Maybe this sounds familiar. You ask your child to fetch their school bag, put their shoes by the door and bring you the reading book. They come back with one shoe and a puzzled look. The hearing test was normal and the optometrist found nothing, yet reading aloud at night still ends with a closed book and a child who says they hate it.
Children like this are often called careless or told to listen properly. In truth they are often working very hard.
Hearing is not the same as processing
The ears collect sound. The brain has to make sense of it. Auditory processing is the brain's job of sorting incoming sound into meaningful speech, quickly enough to keep up with the person talking.
Speech moves fast. The difference between "bat" and "pat" lasts a tiny fraction of a second. A brain that is a little slow or inconsistent at catching those differences hears something blurred, especially when there is background noise such as a fan, chatter or chairs scraping. Your child is hearing the teacher. The words just don't arrive clearly enough to act on.
Dyslexia is related but not identical. It is a specific difficulty with reading and spelling, and it has nothing to do with intelligence. At its heart is usually a difficulty linking the sounds of language to the letters that stand for them. If the sounds themselves are fuzzy, pinning them to symbols on a page is slow, tiring work.
Timing in the language areas of the brain
Reading is not built into the brain the way speaking is. To read, several regions have to work together in quick sequence: areas that recognise letter shapes, areas that process speech sounds, and areas that attach meaning. In most people these sit mainly on the left side of the brain.
Research on dyslexia suggests that in many children these regions do not coordinate as smoothly or as quickly as they do in fluent readers. Think of a relay team in which every runner is fast but the baton changes are clumsy. Each part works, yet the handovers cost time.
A child who struggles to read is not short of intelligence. They are short of time, because their brain needs a few extra moments that the classroom rarely gives.
Signs you may notice
Every child is different, and only a proper assessment can tell you what is going on. Still, these are common signs:
- Often saying "what?" or needing instructions repeated
- Coping one-on-one but losing track in a noisy classroom
- Guessing at words from the first letter instead of sounding them out
- Avoiding reading aloud, sometimes with tears or clowning around
If several of these fit, ask for an assessment. An audiologist can test auditory processing, and an educational psychologist can assess for dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Your GP should rule out ear problems first. Attention difficulties can look similar and sometimes occur together, which we discuss in our article on childhood ADHD and school focus.
Where neurofeedback may fit in
It is important to be clear about what neurofeedback is and is not. It does not teach reading. Remedial teaching, speech-language therapy and a structured phonics programme do that, and they remain the foundation of support for dyslexia. Neurofeedback is a complementary approach that may help the brain be more ready to benefit from that teaching.
It is non-invasive. Small sensors on the scalp read your child's brain activity, and nothing is sent into the brain. Your child watches a video or game that responds when their brain produces a steadier, better organised pattern. Over many repetitions, the brain practises that pattern and may find it more easily.
For learning difficulties, training usually has two aims. The first is steadier attention and less mental fatigue, so your child may have more left in the tank for the hard work of reading. The second is how well different brain areas work in step with each other, which practitioners call coherence. Put simply, the hope is for smoother baton changes.
Research in this area is limited, and results vary. No one can promise a reading level or a mark.
At Fix Your Brain every client starts with a 19-channel brain map, which takes about an hour and a half. Sessions are 45 to 60 minutes and begin with a short check-in. Our services page explains more.
Helping at home and at school
Get your child's attention before you speak, and give one instruction at a time. Turn off the television or radio during homework. Ask the teacher whether your child can sit near the front, away from the door and windows, and whether instructions can be written on the board as well as spoken.
Keep reading together for pleasure, and take turns so your child gets the story without all the labour. Audiobooks count. They build vocabulary and a love of stories while the reading skill catches up.
You will find more on noisy classrooms in our article on auditory processing disorder and classroom noise. If handwriting and coordination are also difficult, dyspraxia and developmental coordination disorder may be worth reading.
Common questions
Can neurofeedback cure dyslexia?
No. Dyslexia is a lifelong difference in how the brain handles written language, and no approach cures it. Neurofeedback may support attention, mental stamina and how well brain areas work together, which may make learning less exhausting. It works alongside remedial teaching and speech-language therapy, never as a replacement for them.
My child passed a hearing test. Could they still have an auditory processing difficulty?
Yes. A standard hearing test checks whether the ears detect sound. Auditory processing is about what the brain does with that sound afterwards, particularly in noisy places. An audiologist can do specific auditory processing tests, usually once a child is old enough to manage them reliably. Ask your GP or audiologist for guidance.
Should we stop remedial lessons while doing neurofeedback?
No, please continue. Remedial teaching and therapy build the actual reading and listening skills your child needs. Neurofeedback is complementary and aims to help the brain be calmer and more focused during that work. The two are meant to go together, and it is a good idea to tell your child's therapists about the training.
With the right support, children who learn differently can do very well. If you would like to ask whether brain training might help, please get in touch with Irine.
- auditory processing
- dyslexia
- learning difficulty
- reading
- school
