What is an Auditory Processing Disorder?
An auditory processing disorder (APD) is the brain's misinterpretation of sounds. Although the sounds are loud enough, a person's brain may not process the subtle differences in sounds of words. This discrepancy is more notable in noisy environments, or when receiving complex information. People with APD may have trouble learning how to read and write, or trouble communicating with others.
APD is properly diagnosed by an audiologist administering a special series of tests: a selection of “Brain Hearing Testing”. This specialized set of hearing tests reaches beyond your hearing organs in the ear (the cochleae) and targets your brain. It looks at how the brain is processing sound, even if the ears are “hearing” normally. This service includes both a complete diagnostic hearing test and an APD assessment. APD assessment in normal hearing patients involves 3 additional tests designed to stress auditory processing skills in different ways (for example, listening in background noise or listening to two different sounds presented to one ear at the same time). This test battery may be most beneficial to those who have unexplained hearing difficulties despite “normal” conventional hearing tests. This includes children and adults undergoing psycho-educational assessments or patients having sustained concussion/traumatic brain injury (TBI).
If you have been told your hearing is normal but still struggle to hear or understand sound/speech, APD testing may be helpful in demonstrating a deeper hearing problem further in the chain of sound processing. For more information on Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) assessments, call
(902) 678-5550 or schedule a
free telephone consultation with one of our board-certified audiologists
here.