Auditory Processing Disorder: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
Understanding oral speech is a fundamental aspect of human interactions. Communication is based on this aspect, and if we cannot understand others it is clear that we have a serious problem.
Auditory processing disorder is a condition in which a person has serious problems understanding others. since he confuses phonemes and has difficulty understanding the general meaning of the phrases that are said to him.
It is a somewhat controversial disorder, since there is still no consensus on what traits define it or what diagnostic criteria to follow. Below we will look at this problem of auditory processing in more depth.
Before explaining auditory processing disorder, it is necessary to explain what is meant by auditory processing. We understand it as the process that takes place in the brain when acoustic stimuli are recognized and interpreted. Human beings hear when the physical vibration, which hits our eardrum, travels to the brain through nervous impulses. There it will be interpreted in various regions, allowing us to understand the phonemes and the words they make up, and thus be able to understand speech.
In auditory processing disorder, this process is affected. This disorder is also known as central auditory processing disorder, auditory perception problem, auditory comprehension deficit, central auditory dysfunction, central deafness, and speech deafness.
Children with auditory processing disorder They often cannot differentiate between sounds in words, even if they are loud and clear. For example, they may confuse words like “duck,” “cat,” and “plate.” If we ask them “How are a well and a chicken alike?”, the child who suffers from this disorder can understand that they have been asked “What are a bear and a hole like?” and she will answer something that won’t make sense.
Symptoms
Children with auditory processing disorder have normal intelligence and hearing. Your difficulties in processing auditory information They are not due to injuries to the eardrum or an intellectual disability. However, having this syndrome causes a high degree of social and academic dysfunction, since they do not understand many things that are told to them. Among the main problems that we can find we have:
They have difficulty paying attention to what they are told and remembering information that has been presented to them orally, showing poor listening skills. Because of this, their academic performance is poor. As they confuse sequences of syllables, have problems developing vocabulary and understanding the language something that also presents itself in the form of difficulties in reading and spelling.
Additionally, they have trouble carrying out multi-step instructions, which can be seen in the fact that they need more time to process information. This causes great frustration which, especially in children, turns into aggression and tension, thus giving rise to behavioral problems.
Causes
It is not known precisely what causes auditory processing disorder. Human communication not only depends on being able to listen, but also requires certain mental abilities, such as attention and memory.
Still It is not known exactly how memory and attention fail in language disorders such as auditory processing disorder. Even if the child does not have noticeable hearing damage, he may have serious problems applying sounds to language.
It has been hypothesized that auditory processing disorder could be related to dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorders, pervasive developmental disorders, or developmental delay. It should be said that the conceptualization of this disorder is not clear and, on many occasions, people who only had learning problems have been diagnosed with auditory processing disorder.
Diagnosis
Auditory processing disorder is a problem that causes quite a bit of controversy, since There is no consensus that it is a disorder in itself. The fact that there are several definitions of it does not help and its diagnosis is not very specific. Although they are not diagnostic criteria, some of the following signs are common in people who suffer from this disorder:
Auditory processing disorder is usually evident in childhood, although children who suffer from it are not usually evaluated before the age of 7. Before the age of 7, communication skills are still being learned , so it is not surprising to find that the boy or girl has some difficulty at some point, something that does not necessarily mean pathology. After 7 years, if several signs are detected there are reasons to worry. The diagnosis can also be made in adults.
It should be said that There are other disorders that can be confused with auditory processing disorder. Problems with working memory can also be found in ADHD. In fact, there is a high probability that the diagnosis between these two disorders will be confused, or that the child will be diagnosed with both.
Be that as it may, the first step to knowing if a child has this disorder is to make sure that there is no problem with the eardrum. It could be that he had a hearing injury that explains why he doesn’t seem to hear us. Another aspect to rule out is intellectual disability, turning to psychologists and pediatricians to detect possible developmental disorders or cognitive deficiencies.
Once it has been seen that the problem is neither in the hearing nor in the intelligence of the child , other professionals will be used who will perform tests to detect what your bass-treble range is, if you understand all the words and phrases that are said to you, if you understand the numbers spoken orally… all tasks that will require a team interdisciplinary of developmental psychologists, audiologists and speech therapists. With their work they will detect possible problems in auditory processing that may occur.
Treatments
The main treatment for this disorder is speech therapy or speech therapy. It is essential to teach them communication skills and language comprehension, in order to increase their listening capacity. Teach him to pay close attention to phonemes and train his ear to be able to focus on a main conversation, trying to ignore background noise.
Learning new words and perfecting language are essential to reducing the severity of auditory processing disorder. One of the problems related to this disorder is that the child does not have very good auditory memory, for this reason working on this skill can be essential to reduce the negative impact of this disorder.
The psychologist’s task is very important in teaching the family strategies to manage the child’s frustration over not being able to understand what is being explained to them. Intervention at the educational level will also be necessary trying to apply strategies that can compensate for their listening attention problems, such as spending more time reading the syllabus or asking the teachers for more personalized explanations.
One of the most interesting strategies in class is the use of auditory trainers, which allow the person to focus attention on a speaker and reduce interference from background noise. They can be used in the classroom, where the teacher uses a microphone to transmit sound to the child with this disorder, who will wear headphones to reduce background noise, such as parallel conversations, and thus concentrate only on what the teacher is saying. , listening to it as clearly and clearly as possible.
How to help people with this disorder?
Although psychologists, audiologists, doctors, pediatricians, otorhinolaryngologists and other professionals who are related to this disorder are the ones who will offer effective treatments to improve the quality of life of people with auditory processing disorder, family and friends can help people. people with this disorder as follows.
The most important thing is to understand that it is not that the person is voluntarily stopping paying attention or that you don’t want to understand. He has a problem that makes his daily life very difficult, and what he needs is understanding of his environment. It is very important to try to make it easier for them to understand what is being said to them and not get frustrated when they see that they do not understand us. With the appropriate pace and volume, as well as a little patience, he will be able to understand what we tell him.
Bibliographic references:
Musiek, Frank; Gail, Chermak (2007). Handbook of central auditory processing disorder (auditory neuroscience and diagnosis). Plural Publishing. p. 448.
Chermak GD, Musiek FE (2002). Auditory training: Principles and approaches for remediation and managing audit processing disorders. Seminars in Hearing 23 (4): 287-295. ISSN 0734-0451
