Adult & Pediatric Audiologist Practicing Near Lebanon, PA
Do you or your child have trouble understanding speech or following spoken directions? If so, turn to the experienced audiology doctors at Hearing Smile Professionals near Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The issue might be hearing loss or a learning disability—but it could be something else, too, such as an auditory processing disorder (APD). An APD affects the auditory cortex, a sensory area of the brain that receives and processes sounds. Even though the sounds are loud, clear, and fully heard, they are not interpreted correctly by the brain, resulting in misunderstanding and confusion.
What Is It Like to Have an APD?
Living with an auditory processing disorder can be frustrating. Some people liken it to trying to carry on a telephone conversation over a cellular network with a weak signal. Some words and sentences might be dropped, while other words are jumbled together. And the conversation might continually be disrupted by crackling static. In some instances, you might be able to use contextual clues to fill in the blanks; in others, you might guess wrong and simply have no idea what was said. That’s what it’s like to have an APD.
According to the American Academy of Audiology, other common signs of an auditory processing disorder include:
- Difficulty understanding speech in noisy settings
- Frequently asking for words to be repeated
- An inability to distinguish between similar-sounding words, such as “mat” and “map”
- Easy distraction and a short attention span
- Academic difficulties, particularly with reading and spelling
Does That Sound Familiar?
If you are all too familiar with these experiences, an audiologist at Hearing Smile Professionals can determine if you have an auditory processing disorder. We offer comprehensive audiology testing and APD evaluations for adults and children.
The first step in diagnosing an auditory processing disorder is ruling out hearing loss. From there, we will run a battery of tests to evaluate your auditory discrimination, processing, attention and memory. During APD testing, you may be asked to listen to tones and identify whether they are high or low, or to listen to audio input and repeat what you heard.
Can an APD Be Treated?
After confirming your diagnosis, your audiologist at Hearing Smile Professionals can work with you to develop a customized APD therapy plan. Even though an auditory processing disorder cannot be cured, it can be effectively treated. The right combination of speech therapy, environmental modifications, compensation strategies, and/or auditory training can change your life.
If you would like to learn more about auditory processing disorders, you are encouraged to schedule an appointment with an adult or pediatric audiologist at Hearing Smile Professionals near Lebanon, PA. Contact us today. We offer a variety of treatment options for those with hearing loss and APD, including APD therapy, hearing aids, and cochlear implants.
