Since oral listening is the primary modality students use to receive messages from instructors, K-12 students with high-visual strengths paired with auditory weaknesses frequently struggle with comprehension and failure in typical classroom environments (Sword, 2000). Specific educational interventions are needed to provide the frequency, intensity, and duration necessary to remediate auditory processing deficits that interfere with students’ academic and social success (ASHA, 2005).

The purpose of this mixed-method dissertation was to explore the impact of Visual- Verbal Integration Training (VVIT), a novel language-based intervention designed to improve listening abilities for students with high visual and low auditory abilities. This pre-experimental research investigated the extent to which three months of VVIT intervention impacted the listening abilities of 10 students, ages 6-16 years, who had diagnosed or suspected language processing deficits. The quantitative research question asked: To what extent did Visual-Verbal Integration Training (VVIT) impact the listening abilities of K-12 students with diagnosed or suspected language processing deficits? To analyze this question, participants’ baseline and post-test scores of the Test of Auditory-Perceptual Skills (TAPS) were compared using descriptive statistics. The qualitative research questions asked: In what ways did parents and/or teachers perceive students benefitting from VVIT? Did parents and/or teachers note change in auditory-based skills such as organization, listening, reading, speaking, or writing? Semi-structured parent interviews, intervention logs and field notes, unsolicited observations, and intake documents provided personal details to develop an understanding of the socio-emotional benefits of the intervention.

Results of the pre- and post-test TAPS scores indicated that all ten participants improved in three to six areas of oral listening ability ( M gain = 31.1%). Participants made the most gains in Auditory Word Memory (M%Δ = 49.2); the mean difference between the gains in the older and younger groups was identical (M% of difference = 26.7%). Qualitative outcomes indicated that participants demonstrated improved levels of happiness, confidence, academic and organizational skills more than two years post-intervention. Further research with experimental designs and larger, randomly selected samples would be necessary to determine if VVIT is an effective method of intervention for students faced with high visual/low auditory challenges.