Does Your Child Have Auditory Processing Disorder?
Our Expert Speech & Language Therapists Provide Evidence Based, Quality Therapy To Help Children With Auditory Processing Disorder
Some Facts About Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)
Auditory processing disorder occurs when a person has difficulty making sense of sounds, including spoken words.
APD is not the same as a hearing impairment- the individual can hear, though may not be able to process sounds accurately in the brain.
Auditory processing disorder usually starts in childhood, though it is possible to develop APD as an adult.
The cause of APD is often unclear. However, it can be caused by very frequent ear infections, a head injury or complications at birth.
Auditory Processing Disorder often co-occurs with other language or learning disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia.
Testing for Auditory Processing Disorder is not usually done on children under 7 years old, so typically an APD diagnosis will not be given until after this age.
APD cannot be cured, though the individual can access therapies and strategies to reduce the impact APD has on them.
Children with Auditory Processing Disorder Can Struggle With:
Following conversations – especially in noisy environments such as the classroom, restaurants or cafes, or rooms with a radio or TV on.
Understanding and following instructions, particularly when not supported by visual cues.
Telling the difference between similar sounds.
Understanding and recalling sounds in the right order.
Remembering and re-telling someone what they have heard.
Understanding people who speak particularly quickly, or with strong unfamiliar accents.
Developing their language skills through listening to others.
Some children with auditory processing disorder may also have difficulty with reading and spelling.
Children with Auditory Processing Disorder and Communication Skills
Here are some of the ways that good speech and language therapy can help children with Auditory Processing Disorder and their families:
Supporting the child to develop their attention and listening skills by auditory training.
Developing the child’s ability to discriminate between sounds and words.
Supporting the child to develop their language.
Helping the child’s family and education team to adapt the environment to be best for the child.
Teaching strategies to the child’s team to support their comprehension of language, ability to follow instructions and engage in conversations.
Providing appropriate visual supports for the child to use as necessary.
Signposting the family to any other professionals who may be able to support the child, such as audiology and hearing specialists.
Signposting families to appropriate and reliable sources of information and support.
Tips for Parents on How to Support Children with Auditory Processing Disorder
Make sure you have your child’s attention before speaking to them.
Ideally try and make sure your child is looking at you when you’re speaking to them.
Try to reduce background noise where possible- for example, turning the TV off or down when talking to your child.
Having soft furnishings in your house (for example, carpets and rugs) can help to reduce background noise echoing.
Avoid covering your mouth when you speak.
Emphasise key words in your speech using intonation.
Try to support your message with visual cues where possible, such as gesture and pointing.
Repeat what you’ve said when your child has not understood.
How Our Speech Therapy Can Help Children With Auditory Processing Difficulties
We assess each child’s needs holistically and design our treatment plans around the unique needs of each child. At the centre of everything we do are the goals, aspirations and expectations of the child and their family.
Here are some of the many evidence-based therapy approaches and frameworks we are specially trained to use to help children with Auditory Processing Disorder develop their communication skills:
Word Aware
Shape Coding
Elklan
Attention Autism for attention and listening skills
Acoustic Pioneer
Non-speech auditory discrimination tasks
How can we help you and your child?
If you’re interested in how our expert speech and language therapy can help your child with Auditory Processing Disorder, click below to request a free telephone consultation with one of our therapists or to book an initial assessment appointment. We will assess your child’s strengths and needs and design a therapy package to suit your child’s unique learning style, and your budget. We can also support children and young people in the over one hundred schools that commission our schools speech and language therapy service.
