Auditory Processing Disorder Definition, Reason, Symptom, Treatment, Prevention

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Auditory processing disorder Definition, Reason, Symptom, Treatment, Prevention

Definition

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a type of hearing loss that occurs because the brain cannot process sound normally. APD disorders can occur in all walks of life but are more common initially in childhood.

With APD, sufferers will have difficulty distinguishing similar words at low volumes. However, there was no problem understanding its meaning.

Auditory processing disorder

Reason

The cause of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is still not known with certainty. However, the following factors are suspected to be associated with PPE, namely:

  • Having a history of illnesses such as chronic ear infections, meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain), lead poisoning, or nervous system diseases such as multiple sclerosis
  • low birth weight
  • premature birth
  • head injury
  • genetic disorders

Diagnosis

To determine the diagnosis of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), doctors usually will do a hearing test when there are complaints of hearing. An examination is usually done when the age of 6-7 years so that the child can respond to the hearing test.

Examination of PPE disorders does not use normal hearing test examinations. Normal hearing tests are usually done in a quiet room without any disturbance.

Hearing tests for APD disorders are more complex tests. The test checks the ability to hear at various levels of background noise, low-quality speech, some people speaking with multiple accents and people speaking fast.

The complex hearing test checks for:

  • ability to hear conversations with background noise
  • voice pattern recognition
  • words and language
  • cognitive ability

Symptoms

Auditory Processing Disorder ( APD) not only gives symptoms to sufferers’ hearing. PPE can also interfere with the way a child speaks, spells reads, and writes.

Symptoms that usually appear can include:

  • cut off the end of a word
  • mix words with similar sounds
  • difficulty understanding speech, especially in noisy places or when more than one person is talking
  • it takes time to respond to the conversation
  • hard to talk to other people
  • hard to distinguish sounds of similar words
  • hard to focus on words when there is background noise
  • hard to determine the direction of the sound
  • hard to enjoy music

Treatment

Until now there is no way to treat Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). However, there are several ways to help people with APD disorders, including:

  • hearing training
  • speech therapy
  • using a frequency modulator
  • limiting the use of electronics such as TV, radio and others

Prevention

The exact cause of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is still unknown at this time. This makes there is no way to prevent PPE interference.

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