Hey Sue,

My 8 year old son was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD).  What can you tell me about this?                            

Robin (San Francisco)

Hey Robin,

Auditory Processing is “what we do with what we hear.”  When we take in language, we organize it.  For instance, we file it in our brain.  Choosing the right folder/s is important for easy access to the information.  Auditory Processing Disorder can result from ANY breakdown in a set of skills that are needed to deal with auditory information including attention, memory, cognition, and hearing.  It is important that your son get the therapy he needs to improve his processing skills.  I highly recommend you contact a speech/language pathologist in your area. 

Here are some fun games to try:    
1.    Identify sounds: Record environmental sounds;
       Listen and guess what makes the sound
2.    Pattern recognition: repeat number of beats on a drum;
       Repeat number of hand claps
3.    Reasoning: Add members to a category: cat, dog, ?
       What does not belong:  cat, dog, spoon, fish?

Click Here for a full description of identifying behaviors pertaining to Auditory Processing Disorder