Auditory Processing Assessments

Our post-graduate qualified staff can assess your child’s Auditory Processing from the age of six.

Auditory Processing Disorder

Auditory processing can be simply described as the function of our brains processing and interpreting information (sounds) we hear. Auditory Processing Disorder means there is something affecting this process or interpretation.

Children with APD often do not recognize subtle differences between sounds in words, even though the sounds themselves are loud and clear. For example, the request “Tell me how a chair and a couch are alike” may sound to a child with APD like “Tell me how a couch and a chair are alike.” It can even be understood by the child as “Tell me how a cow and a hair are alike.” These kinds of problems are more likely to occur when a person with APD is in a noisy environment or when he or she is listening to complex information.

Children with auditory processing difficulty typically have normal hearing and intelligence. However, they have also been observed to:

* have trouble paying attention to and remembering information presented orally
* have problems carrying out multistep directions
* have poor listening skills
* need more time to process information
* have low academic performance
* have behavior problems
* have language difficulty (e.g., they confuse syllable sequences and have problems developing vocabulary and understanding language)
* have difficulty with reading, comprehension, spelling, and vocabulary

You, a teacher, or a day care provider may be the first person to notice symptoms of auditory processing difficulty in your child. So talking to your child’s teacher about school or preschool performance is a good idea.

FM Systems

A Personal FM System helps improve the signal to noise ratio, on average giving a 17dB improvement. This generally makes the teacher’s (or speaker’s) voice comparitively louder, making for effortless and concise hearing.

(*sourced from the NIDCD)