Auditory Processing disorder

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Has anyone had a kiddo diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder or been diagnosed themselves? If so, was an audiologist involved in the diagnosis? I am wondering if this may be at the root of my son's difficulty engaging in school. Of course it could just be that he is bored beyond belief but I also see him "tuning out" in other situations where the content is more interesting (at least in my opinion, I understand that it might not be interesting to him).

I haven't been formally diagnosed with this particular disorder but I do have it and is a big source for me of meltdowns. It causes a lot of stress and likewise the only way to get away from it is to shut down. When that isn't possible, meltdown is almost a certainty, for me anyway. Life can be much more demanding as an adult too so this may not apply to your situation or be of any help. I hope you can get the testing because a diagnosis would promote understanding and hopefully prevent added stress to your little one.

Thank you for your reply! Are you hypersensitive to sound so that it overwhelms you? And/or do you have difficulty discriminating among sounds, like trying to listen to a person speaking when there is background noise?

I do have sensory hypersensitivity but auditory processing is another problem when people talk too fast as people frequently do and I have so much trouble assimilating what is being said at that speed. If someone speaks slowly and the stress level goes down and I can handle it and at least better understand what's being said. Altogether it's very tough.

I do better processing visual input, rather than sound input. I also don't tolerate loud noises well. I will tune out things that don't interest me, and try to tune out types and volumes of noise that bother me. I am also not real social, and live alone, by choice.

Hear Builder has a bunch of auditory processing computer games that work really well. They are fun too!

eigerpere - have you had any success with explaining to people that you need them to slow down?

questor - do you have any techniques that help you tune in when you really need to?

SC_2010 - thanks, that program looks like soemthing that might work really well for my DS!

The screening for auditory processing disorder can be done during a psychological or neuropsychological evaluation. One test that is used is the SCAN-3 for Children. If the screening suggests auditory processing problems, then they are referred to an audiologist. The official diagnosis is best made by an audiologist who specializes in auditory processing problems. Just because someone is an audiologist does not mean they have experience with processing disorders, just as someone who is a psychologist may not have experience with ASD.

Our OT has put me in touch with an audiologist in the town where we live. I haven't talked with him yet but my understanding is that he does not specialize in processing disorders. Unfortunately, I believe we will have to travel to a neighboring state to see the appropriate specialsit. We do have a good neuropsych here that may be able to conduct the screening you suggest and see if it warrants the trip to see a specialist.

No, typically they'd rather I be NT and can't remember to save anyone's life. It isn't cool to be handicapped.

I had my older son screened for this, and it was ruled out by an audiologist. I had to contact the local Autism Society to find an audiologist who would do a hearing test that included testing for this disorder. Basically, based upon further testing, my son's attention problems are apparently rooted in learning issues (specifically borderline mentally deficient information retrieval ability, and well as lower than expected for his overall IQ short-term memory and general knowledge). His history of speech issues may also be having an impact.

http://www.freevideosforautistickids.co ... of_Son.php

Anyway, the auditory processing test is included with the other tests in the link above. To read test results, you have to enlarge the slide show on the bottom to full screen. (The top section is a YouTube video of me explaining the results, which came out blurred when uploaded to YouTube.) Basically the point of the records is to show the different types of tests that can be done and to show the improvement over a three year period of my son with classic autism (via intensive home-based speech therapy, meds for anxiety, ABA, and other educational interventions).

I have thought about having this but I am not too sure. Symptoms I have or characteristics over lap with other conditions I already have.

blondeambition, the papers were impossible to read because the print was too small and there was no way of enlarging it.

Actually, papers on the bottom (without audio) can be enlarged. You have to click on a picture of a document, and it should pop up to full screen and become readable. After one is enlarged, you can use the buttons at the bottom of your screen to go from document to document.

I know that the YouTube video presentation of the documents with audio (the set on top) is messed up. I think that I used the wrong software or setting or something when I made the slides so when they got uploaded to YouTube, they came out blurry. I've been super busy, so I decided to just upload a rough copy without audio directly onto my site under the YouTube audio copy so that anyone who is interested in reading all of the documents can actually do so.

(My ideas for what I want to do with the website are often ahead of my technical expertise, time, and resources. Thanks for pointing this out though, since I'm sure that others have the same question about enlarging the documents.)

I believe I may have a bit of a problem with Audiotory Processing as I need written instruction and good visual aids to learn. That was always a problem for me at work as they want you to learn fast and with little help in most businesses and it caused me a lot of stress. I have difficulty tuning out other noises to focus like if it is quiet conversations down the hall or next door distract me and I cannot shut them out. It seemed people with me could tell I could hear what was going on, because I don't have a poker face and seemed to conclude I was eavesdropping. NTs don't get this disorder at all

It must be my computer then because when I click on the page, it goes to the next and it won't enlarge. There are no plus or minus button for zooming in and out. Not on my computer anyway.

In my sons case it was the Speech therapist that did a full speech and language assessment who had auditory processing as sub items of the test....he did poor on them ....she is also an audiologist and has a special interest in processing disorder.....I think these speech assessments is VERY important she also saw that the difference between his verbal and nonvernal communication is 6 yrs!.
Our pdoc never assessed this.....the stupid neuro we went to spoke to fast, soft and to many info at once....so my son reacted totally inappropriate with plenty of aggitation......So the neuro's conclusion.....my son only has a bad attitude and is manipulative....dont see anything else wrong!! !! !! So sorry....my money wont be on a neuro! Waste of time.....will only use them for epilepsy and so on......
I find it difficult to think how I can explain how auditory processing problems manifest in real life....The closest I can think of.....with my son.....is that often after I have spoken he will say "scuse me?"....at first I thought he cant hear me....now I know he doesnt fully understands me and play for time to process the info.
Or he will say " I don't get it?".......or sometimes he doesnt "hear" the word correctly or he scrambles his sentences....try to think a bit what he wants to say and then try and revraze his sentence.....