[senco-forum] any advice please

Hi Philip,

If I could jump in here, I'm sure Graeme will also answer...

"Graeme, A question, do individuals with APD have problems in dealing  with
the perception of incoming speech,  if so what are the usual signs  of this?"

The answer is yes.  Although the UK definition of APD states that  they have 
a problem with sound, speech is made up of sound, people with APD can  have 
problems with the patterns and frequencies, direction/laterality and  
timing/temporal, synthesis, phonemic awareness,
order/sequencing, blending of sounds and isolation of single sounds.  Some 
may have one or 2, some may have all. I'm sure there are other difficulties  but 
I can't recall them all at the moment...it's the end of a long hard  week! 

One of the main indicators is difficulty with distinction of speech  from 
background noise, miscomprehension, inability to follow diorections,  thinking 
they have understood but in fact they may not because they can have  problems 
hearing some of what is said or all of what is said, the start, middle  or end 
etc. I could go on, indicators can be found here 
www.lacewingmultimedia.com/APD.htm .

This inability can be random and intermittent, adding to the  insecurity of 
the individual in relying on what they have perceived to be  correct is 
actually what was said  e.g. the child who swears the teacher  said one thing when in 
fact they said another, not a child being awkward or  cheeky but a child who 
had not understood and thought he had, although he would  have "heard" it 
correctly with the ear,something goes astray between the ear and  the brain like a 
faulty circuit giving an inconsistent transmission of what is  heard, like 
listening to a radio with a poor signal. Losing one word like  "Don't" in front 
of a command can be vital.  Phones make this problem  worse becuase they often 
do not carry the whole frequency range, especially if  the line is also used 
for cable/internet which runs parallel to speech signals.  Hyperacusis/ sound 
sensitivity, hyperacute hearing also makes it worse as  any competing sound 
will be amplified, as does tinnitus further distorting the  sound, and some 
people with APD may also have both of  these.

Hope this helps, I'm sure Graeme will add  more.

Best  wishes,
Aly

Chair Auditory Processing Disorder in  the UK/APDUK
www.lacewingmultimedia.com/APD.htm 
www.apduk.org