Auditory processing disorder: kids & teens

About auditory processing disorder (APD)

Auditory processing disorder (APD) happens when your brain has difficulty making sense of the sounds you hear. Children with APD might have typical hearing but have difficulty recognising and interpreting sounds.

These difficulties make it hard for children with APD to work out what a sound is, where the sound came from and when the sound happened. And this means it can be hard for children with APD to listen properly when there’s background noise or the sound is muffled. As a result, APD can affect children’s learning, language and reading.

It’s estimated that APD affects around 2-5% of school-age children.

APD is also called central auditory processing disorder (CAPD).

Signs and symptoms of auditory processing disorder (APD)

If your child has auditory processing disorder (APD), you might notice that they have difficulties with:

listening and hearing, especially if there’s a lot of background noise and distractions
following instructions
staying focused – for example, they might be easily distracted
remembering spoken instructions
telling the difference between letters that sound similar, like ‘k’ and ‘g’, or ‘t’ and ‘d’.

This means that problems with learning, listening and communication, reading and writing can be signs of APD.

The difficulties that APD causes can look like the signs of other conditions including:

Diagnosis and assessment of auditory processing disorder (APD)

Auditory processing disorder (APD) can be hard to diagnose because its signs overlap with the signs of other conditions. But it can usually be diagnosed once children start school.

It’s a good idea to seek advice from your child and family health nurse, GP or paediatrician if you’ve noticed any of the signs or symptoms of APD, or if your child’s teacher has noticed your child is having trouble listening at school.

The GP or paediatrican might refer your child to an audiologist to test your child’s hearing.

If the audiologist thinks the problem might be APD, they’ll do an auditory processing assessment. This includes diagnostic hearing tests for hearing loss and auditory processing tests.

An auditory processing test involves several short tests like listening to and repeating words and sounds back to the audiologist. The audiologist uses equipment to change the words and sounds so they’re harder to understand. For example, the equipment might add background noise or play words or sounds at the same time.

You can ask your audiologist for more information about the tests before your child has them.

Your child might also be referred to a psychologist to rule out other conditions like a learning difficulty or an intellectual disability. And your child might see a speech pathologist, who can assess your child’s ability to identify sounds, process sounds for learning language, and use sound skills for reading.

If you think your child might have signs of APD, it’s best to see your GP as soon as possible. When APD is diagnosed early, children can get treatment early too. Early treatment gives children with APD the best opportunity to improve their listening and get support for learning at school.

Support and treatment for auditory processing disorder (APD)

With the right intervention and support, children with auditory processing disorder (APD) can improve their ability to listen in the classroom and other noisy environments. In some cases, intervention can improve listening ability to a typical level.

Your audiologist might suggest strategies or training programs for your child. The audiologist might also recommend that your child uses a personal remote microphone or sound field amplification system. This will help your child hear the teacher’s voice more clearly, even when there’s a lot of background noise.

Your child might see a speech pathologist to work on their language skills. Your child might also see a special education teacher for extra help at school, especially with reading and writing. An educational psychologist might also be able to help.

Treatment for APD is tailored to children’s needs. It’s a good idea to talk with your audiologist or speech pathologist about the treatment options that might work best for your child.