What You Need to Know About Auditory Processing Disorder

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Children may suffer from different conditions that prevent them from learning like other people. With that said, you should learn about the different types of learning disorders. Some of the most common types of learning disorders include autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Asperger’s syndrome, and attention deficit disorder (ADD).

These learning disorders differ in many ways, but one thing they have in common is auditory processing problems. One of the most prevalent types of auditory processing problems is APD.

What is APD?

Auditory processing disorder or APD is a general term for different disorders that affect the way the brain processes auditory information. People with APD usually have normal structures and functions of their outer, middle, and inner ear. The problem, however, is that they cannot process the information they hear in the same way others do. This makes it difficult for them to recognize and interpret sounds, specifically sounds that compose speech.

What are the types of APD?

There are six types of APD: associative deficit, auditory decoding deficit, auditory integration deficit, organizational deficit, prosodic deficit, and auditory hypersensitivity.

Associative Deficit

This is the difficulty in associating sounds with written language.

Auditory Decoding Deficit

This refers to problems concerning the recognition of sound, which helps in decoding words or messages.

Auditory Integration Deficit

This is the difficulty in combining auditory signals with other sensory signals that contribute to the delivery of the message.

Organizational Deficit

This is the difficulty in organizing auditory information, which helps in decoding the meaning of a message.

Prosodic Deficit

This refers to speaking in monotone, without rhythm or intonation.

Auditory Hypersensitivity

This refers to being unable to ignore background sounds.

What are the causes of APD?

There are no known causes for APD. With that said, children must be assessed individually to determine why they are suffering from APD.

What are the symptoms of APD?

APD symptoms take different forms, which may range from mild to severe. Some of these symptoms may be:
– Trouble in following a lengthy conversation
– Trouble in understanding someone speaking in a noisy surrounding
– Trouble in either reading or spelling or both
– Trouble in following multi-step instructions
– Trouble in taking down notes
– Trouble in following conversations over the phone
– Trouble in organizing
– Trouble in remembering spoken information
– Trouble in learning difficult words
– Trouble in learning foreign languages

How does APD affect children?

Children with APD usually do not recognize subtle differences between sounds in words, even when the sounds are loud and clear. These difficulties commonly occur in background noise, which is a natural listening environment. As such, children with APD generally find it difficult to understand any speech signal presented under less than optimal conditions.

Children with APD can normally detect pure tones delivered one by one in a quiet environment. The ability to detect sounds is only one part of the processing that occurs in the auditory system, however. With that said, most children suffering from APD have a hearing problem in the sense that they do not process auditory information normally.

There is more information for auditory processing disorder on the Internet. As such, go online and visit websites discussing this particular condition, to learn more.

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Source by Craig M Houser