That’s the advice from Professor Harvey Dillon whose research has devised a diagnostic test and treatment for a condition called spatial processing disorder.

Professor Dillon said parents and teachers will see children acting like they have hearing loss, they may seem to be stupid, have a poor ­memory or resist instructions.

He said the condition is common among children who have suffered repeated middle ear infections from a young age.

“This is a problem for quite a few children,” he said. 

“Our tests showed that in some children who appeared to have ­normal hearing they do not have the ability to suppress certain sounds coming from different directions at a noisy gathering for example – so it is a jumble of noise to them.

“After an audio test and ­diagnosis there is software the child can take home and in three months their brain can be trained.”

Maitland’s Australian Hearing centre is involved in a Central Auditory Processing Disorder pilot program.

CAPD covers many types of ­disorders that occur in the higher processing sections of the brain.

It makes listening in noisy ­situations extremely difficult . 

Parents can arrange a hearing test by calling 1300 256 874.