Auditory Processing Disorder

WHAT IS AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER?

Auditory Processing Disorder (‘APD’) is a disorder that affects children’s ability to process sounds.  Children with APD often have good hearing but can have difficulty understanding and implementing verbal instructions.  Background and unexpected noises easily distract children with APD and can disrupt their auditory processing resulting in them not being able to understand what is being said to them.

SYMPTOMS OF APD

Children with APD can have difficulties:

• Understanding when listening
• Expressing themselves clearly using speech
• Reading
• Understanding spoken messages
• Remembering instructions
• Staying focused
• Hearing in noisy places

TESTING FOR APD

A hearing test will often be conducted to check first that it is not actually the child’s hearing ability that is causing the problems.  If the test shows that the child has good hearing, further tests will then be carried out. There are a variety of different tests that can be used, including hearing, listening and comprehension tests. These may include use of a screening questionnaire where about 30 questions relating to the child’s experience of everyday sounds are asked.  An example may be asking whether a child can recognise who is calling them when a friend or relative is shouting their name.  Each answer is given a score, and the overall score is then used to give an indication of whether the child needs further testing.

An APD Listening Test may also be conducted in a hearing clinic.  It is staged as a computer game so that children find it fun to do.  The child sits in a sound booth and listens to sounds that vary between pitch, loudness and type of sound through headphones.  The child’s response to these sounds is checked by a computer which then produces an ‘auditory processing ability’ score.  This score is then compared with others from children within a similar age range and helps indicate whether the child has APD.

HELPING A CHILD WITH APD

There are a number of different ways to help a child with APD:

Clinic / hearing services:

• Hearing training programmes and strategies, including exercises designed to improve the child’s ability to understand when listening
• Parental support programmes.

In the Classroom:

• Sitting the child near the teacher’s desk to improve chances of lip reading
• Checking the child is looking and listening when the teacher is giving instructions
• Providing written as well as verbal instructions for older children
• Trying to reduce background classroom noise
• Providing listening devices to make speech clearer in noisy schools.

At Home:

• Encouraging the child to practice prescribed listening learning exercises
• Ensuring the child looks and listens wherever possible
• Reducing background noises when talking

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Although the information we have provided here is meant to be helpful to you, Douglas Silas Solicitors cannot be held responsible for any damage or loss caused by any inaccuracy or reliance placed upon it. If you have any concerns about your child, you should seek professional educational or healthcare advice as soon as possible.