Testing for CAPD

APD testing includes a thorough case history of a patient’s auditory problems and deficits, comprehensive audiologic testing and specialized test procedures, which are specifically designed to diagnose a central auditory processing disorder.

Many basic skills are necessary to understand spoken language and to make use of what was heard. These include, but are not limited to, auditory memory, auditory sequencing, auditory attention, auditory closure, and auditory discrimination. Some of these skills are inter-related.Specialized APD test batteries generally examine several of these skills, but usually do not assess them all. Speech and language tests, along with psychoeducational and ADHD testing, may also examine some of these skills and provide supplemental information when determining a diagnosis. Recent research suggests that a deficit in more than one of these area is often the case.

The child with APD generally has problems with several specific auditory skills, and may perform below age and/or grade level on auditory processing tests if the appropriate skills are examined. Performance on these tests generally improves with age (up to a point), as the central auditory nervous system matures. It is possible that the child may eventually ‘catch-up’ and achieve age-appropriate test scores. Regardless of the scores, it is likely that the child’s academic performance can be improved through the use of special teaching techniques and activities.

Typical Behaviors of Children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

• Most are male (75%).
• They have normal pure tone hearing thresholds (i.e., normal peripheral hearing).
• They generally respond inconsistently to auditory stimuli. At times, they seem unable to follow auditory instructions.
• They have short attention spans and fatigue easily when confronted with long or complex activities.
• They are distracted by both auditory and visual stimulation.
• They may have difficulty with auditory localization skills. This may include an inability to tell how close or far away the source of the sound is, and an inability to differentiate soft and loud sounds. There have been frequent reports that these children become frightened and upset when they are exposed to loud noises, and often hold their hands over their ears to stop the sound.
• They may listen attentively but have difficulty following long or complicated verbal commands or instructions.
• They often request that information be repeated.
• They are often unable to remember information presented verbally, for both short-term and long-term memory.
• They may have difficulty in counting or in the alphabet, or remembering the days of the week and months of the year, or addresses or phone numbers.
• They are often allergic to various things in the environment.
• They often have a significant history of chronic otitis media (i.e., middle ear infections).
• They have normal intelligence.