Auditory Processing Disorder is actually an umbrella term that describes various subtypes that affect how the brain perceives and processes what the ears hear. Since there are different types of APD, symptoms will vary from child to child. While no two people with APD are alike, these individuals all have various challenges with everyday listening due to problems in the accurate and efficient processing of auditory information.
Common Symptoms of APD
Frequently requesting repetition and/or rephrasing of information, saying “what” or “huh” often
Difficulty understanding speech with competing talkers or background noise
Difficulty following multiple-step or lengthy oral instructions
Mishearing auditory information
Slowness in processing and responding to auditory information
Distracted by background noise, often sensitive to soft sounds in the environment most people do not notice
Overwhelmed by complex or noisy auditory environments (i.e. classrooms, parties, shopping malls)
Difficulty maintaining attention when listening to verbal information
Inconsistent or inappropriate responses to spoken requests for information
Misinterpretation of questions
Difficulty remembering spoken information
Difficulty following classroom discussions, or making off-topic contributions
Trouble hearing the differences between sounds in words
Difficulty hearing when a signal is not clear or is ‘degraded’ (i.e soft, rapid, or distorted speech, accented speech, speech in reverberant environments, and speech over the phone)
Poor memory for lists of words and numbers
Trouble focusing when conversations or activities do not include visuals
Difficulty with complex language such as word problems
Poor phonological awareness skills such as sound-symbol relationships, blending a sequence of sounds into words, and identifying the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words
Poor reading fluency and/or reading comprehension
Poor spelling skills, with better performance when quizzed one-on-one
Difficulty interpreting prosody and tone of voice cues that underlie emotion, humor, and sarcasm and may be likely to interpret messages literally or get feelings hurt easily
Articulation errors that persist longer than they should
Difficulty finding the right words to use
Difficulty singing in tune and poor musical ability
Preference for loud television volume
Listening fatigue
Become frustrated with certain tasks. (i.e. saying “I don’t understand” or “I don’t know what you mean”)
