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Auditory Processing Disorder Factsheet

Auditory Processing Disorder

An auditory processing disorder is broadly defined as a deficit in the processing of auditory input. It involves the inability to understand spoken language in a meaningful way in the absence of a hearing loss. An auditory processing disorder may be associated with difficulties in listening, speech understanding, language development, and learning.

Children who seem to be confused by spoken language may have an auditory processing disorder. This problem can make learning especially difficult if teachers or parents (or other children) speak too rapidly or if their language is too complex. Some students with an auditory processing disorder have difficulty following a lecture, or processing language in a setting with many distractions. This is often not a problem with hearing, as hearing levels are typically normal. This problem occurs when the brain cannot make sense out of what the ears hear.

The problem of understanding an auditory processing disorder becomes more complex when other difficulties, such as ADD, language delays, learning disabilities and reading disorders are present. When auditory, language, and learning problems co-exist, it is difficult to determine which condition is primary and which is secondary, or which causes the other to occur.

Early Signs & Symptoms

Children with an auditory processing disorder may exhibit some of the following 10 characteristics, according to Robert Keith, Ph.D., a leading researcher in the area of auditory processing disorder, from the Division of Audiology, University of Cincinnati:

Normal pure-tone hearing thresholds: A child with an auditory processing disorder will typically have normal hearing, but may have had a significant history of chronic otitis media (ear infections) that has been treated or resolved.

Inconsistent responses to auditory stimuli: Children often respond inappropriately, but, at other times, they seem unable to follow auditory instructions.

Difficulty with auditory localization skills: This may include problems with telling how close or far away the source of the sound is and differentiating soft and loud sounds. Also, there are frequent clinical reports that these children become frightened and upset when they are exposed to loud noise, and often hold their hands over their ears to stop the sound.

Difficulty with auditory discrimination: For example, a child may have trouble understanding the difference between a /b/ and /d/ sound.

Deficiencies in remembering phonemes and manipulating them: These difficulties may be evident on tasks such as reading, spelling, and phonics, as well as phonemic synthesis or analysis. An example of manipulating phonemes may be an exercise where a child is asked to repeat the word /fan/, then is asked to change the /f/ sound to a /t/ sound.

Difficulty understanding speech in the presence of background noise.

Difficulty with auditory memory, either span or sequence, and poor ability to remember auditory information or follow multiple instructions. For example, it may be difficult for a child with an auditory processing disorder to remember instructions when he is told to hang up his coat and go clean up his room, but first straighten the books on the table.

Poor listening skills: This problem may be characterized by decreased attention to auditory information, distractibility, or restlessness in listening situations.

Difficulty understanding rapid speech or persons with an unfamiliar dialect.

Frequent requests for information to be repeated: For example, a teacher or parent may describe these children as saying "huh" and "what" frequently.

Profile of a Child with an Auditory Processing Disorder

The profiles of children with auditory processing disorders often include significant reading problems, poor spelling, and poor handwriting. They may have articulation or language disorders. In the classroom, they may act out frustrations that result from their perceptual deficits, or they may be shy and withdrawn because of the poor self-concept that results from multiple failures. Children who exhibit these behaviors are candidates for testing.

Testing for an Auditory Processing Disorder

Blue Ridge Speech and Hearing Center offers a multi-disciplinary approach in testing for an auditory processing disorder through both the audiology and speech-language pathology departments. Testing includes:

• Hearing screening
• Filtered word tasks
• Directed attention tasks
• Auditory integration testing
• Phonemic synthesis
• Speech and language evaluation

The first portion of testing takes about 3 hours and is conducted by an audiologist; the speech and language evaluation is conducted by a speech-language pathologist and lasts approximately 2 hours. It is recommended that the testing is completed over two separate appointments within a one week time period. Within two to three weeks following the testing, there will be a one-on-one consultation to review findings with the parents.

Auditory processing testing is appropriate for ages 6 and beyond.

 

To Schedule Testing for Auditory Processing Disorders, Please Contact Blue Ridge Speech and Hearing Center at 703-777-5050.