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Central Auditory Processing Disorder is an umbrella term that refers to how well our brain processes and uses auditory information to inform us about the sounds in our world. Our ears hear the sound, but our brain interprets what this sound means. This involves a wide range of different skills that are interdependent on each other (such as cognition, memory, attention, and language skills), which boils down to how efficiently our brain understands what the ears tell it.
If our brain isn’t able to process and understand what auditory information the ears are hearing, we can have trouble picking up important sounds and filtering out background noise. We might ‘hear’ sounds fine, but struggle to understand what these sounds are.
It’s important to note what CAPD isn’t. It isn’t higher order issues such as autism or ADHD or a cognitive or language disorder. While these disorders in themselves can display similar symptoms as CAPD such as having trouble listening, understanding or remembering these issues are unrelated to CAPD as in those cases the brain’s ability to process the sounds it hears is intact. It is other issues in these cases that causes the difficulties.
Most CAPD testing and research predominately focuses on children, but CAPD can affect adults as well. For older adults CAPD is often related to sensorineural hearing loss and again presents itself primarily when in an environment with a lot of background or environmental noise. In these environments, it becomes increasingly difficult to listen and pay attention to conversation or speech. Adults can, like children, become fatigued in these situations and withdraw from the social interaction.
If there are symptoms or signs that someone could have a CAPD it is important to diagnose it or rule it out to ensure the appropriate treatment and actions can be taken. Untreated CAPD in children can lead to shortcomings in academic performance and social integration with their peers.
Brisbane: Spring Hill
Townsville: Pimlico
Mackay: North Mackay
Regional Queensland: Ayr, Charters Towers, Ingham
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