Auditory perceptual disorder

Synonyms

1

Overview

It is an umbrella term for a variety of disorders that affect the way the brain processes auditory information. Individuals with this disease usually have normal structure and function of the outer, middle and inner ear (peripheral hearing). However, they cannot process the information they hear in the same way as others do, which leads to difficulties in recognizing and interpreting sounds, especially the sounds composing speech. It is thought that these difficulties arise from dysfunction in the central nervous system.

Symptoms

• Speech perception problems
• Sound localization problems
• Difficulty comprehending words in noisy environment
• Poor listening skills
• Difficulty carrying out directions with multiple steps

Diagnosis

It is a difficult disorder to detect and diagnose. The subjective symptoms that lead to an evaluation for APD include an intermittent inability to process verbal information, leading the person to guess to fill in the processing gaps. There may also be disproportionate problems with decoding speech in noisy environments.

Resources

• NIH