AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER TESTING

One of the most important functions of an audiologist is to perform tests that assess a patient’s ability to process sound. In the simplest terms, Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) may be defined as a listening problem, not a hearing loss problem. People with APD hear words and sounds just fine; however, the brain is not able to process the information it receives accurately or quickly enough.

APD can occur on its own, or may be related to autism spectrum disorder, non-verbal learning disabilities, dyslexia, delayed language problems, and other health challenges.

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Signs of APD

People who are experiencing APD may:

Behave as if they have a hearing loss even when their abilities are normal
Have poor reading and spelling skills despite high intelligence
Be easily distracted by background and ambient noise
Have trouble following directions, whether they are simple or complex
Ask people to repeat themselves frequently
Seem confused by what is expected of them, or
React negatively to loud sounds.

Diagnosis of APD

Your audiologist will conduct a series of tests to determine the cause of your APD and to identify an appropriate course of treatment. These hearing tests evaluate:

Peripheral auditory system
Binaural integration and separation
Temporal patterning
Auditory closure
Auditory figure-ground discrimination
Binaural interaction, and
Language processing assessment.

In some instances, particularly with school-age children, a speech and language assessment by a speech language pathologist and a psycho-educational assessment by an educational psychologist/consultant may be indicated.

APD Treatment

There is no single treatment of APD. A treatment program must be tailored to meet the specific needs and types of the patient’s disorder so that the audiologist may:

Improve access and interpretation of incoming auditory and verbal information
Address deficit areas directly
Learn how to maximize the use of auditory information
Deficit-specific, formal and informal auditory training
Frequency Modulated (FM) Systems
Computer-assisted therapy such as Fast ForWord and Earobics
Environmental modification
Training of compensatory skills
Language processing training, and
Speech and language therapy.

Audio Processing Treatment Disorder testing by competent audiologists is a painless procedure and provides critical information that can be used to help patients function at their highest potential at work, school, and play.