AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER (APD)
Official Group Position
DEB does not support an APD assessment due the lack of research and evidence supporting the diagnosis currently. We encourage all members to read through the document provided by Tatyana Elleseff to understand why we take this position before you commit to paying for an assessment.
Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)is a condition that is often characterized by difficulty processing orally presented information. Reported symptoms include but are not limited to,
- the increased processing time to respond to questions,
- requests for frequent repetition of information,
- difficulty following directions and attending to speech,
- difficulty keeping up with class discussions,
- difficulty listening in noisy environments,
- difficulty maintaining attention on presented tasks,
- difficulty remembering instructions and directions or verbally presented information,
- as well as poor/weak phonemic awareness, reading, spelling, and writing abilities affecting the student’s social and academic performance.
Frequent recommendations for the above difficulties include referral to an audiologist once the student is typically 6-7 years of age to undergo auditory processing testing. There is a lot of controversy around the diagnosis and the intervention, and DEB would just like members to be aware of all the information before making a decision and paying hundreds of dollars for an assessment
As you can see many of things listed above could be related to dyslexia , or DLD a Developmental Language Disorder where there is evidence based intervention available.
Tatyana Elleseff a well-respected Speech Language Therapist in her field has written an excellent document explaining why the diagnosis is controversy and is not listed as an official diagnosis in any of the worlds diagnostic manuals for practitioners. Please refer to the research links on this link.To read the full article please click here
Dr Pamela Snow has also written a blog on APD thank you to Kerren Crawford who has written it up to give us access to it. – Click Here
Other New Zealand resources
- Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) Document – Education in New Zealand
- Facebook group: Auditory Processing Disorder Australia/New Zealand | Facebook