Auditory And Linguistic Processing Disorders
Like most people, you probably didn’t give a second thought to something as simple as your ability to hear and understand verbal instructions. But if you have a child who suffers from an auditory or language processing disorder, you know just how precious of a gift it is.
You’re likely here because you know (or suspect) that your child suffers from one of these conditions. And you’re probably wondering how your child will succeed in school, build a career, or even have a normal life with this type of challenge. We understand, and we can help.
While they may seem similar, Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) and Language Processing Disorder (LPD) are not the same things. But both can make a significant impact on your child’s learning and development.
What Is An Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)?
In the simplest terms, an Auditory Processing Disorder, or APD, is a problem with listening and understanding speech. But individuals with APD don’t necessarily have a hearing problem –but they cannot make sense of what they hear. It is the result of a listening system being ineffective at putting pieces of the world of sound together to create meaning.
The Symptoms Of An Auditory Processing Disorder
If your child has an APD, he is having difficulty deciphering the messages in the sounds that he hears, which shows up this way:
- Trouble understanding words – especially when words are distorted (such as in a large room, outside, when a teacher is speaking with her back to the room, or when someone is in a different room).
- Difficulty hearing the difference between similar words – such as cap and cat.
- Becoming distracted or upset in noisy areas.
- Difficulty sorting out competing messages – such as when two people talk at the same time or there is a noisy background.
- Difficulty with telling which sound came first allowing confusion when decoding words that “saw” and “was.”
The test for an APD is usually performed at age 7 or 8-years old. But screening can be done as early as 3½. Among other things, we assess your child’s ability to hear the difference between similar or rhyming words, his level of auditory attention (the ability to remain focused on listening), and how well he can understand distorted words (such as in a noisy room).
What is a Language Processing Disorder (LPD)?
Unlike an APD, which is centered on your child’s listening skills, a Language Processing Disorder (LPD) affects the processes needed to interpret verbal information, whether written or spoken. This can cause problems in your child’s ability to pay attention, remember, and even read. It affects his ability to remember lists and simple instructions, as well as mentally sorting lists to enable problem-solving.
The link between APD and LPD is the ability to develop and be aware of the inner voice in one’s mind, to see the big picture, to make a summary, and to understand cause and effect relationships.
Individuals with APD are at risk of an LPD. And, individuals with an LPD are likely to have an underlying APD.
The Symptoms of an LPD
Some symptoms of an LPD are similar to an APD, but can also include:
- Difficulty gathering meaning from spoken or written language
- Poor writing & reading comprehension
- Getting frustrated when trying to communicate
- Difficulty with word retrieval (can’t remember words even though he knows them)
Feeling overwhelmed? We get it. The good news is that there are a whole host of treatment strategies for APD and LPD that can be uniquely customized to treat your child’s individual needs. No more scouring the internet for opinions on what interventions are best.