Have you ever experienced significant difficulty hearing others in a noisy environment, only to be told at your hearing assessment that you have normal hearing? Does your child’s teacher comment that your little one is not listening, or is performing poorly academically? It is possible that you or your child may have an Auditory Processing Disorder.
An Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), or alternatively known as a Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), occurs when an individual has normal hearing, but the auditory signal is not processed effectively. The adult or child has difficulty separating and filtering out important information (such as speech), from that which is not important (such as background noise). This often results in children not hearing the teacher clearly in the classroom, or adults not hearing their colleagues in a meeting.
At the Hearing Loss Clinic, we are here to support you. We offer a range of screening and assessment tools that are designed to profile one’s auditory strengths and challenges and guide treatment options. The assessments are specifically designed and selected to accommodate different ages and are offered from the age of 6 onward.
The assessment consists of two 1-hour consultations, followed by a feedback session. A report will be provided, which will include recommendations and strategies that can be applied at home and within the classroom environment. Environmental modifications, direct skills remediation through auditory training, and working through compensatory strategies to support difficulties and challenges will be discussed. In addition, the results will assist in determining if hearing aids or assistive listening devices may be beneficial, and a trial of these devices may be arranged.
If you or your child experience difficulties and wish to be tested for an Auditory Processing Disorder, book an appointment or talk to one of our hearing professionals to learn how we can help support you further.