Life with an Auditory Processing Disorder Sounds Different

This is a big week for my family. My son is getting married on Saturday and we couldn’t be more delighted!

As I was thinking about the upcoming reception, I remembered the mom of one of our students trying to describe to me what she thought it must be like for her son. She said, “Have you ever been to a wedding and you’re staring right at someone, but hearing all the conversations around you and not hearing what the person you’re talking to is saying? I think that’s what my son experiences all the time.”

What Life With Auditory Processing Problems Is Like

A friend once told me that her adult son with auditory processing problems said that listening was so taking for him, that after a one-hour meeting at work, he was “done” for the day. He was so exhausted that he would literally have to lie down on the floor of his office and take a nap.

Last week, a mom walked into the Learning Center looking for help for her 5 year old son who had very limited language and couldn’t understand much of what was said to him unless it was paired with visual signs and gestures. Her little boy was smart, engaging, and did not have hearing loss. He had been assessed twice for autism and found not to have it. She described how he sometimes sang songs that he heard on his videos but he would leave sounds out of words every time he sang them. I strongly suspect that this child has an auditory processing disorder and we referred him to an audiologist who tests for auditory processing disorder. (reference below)

Karen Foli, author and mother of a child with a severe auditory processing disorder, described it as “listening to sound through water.”

Think of a Bad Cell Phone Connection

I think the best way for those of us with intact auditory systems to get our minds around what it might be like to have an auditory processing problem is to think about a bad cell phone connection. There’s nothing wrong with your ears, but the signal or the input you’re getting is not clear and complete. You get some of the information, but there are gaps so your mind is racing to try to connect the dots.

You press the phone hard to your ear, trying so hard to listen, but pretty soon, you’ve lost the thread of the conversation, your attention is drifting, and you’re feeling irritable and frustrated. And you say, “You’re cutting out. Let me call you back.”

But what if this was your life all day everyday, and there’s no “hanging up and calling back?” Children and adults with auditory processing disorder or even auditory processing inefficiencies often end up being labeled as having Attention Deficit Disorder/ADHD. They experience a great deal of overwhelm and anxiety. It may affect their comprehension, learning, and social skills. They feel lost, all because their auditory system is not providing them with clear, complete, and accurate information to think with.

The Auditory System Can Be Retrained

But here’s the GOOD NEWS! The auditory system is dynamic. It can be retrained to process a full range of sound frequencies, to tune-in to important information, and tune-out the background noise. It can be stimulated to organize and decode the information coming in through the ears. It can get a more accurate and complete message. And with a better message comes better responses and learning.

Need to know more? JOIN US for a FREE Parent/Adult Information Night at Stowell Learning Center in Chino or Irvine, CA.

Helpful Resources

Like Sound Through Water by Karen Foli

When the Brain Can’t Hear by Teri Bellis

Excellent Audiologist who specializes in Auditory Processing Disorder (C)APD:

Balance & Hearing Specialty Group
Dr. Pam Best
844-APD-TEAM
161 Thunder Drive, Suite 104
Vista, CA 92083

Quick Answers

What does it feel like to have an auditory processing problem?

The best way to understand it is to think about a bad cell phone connection. There’s nothing wrong with your ears, but the input you’re getting is not clear and complete, so your mind is racing to connect the dots. Karen Foli described it as listening to sound through water.

Can auditory processing problems look like ADHD?

Yes. Children and adults with auditory processing disorder or even auditory processing inefficiencies often end up being labeled as having Attention Deficit Disorder/ADHD.

Can the auditory system be improved?

Yes. The auditory system is dynamic. It can be retrained to process a full range of sound frequencies, to tune-in to important information, and tune-out the background noise.