To understand auditory processing disorder (APD), parents must first understand what it means to listen and communicate.
And by that, it means more than just lessons on what to say, what certain words mean or how to behave. Listening is a function of your brain in the most physical, biological and cognitive sense. (It’s not just a little psychological thing.)
This requires a considerable shift from the way we understand communication in an age where people think it has been sped up by texts and chats. Sure, it has made things faster but the quality of communication has historically been far from the ideal.
Hence, it is partly the reason why APD is still not quite as understood even as it has already had a very negative impact in the lives of children diagnosed with it. Sadly, there are parents who make the mistake of downplaying the condition and fail to truly understand the consequences of being unable to process and filter meaningful sound.
For example, parents think that using digital communication tools will bridge the gap between them and their APD children. The reality, however, is that these tools will only be a waste of money, time and effort because they do not really address the auditory processing challenges at their heart. Same goes for exercises like rote reading, or extra study hours.
APD can be so severe to the point that these solutions can be completely useless. Here are just some examples as to why.
#1. APD can hamper speech development.
Many ENT doctors (including our founder, Alfred Tomatis) saw the strong link between a person’s speech and their ability to process sounds. The voice can only replicate what is being heard by the ears.
Unfortunately, impaired auditory processing can lead to the brain having a very different idea of speech sounds. Hence, we can see why those with APD have problems with proper articulation, slurring, strange accents and more. And despite all advances in digital sound filtering, we are still far from the point of being able to do that when the impediments come straight from the speaker’s voice.
#2. APD can severely impact reading ability.
Reading ability is also another skill that is very dependent on auditory processing. It is hard to draw the connections between letters and words when the sounds associated with them are also not always processed very well.
This is why many are drawing a connection between APD and dyslexia. It is also worth noting that even digital tools designed to help dyslexics communicate are not guaranteed to help when their brains have not built the right connection between a certain sound and a certain image.
#3. APD also affects emotional reading.
Lastly, it should be noted that word and letter sounds are not the only thing that auditory processing is used to identify. Subtle shifts in tone, volume and other emotional reading skills are dependent on APD as well.
This further carries on to the way people read the tone of written messages sent to them. So if APD is not fundamentally addressed, then there is still a very high chance that a person is going to misread even the emotional content of a text or a chat regardless of whether it is spoken to them out loud.
All in all, APD is a disorder that can really give us good reason to reflect on how we take natural, human communication for granted. This isn’t to say that more technological forms of communication are apart from that. In fact, it is quite the opposite!
The way we process sounds in our brain and further assign them to meaning and visual signs are all highly interrelated. That means if the problem is at the foundation of listening, then no amount of innovation will help unless it also tackles it at that very same place!
If you need any advice or support, then know that we at the Australian Tomatis Method are still here to help you. Please reach out if you need to, either by email at info@tomatis.com.au or by phone to Francoise at 0414 444 915.
