The problem is all the other disorders that mimic the signs and symptoms of APD. For example, most kids with APD have normal hearing and are bright, with intelligence unrelated to their APD. You’re right if you think diagnosing APD is tough. In other words, their brain has a problem making sense of what they hear. When a child is diagnosed with APD, their brain (central auditory system) struggles with receiving, remembering, understanding, or using auditory information. Processing involves recognizing, interpreting, and storing auditory data for future use.įor example, auditory processing lets us distinguish one type of sound from another and makes it possible to pick out speech when there is lots of noise in the background. The brain’s job is to make sense of this information - or process it. Hearing and understanding what you hear are two different functions.Īuditory processing is what your brain does (central auditory system) with the information it receives from your ears (peripheral auditory system). A child will have trouble understanding what they hear if the problem is in the central auditory system (auditory pathway to the brain).A child will have trouble hearing if the problem is in the peripheral auditory system (outer, middle, and inner ear).The auditory system has two parts: the peripheral and central auditory systems. In Part 1 of this 2-part series, we tackle the basics of this complex disorder. An accurate diagnosis of APD requires a series of clinical tests. Having trouble planning the steps for a project, organizing their time, or following routinesīut these qualities do not confirm that a child has APD - they are only suspicions.Asking you to repeat what was said in noisy places.Finding it hard to concentrate or follow conversations.We have the training and experience to find the solutions that work for you.Auditory processing disorder (APD), also referred to as central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), is a confusing topic that affects 7-10% of children. A proper assessment of an auditory processing test can indicate which therapies would be a good approach.Īudiology & Hearing Services of Charlotte, North Carolina, will help you take a proactive approach to living with auditory processing disorder. There are therapies and technologies that help APD, and in some cases improve it significantly. Developmental optometrist for visual processing assessment.Occupational therapist for proprioceptive, vestibular and sensory assessments.Educational psychologist for psycho-educational assessment.Speech language pathologies for speech and language assessment.In those cases we will work with other professionals to obtain additional evaluations. It is common for a child with APD to have other difficulties that are beyond the scope of an audiology assessment. By knowing the type of auditory processing disorder faced, we can identify the right therapy for you.Ī series of auditory processing tests are performed to diagnose APD. This involves an audiologist to diagnose the disorder and a speech-language pathologist to provide treatment. While children can be identified and treated early for auditory problems, a full auditory processing test rarely occurs before age seven. That’s why patience and experience matter when evaluating auditory issues. Many times children are misdiagnosed with ADD or ADHD when they actually suffer from an auditory processing disorder. Of all the processing disorders, this one is most often missed or misdiagnosed. There are specific indicators that help you determine if auditory processing issues are present. Often they will act as if they have a hearing issue even when they pass every hearing screening that is given. Individuals with auditory processing difficulties will present with specific symptoms. Many term this a listening disorder, joking “He hears what he wants to hear.” But in reality, auditory processing disorders can cause reading and spelling problems, in addition to difficulty following multi-step directions and remembering details from a story. An individual can get a perfect score on a hearing screening yet still have extreme difficulty with an auditory processing test. Auditory processing is not how well a person hears, but instead what the brain does with what a person hears.
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