Auditory Processing
What is an Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)?
Auditory Processing (also called Central Auditory Processing) refers to the means by which we make sense of what we hear. “Auditory Processing Disorders” refers to the abnormal interaction of hearing, neural transmission and the brain’s ability to make sense of sound. People with auditory processing disorders may indeed have normal hearing, but they have difficulty understanding auditory information. This may be apparent by difficulty understanding speech in the presence in noise, problems following multi-step directions, and difficulty with phonics or reading comprehension, among other things. Parents, educators, physicians, speech-language pathologists and others realize the role that auditory processing plays in a child’s ability to learn, leading to an increase in referrals to audiologists with expertise in this area. Proper diagnosis can be made only after the completion of a battery of audiometric tests, administered by an audiologist. Individualized remediation programs are available to help strengthen auditory processing skills in diagnosed children and adults.
Children with Auditory Processing Disorder
Children who have difficulty using information they hear in academic and social situations may have auditory processing disorder (APD). These children typically have normal hearing but have difficulty making sense of what they hear due to difficulties in attending to, storing, locating, retrieving, and/or clarifying the information they hear to make it useful for academic and social purposes (Katz & Wilde, 1994). This can have a negative impact on both language acquisition and academic performance.
Children with auditory processing deficits may have difficulty understanding speech in the presence in noise, problems following multi-step directions, and difficulty with phonics or reading comprehension, among other things. At Audio Hearing Center we perform a battery of tests to help identify children with auditory processing disorders and give detailed recommendations, which if followed , can improve processing and help children perform better in school.
