Problem Areas for Children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

• Auditory figure ground problems, i.e. child finds it difficult to pay attention to a speaker when there is background noise
• Auditory memory problems, i.e. child finds it difficult to remember information such as directions or lists, this can be either long term or short term auditory memory
• Auditory discrimination problems, i.e. child finds it difficult to hear the difference between similar sounds or words.  This can affect following directions, reading, spelling and writing skills
• Auditory attention problems, i.e. child cannot maintain focus long enough to complete a task
• Auditory cohesion tasks, this is when higher level listening tasks are difficult, e.g. drawing inferences from conversations, understanding riddles, understanding mental maths problems
• Auditory sequencing problems, this is the ability to understand or recall the order of words or sounds in a series.  This can affect spelling, instructions, multi-digit numbers
• Auditory blending, this is a difficulty combining sounds to form words
• Associative deficit, this is a difficulty associating sounds with written message
• Auditory integration deficit, this is a difficulty combining auditory cues with other sensory cues, e.g. seeing written words and knowing what they would sound like when spoken
• Auditory hypersensitivity, background sounds cannot be ignored
• Prosodic deficit, speaking in a monotone without rhythm or intonation and not perceiving this in other speakers
• Delay in processing and transference of information