Auditory Processing Disorder

Information for parents and teachers

Are you concerned your child has an auditory processing disorder?

Does your child:

  • Find it difficult to hear in background noise?
  • Have difficulty following instructions?
  • Struggle to keep up in school?
  • Have difficulty staying focused and appear to seem distracted often?
  • Seem to ignore you when busy with something else?

These can be signs of an auditory processing problem.

CAPD Checklist to download, fill & print

When a child has an auditory processing disorder it may seem as if they have a hearing loss, although their peripheral hearing is normal. Does your child seem to not respond, or not listen, especially in a noisy classroom or at the shops? Perhaps they have difficulty concentrating and paying attention, forget simple instructions, or are going poorly in school (ie poor literacy acquisition). Speech and language development and behaviour can also be affected if a child has an auditory processing disorder.

 

auditory processing disorder child day dreaming

Difficulty concentrating and paying attention can be an indicator of Auditory Processing Disorder.

What is Auditory Processing?

Auditory processing is what occurs when a sound is heard by the ear and travels to the brain to be interpreted. This includes our ability to: localise sound, distinguish between similar sounds, recognise patterns in auditory information, process acoustic signals over time, as well as the ability to perceive a target sound in the presence of competing or degraded auditory signals.

Auditory Processing Assessments are now available at Knox Audiology in

  • Wantirna 03 9800 5697
  • Boronia
  • Doreen 03 9839 3350

So what can be done?

At Knox Audiology we have qualified clinicians who can assess your child’s auditory processing skills. The appointment will include a range of assessments to investigate whether your child may have difficulty in one or more auditory processing skills.

Our audiologist will discuss the assessment with you, and treatment possibilities so your child learns ways to improve their auditory processing skills.

  • An Auditory Processing Screen is available for children aged 6-10 years.
  • A Central Auditory Processing Assessment is available for children aged 8-13 years.
  • Options are also available for children 13+
Parents, you may like to have a hearing check when you come in with your child. Ask your doctor for a referral.
Medicare Rebates apply for Hearing Tests.

Auditory Processing Screen

Available for children aged 6-10 years

This assessment includes a hearing assessment, a basic listening in background noise assessment and a short term auditory memory assessment.

Central Auditory Processing Assessment

Available for children aged 8-13 years

A more detailed assessment of auditory processing skills. This assessment includes;

  • A hearing test, as normal hearing is required to complete the assessment.
  • A listening in background noise assessment using the LiSNs. This is an assessment of binaural interaction. This tells us how well the child can use spatial and tonal cues to separate a speaker from competing noise.
  • Pitch pattern assessment evaluates temporal sequencing, the ability to recognise intonation in a speakers’ voice.
  • Dichotic digits assessment evaluates binaural integration, the ability to process and combine different information presented to each ear at the same time (eg. Two people speaking at the same time).
  • Gaps in Noise assessment evaluates temporal resolution, the ability to detect and order small differences in sounds over time. This is related to phonological awareness, involving the detection of syllables and phonemes in speech.
  • Short term auditory memory assessment for sentences and numbers.

Listening in Background Noise Assessment

Available for children aged 13+ (children 6+ if recommended by audiologist)

This assessment uses the LiSNs to assess binaural interaction. This tells us how well can the child use spatial and tonal cues to separate a speaker from competing noise. For example how well the child can separate the teachers voice whilst in a noisy classroom situation.

 

Share This