Therefore, a speech-language evaluation cannot rule out the need for an APD evaluation. Lucker, Audiologist & Speech-Language Pathologist Specializing in Auditory Processing Disorders & Language Processing Disorders at Howard University, which looked at the number of children evaluated for auditory and language issues related to APD, he found that 39% of children with APD passed all the language tests and failed auditory processing tests. Roughly 7 percent of children have some type of auditory hypersensitivity or processing difficulty. While APD is not as well-known as ADHD, it is becoming increasingly common. ![]() While they do have high rates of coexistence, the two need to be addressed by different methods of treatment. Studies suggest that 50% of children diagnosed with ADHD may also have APD. It is also common for ADHD to coexist with an auditory processing disorder. The drug did not improve auditory processing, despite improving children’s performances on a standard test that measured attention and impulsivity. A study conducted at the State University of New York in Fredonia looked at the effects of Ritalin on auditory processing in children with both ADHD and APD. In comparison children with ADHD may be poor listeners and have difficulty understanding or remembering verbal information, however it is the attention deficit that is hindering their ability to access or to use the auditory information that is coming in, not the actual processing of the auditory in the brain. So, what’s the good news? The good news is that, because the auditory pathways continue to develop, APD is typically responsive to intervention. Premature birth, Lyme disease or other brain infections, closed head injury, and exposure to low levels of heavy metals (lead or mercury) may also play a role. Because of this, early influences such as poor prenatal nutrition, a mother’s exposure to cigarettes or alcohol, childhood malnutrition, and chronic ear infections - may negatively affect auditory processing. ![]() While the human auditory system is fully developed at birth, auditory pathways do not mature until the age of 10 to 12. Some experts debate whether heredity or environment - or both - are responsible for the condition. While the underlying cause of APD is not fully known. You may notice a child plug their ears before the beginning of a movie or before a toilet flushes, this is a learned response to those uncomfortable sounds before they even happen. In fact, some sounds can be said to “hurt” - a blender, a train engine, police sirens. Many children with APD are extremely sensitive to sound. It is like listening to the radio with interference from other stations distorting the reception. ![]() The echo in a gymnasium or the hum of the air conditioner in the classroom interferes with the conversation at hand. Some children with APD also have trouble screening out background noise, so they pick up bits of surrounding sounds. ![]() Children with ADHD also tend to demonstrate inattention, distractibility, and hyperactivity in any environment, whereas children with Auditory Processing Disorder usually do not have difficulty focusing and paying attention in quiet environments. As an example, a child may be diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), PDD (Pervasive Developmental Delay), Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Receptive Language Disorder, or Mixed Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder, because all of these conditions could affect how a child processes spoken information.Īlthough there is some overlap in symptoms, individuals with Auditory Processing Disorder present primarily with complaints of inability to follow directions and frequent requests for clarification, while individuals with ADHD present primarily with complaints of inattentiveness and/or hyperactivity. Because many symptoms of Auditory Processing Disorder overlap with other disorders, children are sometimes misdiagnosed or may have a coexisting condition along with APD. Many disorders share common traits and are often correlated.
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