The Best Audiobooks for Children with Auditory Processing Differences
Guest Post by Heather Cadenhead
First off, thanks to Renee for asking me to contribute a guest post to her Substack newsletter. Renee’s Substack is one of my favorites – I almost always walk away with new titles for my TBR pile! Even when I don’t, I always greatly enjoy reading Renee’s insights about the books she selects for herself and her children each month. I’ll try to hang out in Renee’s comments for the first couple of days after this post goes live – just in case anybody has questions or comments addressed to me. With that bit of housekeeping out of the way, let’s dive right in!
Over the years, I’ve picked up on specific qualities that make an audiobook truly great for my family. My twelve-year-old son has non-speaking autism and his experience of the world includes auditory processing differences. Auditory processing differences, however, aren’t exclusive to autistic people. Any child or adult might experience any number of auditory processing differences. Some people, for example, might have a low tolerance for background noises. Others may struggle with phonetic decoding or, to put it more simply, processing language at the speed at which most people talk. On a personal note, my son is highly sensitive to sounds of any kind. Audiobooks are inherently customizable – if I am listening on a mobile app, I’m able to adjust the volume, slow down the speed of narration, and make other tweaks to promote maximum listening comfort and comprehension. When I select audiobooks for my family, I typically ask myself a series of questions. These aren’t conscious questions, of course – at this point, they’re firmly embedded into my thought patterns. For the purpose of this post, however, I’ll attempt to put those thought patterns into askable questions.
What is the length of this audiobook?
Right now, we are listening to the first book in Brian Jacques’ Redwall series as a family. The total length of the audiobook is 10 hours and 41 minutes. The length, of course, increases when you slow the narration down. We prefer to listen at 0.8x speed which, for reference, brings the total length up to 13 hours and 22 minutes. We tend to listen for about 20-30 minutes per night (roughly 2-3 chapters, as Redwall chapters are short). At our current rate of listening, we will probably finish the book in six or seven weeks. Though I’d personally choose to listen at a faster speed for a longer period of time each night, this rhythm is comfortable for my two sons (particularly my son with autism). When I choose a family audiobook, my goal is that we enjoy it together – and, if my children aren’t enjoying and comprehending the story (and all of the gems within!), then what, exactly, is the point?
Do I find this narrator’s voice pleasant or unpleasant?
Does this narrator speak in a low-pitched or high-pitched voice? Most people prefer listening to speakers with a low vocal pitch as opposed to a high vocal pitch. At least one peer-reviewed study confirms this, identifying a bias toward low-pitched speaking voices (regardless of said speaker’s gender). If I have a choice of narrators, I almost always select a narrator with a lower vocal register.
Are my kids paying attention?
Whether we’re in the car or at home, I often pause audiobooks to throw out a quick listening comprehension question: “Why do you think Edmund lied to Peter and Susan about visiting Narnia?” We discuss and, when I’m satisfied, I resume the audiobook. If my kids aren’t in an attentive mood (“Who’s Edmund? I was thinking about cheese!”), I turn off the audiobook. I restart the chapter from the beginning the next day. Sometimes, I’ll wait several days and go back three or four or five chapters if needed.
How do I best set my family up for success?
Making sure that my children are physically comfortable with regulated nervous systems is vital to our family’s success or failure. We often pair audiobooks with meals – at the moment, Redwall is our dinner-table audiobook (and, yes, when 75% of your family is either non-speaking or, after a very long day, non-desirous of speaking – audiobooks prove a sufficient replacement for small talk). My favorite time to listen to audiobooks, personally, is while driving. I’m able to focus a little bit better than I do at home (where the kitchen sink is full of dirty dishes and my phone is inches away, echoing its siren call to check my texts). First thing in our homeschool day, I usually read aloud from physical books in my morning basket – but, occasionally, I’ll add an audiobook to that time, too (particularly in seasons where I have a writing deadline or some other obligation). When we listen to audiobooks as part of our homeschool routine, I usually set out a sensory activity (such as kinetic sand or play dough) – an activity that won’t compete with the audiobook for my children’s focus.
Bonus: Who are my favorite narrators – and do they narrate other titles?
My boys and I loved Cherry Jones’ narration of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series. As such, I decided to look for other audiobooks narrated by Cherry Jones. I later found that Jones narrated an audiobook version of Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie. We hadn’t been looking specifically for that title, but – because of our love for Cherry Jones – we gobbled up a new author. (Note: DiCamillo’s story includes a use of the r-word. Be prepared to listen in advance and skip that part or perhaps facilitate a discussion on the history of the r-word and why it is now considered a hurtful label for people with disabilities.) Many times, I’ve stumbled upon a new favorite author by searching for audiobooks by a specific narrator. I discovered James Herriot’s stories, for example, because I was looking for audiobooks narrated by Jim Dale. (I loved Dale’s narration of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.)
Below is a list of my favorite audiobooks, categorized by age (however, I find that many of these selections are suitable for all ages and abilities). It goes without saying that this is every bit as much a list of favorite performances as it is a list of favorite books.
Ages 2-5
The Collected Stories of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (Performed by Stephen Fry, Judi Dench, Michael Williams, Geoffrey Palmer, and Jane Horrocks)
Frog and Toad Audio Collection by Arnold Lobel (Performed by Arnold Lobel)
Arnold Lobel Audio Collection by Arnold Lobel (Performed by Mark Linn-Baker)
A Year in Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem (Performed by John Moffatt)
Little Bear Audio Collection by Else Holmelund Minarik (Performed by Sigourney Weaver)
Ages 6-9
The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Performed by Cherry Jones)
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (Performed by E.B. White)
Ribsy by Beverly Cleary (Performed by Neil Patrick Harris)
The Legend of Squanto adapted by Paul McCusker (Performed with a full cast and original music score)
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot (Performed by Jim Dale)
Ages 10-13+
The Chronicles of Narnia Complete Audio Collection by C.S. Lewis (Performed by Kenneth Branagh, Alex Jennings, Michael York, Lynn Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Jeremy Northam, and Patrick Stewart)
The Hobbit: The Classic BBC TV Jackanory Reading by J.R.R. Tolkien (Performed by Bernard Cribbins, Maurice Denham, Jan Francis, and David Wood)
Black Beauty: An Audible Original Drama by Anna Sewell (Performed by Samuel West, Samantha Bond, Tamzin Outhwaite, Paul Thornley, and Matt Stokoe)
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl (Performed by Peter Serafinowicz)
The Wingfeather Saga series by Andrew Peterson (Performed by Andrew Peterson)
Do you incorporate audiobooks into your own reading life? If so, what are some of your favorite titles? (Don’t forget to share the narrator!)