has been published documenting the efficacy of personal FM as a management strategy for students with CAPD” (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2005). 