Auditory Processing (also called Central Auditory Processing) refers to
the means by which we make sense of what we hear. “Auditory Processing
Disorders” refers to the abnormal interaction of hearing, neural
transmission and the brain’s ability to make sense of sound. People
with auditory processing disorders may indeed have normal hearing, but
they have difficulty understanding auditory information. This may be
apparent by difficulty understanding speech in the presence of noise,
problems following multi-step directions, and difficulty with phonics
or reading comprehension, among other things. Parents, educators,
physicians, speech-language pathologists and others realize the role
that auditory processing plays in a child’s ability to learn, leading
to an increase in referrals to audiologists with expertise in this
area. Proper diagnosis can be made only after the completion of a
battery of audiometric tests, administered by an audiologist.
Individualized remediation programs are available to help strengthen
auditory processing skills in diagnosed children and adults.