Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

by Nancy Downing

Q: My child has been diagnosed with auditory processing disorder
(APD). Can you please help me understand this disorder?

A: Auditory processing is what happens when your brain recognizes and
interprets the sounds around you. Auditory processing disorder means that
something is adversely affecting the processing or interpretation of that
information.

Someone with APD often does not recognize small differences between
sounds in words, even though the sounds themselves are loud and clear.
An example might be "Hand me a brush and a comb" may sound like
"Hand me a comb and a brush." It can even be understood by the child as
"Hand me a bush and home."

Noisy environments or listening to complex information causes these types
of problems to occur at a higher rate.

The following are some characteristics of APD:

  • Have trouble paying attention to and remembering information
    presented orally
  • Have problems carrying out multi-step directions
  • Have poor listening skills
  • Need more time to process information
  • Have low academic performance
  • Have behavior problems
  • Have language difficulty (e.g., they confuse syllable sequences and
    have problems developing vocabulary and understanding language)
  • Have difficulty with reading, comprehension, spelling, and vocabulary

There are programs for APD that can help your child. Go to the Internet to
see what is in your area. Inform your child’s school of this diagnosis and
see what services can be provided in that environment. Your child’s
teacher will also need this information for teaching strategies.

Copyright 2008 Nancy Downing.  All rights reserved.
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Nancy has been an educator for 30 years and is currently a special education teacher.  
She is the former Center Director of LearningRx in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has
received local, state, and national recognition for her development of Downfeld
Phonics, a multi-sensory reading program.  Nancy also wrote curriculum for an
educational technology company.   

Nancy is a single mother of three children:  one with learning differences, one gifted,
and one who has to work for his grades.  Not only does she know what it is like to teach
all these different learning styles at school, but she has the experience of dealing with
all aspects of each twenty-four seven.  
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