Symptoms of APD can range from mild to severe and can take many different forms. If you think your child might have a problem processing sounds, ask yourself:
Does my child often mishear sounds and words?
Are noisy environments overwhelming when my child is trying to listen?
Does my child's listening behaviors and performance improve in quieter settings?
Does my child have trouble following verbal directions, whether simple or complicated?
Does my child have trouble with spelling or phonics?
Are verbal (word) math problems hard for my child?
Are conversations hard for my child to follow?
APD is often misunderstood because many of its symptoms are similar to those found in other disorders. Also, APD symptoms can be hidden by other problems, like speech-language delays, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression. Auditory memory deficits, auditory attention problems, and sound sensitivity are not symptoms of APD, but also may involve trouble with using sound information correctly. Seeing an audiologist, and other related specialists, can help parents understand these conditions.
What Causes Auditory Processing Disorder?
Often, the cause of a child's APD isn't known. Evidence suggests that children with head trauma, lead poisoning, seizure disorder, or chronic ear infections are more at risk. Sometimes, there can be more than one cause.
How Is Auditory Processing Disorder Diagnosed?
If you think your child is having trouble hearing or understanding when people talk, have an audiologist (hearing specialist) examine your child. Only audiologists can diagnose auditory processing disorder.
The most common way to diagnose APD is to use a specific group of listening tests. Audiologists often look for these main problem areas in kids with APD:
Auditory figure-ground: This is when a child has trouble understanding speech when there is speech babble or ambient noise in the background. Noisy, loosely structured or open-air classrooms can be very frustrating for a child with APD.
Auditory closure: This is when a child can't "fill in the gaps" of speech when it is more challenging. This can happen in a quieter situation but is more common when the speaker's voice is too fast or is muffled, making it hard for the child to make sense of the sounds and words.
Dichotic listening: This is when a child has trouble understanding competing, meaningful speech that happens at the same time. For example, if a teacher is talking on one side of the child and another student is talking on the other side, the child with APD cannot understand the speech of one or both of the speakers.
Temporal processing: This is the timing of a child's processing system, which helps them recognize differences in speech sounds (such as mat versus pat). It also helps them understand pitch and intonation (for example, asking a question instead of giving a command), understand riddles and humor, and make inferences.
Binaural interaction: This is the ability to know which side speech or sounds are coming from, and to localize sound in a room. Although less common, this problem happens in children with a history of brain trauma or seizure disorders.
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