Has your child been diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder but you are still unsure how to help?
It is essential to have the right type of intervention to address the specific underlying auditory deficits a child has. A diagnosis of auditory processing disorder is not helpful unless parents are given comprehensive recommendations both for treatment and accommodations.
Auditory Processing Center offers consultations to provide specific treatment recommendations for children evaluated at other facilities. Since few audiologists specialize in the treatment of auditory processing disorder, parents often feel they were left hanging to figure out the next steps after their child receives an APD diagnosis. Some audiologists provide general recommendations that are not individualized or only suggest classroom accommodations. A parent’s primary concerns of how to help their child educationally may not have been answered, and they are still unsure how to address the root of the problem. We help you understand your child’s specific type(s) of APD and provide detailed recommendations for intervention. The whole child must be considered to determine his/her individual needs. A combination of specific programs and/or therapy techniques is often recommended to customize a treatment program to address each deficit area.
In addition to appropriate accommodations, we provide:
- Detailed recommendations for therapy
- Specific activities that can be done at home to target your child’s auditory processing weaknesses
- Recommendations for speech-language pathologists who are already working with your child
- Apps/software programs that would be the most helpful for your child
- Teaching strategies for areas your child may be struggling in, such as phonics, sight words, spelling, and math
- Recommended programs for homeschooling if needed
- Higher level language processing activities to develop advanced listening skills.
While APD awareness has increased over the last few years, there are still many healthcare providers and educators who have never heard of APD or may not have a clear understanding of what it is. Quite often people do not realize APD is treatable, or they may think the child just needs to have traditional speech/language therapy. Many speech-language pathologists are not trained or may not know how to provide appropriate therapy for children for their different types of auditory processing disorders. A child with an auditory processing disorder has different needs than just working on the same skills as a child with a speech/language problem. Underlying auditory processing deficits should be targeted and not just goals to improve receptive language and higher-level listening comprehension.
Our educational audiologist is American Board of Audiology Certified and is a licensed audiology educator with specialized training in the evaluation of central auditory function. She has over 25 years of experience working with individuals with auditory processing disorders and improving listening and spoken language skills in children with communication disorders. As a leading expert in the field, she has developed auditory curriculums for improving listening skills and auditory processing intervention. She has also cultivated interdisciplinary knowledge and considers interrelated functions that contribute to our ability to understand and make sense of the sounds we perceive.
Our consultations start with having parents complete our detailed case history packet to obtain information on current symptoms and concerns. This is then followed by a review of this information and any records and reports from previous APD evaluations. We then schedule a 30-minute phone consultation with you. Longer consultations can be provided if needed. You also have the option for us to provide an official consultation report so that you can easily share this information with your child’s school and/or any therapists working with your child.
If you would like more information on our services or would like to schedule a consultation, contact us at 601-488-4189, info@auditorycenter.com, or visit www.auditorycenter.com.
