Auditory Processing Disorder

Auditory processing is how your brain processes the speech sounds your ear is hearing. Adolescents with APD, also known as Central Auditory Processing Disorders (CAPD), cannot process what they hear in the same way other adolescents do although their hearing is normal. When an adolescent has an Auditory Processing Disorder, many areas of function can be affected. It may be hard to understand what is said, therefore the adolescent will have difficulty following auditory directions. Adolescents may also have diffculty answering questions, understanding conversations, understanding speech in noisy environments, discriminating between speech sounds, auditory memory, recalling the order of sounds/words, and reading comprehension. It also frequently negatively affects an adolescent’s acquisition of phonics for reading and spelling skills. Diagnosis of an Auditory Processing Disorder is done through a combination of audiological and speech/language evaluations, and treatment is usually completed by the Speech Language Pathologist.