Continuing further in our section on kids with special needs, today we will talk about APD. It is also known as CAPD (Central auditory processing disorder), is a hearing problem.

This is a condition in which brain is not able to process the sound of information received from the ears. That is the kid is able to hear the sound, but is not able to make a sense out of it. So he/she will have difficulty in understanding what others are talking. So though the kid has normal hearing, he/she will be at hearing loss.

What causes APD disorder? The exact cause is not well know and hence there are many possible reasons given. Like premature birth of the child, low birth weight, chronic ear infections etc.

What are symptoms for APD? This is one disorder which did not catch medical research’s attention for long. Medical professional started looking into this problem only during early 80’s. There are some symptoms though we can be looked for

• Finding it hard to understand what others are saying. Difficulty in following conversation.
• Have trouble in reading
• Not able to hear and understand anything in a noisy environment. Easily gets distracted and not able to concentrate in a noisy situation.
• Not able to remember what was heard
• Difficulty in following directions

What are long term effects? If this issue is not diagnoses and managed properly, can result in long term or life long problem. Communication skills are severely affected and this has effect on social interactions and academics. Hence it is important to keep a tab on the symptoms and contact a doctor if any such thing is noticed.

Many times this disorder is  noticed along with other disorders like ADHD and Dyslexia.

Kids with this disorder need assisted learning and support. This is not something which cannot be managed.

In our next post we can look at the tools / toys / games etc which can help making the journey easier for such kids.

Should you have any comments, do write back to us.