WHAT ARE POTENTIAL SIGNS/SYMPTOMS OF APD?

The American Academy of Audiologists (AAA) and the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) report that common signs/symptoms of APD may include:

• Difficulty understanding speech in the presence of background noise
• Difficulty understanding rapid, muffled, or distorted speech
• Frequent requests for repetition of what was said (such as saying “What?” or “Huh?”)
• Difficulty following verbal directions or commands
• Misinterpreting sarcasm or jokes, or difficulty relating what has been said with its meaning
• Distractibility
• Academic difficulties, including reading, spelling, and learning problems
• Easily distracted by other sounds or overly sensitive/bothered by loud sounds
• Problems remembering/carrying out multi step directions given verbally
• Difficulty perceiving what was said or misinterprets what was said
• Difficulty remembering or keeping in sequence what is heard
• Takes longer to respond to verbal communication or seems to need more time to process information
• Has difficulty perceiving differences between speech sounds (confusing similar words)
• Difficulty localizing sound

If you answered Yes to any of the above, you or your child may be struggling with APD. Simple tests can be performed by an Audiologist specializing in the diagnosis of APD to determine if an auditory processing disorder exists. Once a deficit specific diagnosis is determined, appropriate treatment can be recommended to help you or your child strengthen and improve auditory processing skills.

For more information contact:

Pamela Best, Au.D, CCC-A
Doctor of Audiology & APD Specialist
760-889-8542

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