Officially, (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder, or (C)APD, is a deficit in the processing of information that is received through hearing. According to Dr. Jack Katz, a noted clinical audiologist, auditory processing is "what the brain does with what the ear hears.” Dr. Lynn Summers, also a clinical audiologist, describes auditory processing disorder as the inability to “hear the message accurately.” I’ve also heard auditory processing described as “how the brain hears” (sorry, I can’t remember the source of this one!). I believe for parents and many professionals, these characterizations capture the essence of auditory processing disorder.
It is often assumed that any difficulty listening or understanding is due to auditory processing deficits, but there are other disorders, such as language processing and ADHD, that have similar symptoms as (C)APD. Before a diagnosis of auditory processing disorder can be given, it must be determined that your child has normal hearing, language, and cognition or learning ability. Therefore, diagnosing (C)APD is a multidisciplinary, multistep process, lead by an audiologist.
Audiology leads the diagnostic team because the audiologist is the only professional who can actually diagnosis (C)APD. That being said, there is much that other professionals, including speech-language pathologists, can contribute to the diagnosis and treatment planning. The audiologist will want a speech-language pathologist to evaluate your child's receptive and expressive oral language, and a psychologist will probably be asked to evaluate your child's ability to learn. Depending on the results of these assessments, the audiologist will conduct the auditory skills evaluation if necessary.
Please see the blog post “Auditory Processing Diagnosis: Who Does What?” for more detailed information about the role of different professions in diagnosing (C)APD.
Parents and teachers often report a variety of troubling behaviors, and it is these behaviors that usually lead to a referral for a formal evaluation. Each child will display a different variety of behaviors, and the severity of those behaviors may change with time or according to different situations. The behavioral characteristics may be very defined, as listed below, but many times, parents and teachers may express more vague concerns such as, “Sometimes I think he can’t hear,” or “He just doesn’t seem to ‘get it.’” Often parents and teachers know something is wrong, but just don’t know what it is.
Your child may:
Respond inconsistently to what he or she hears
Be easily distracted
Have a short attention span
Be bothered by noise and noisy places
Often misunderstand what he or she hears
Confuse similar sounding words, like "pat" and "pot"
Often say “huh” or “what”
Have difficulty following more than one direction
Have verbal responses that are slow or delayed
Have a limited vocabulary
Have difficulty developing reading, writing, and/or spelling skills
Remember, this list contains only a sampling of behaviors that might indicate the presence of (C)APD, and there are other disorders that display the same or similar characteristics. This highlights the need for a thorough and comprehensive evaluation.
Auditory processing disorder is not new, but there is a tremendous awareness of auditory processing at present among both parents and professionals. Information abounds online and in articles, from women’s magazines to professional journals. Because of the volume of opinions, resources, and data available in our Information Age, it can be a daunting task to sift through and absorb the right information that will help you help your child. I am a valuable information resource for you, and I'm happy to answer your questions and visit with you about your concerns for your child. (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder is real and it is serious; therefore, as with any diagnosis, it’s important to get it right.
Contact me at 940-704-4324 to learn more.