Home Little-Known Disorder Can Take a Toll on Learning

[ksinger]

In light of the endless past discussions of autism/causes/etc, (this article mentions autism in passing, is why I thought of those old threads) and because I bet every mom and mom-to-be would be interested in this...

Little-Known Disorder Can Take a Toll on Learning

"Parents and teachers often tell children to pay attention — to be a “good listener.” But what if your child’s brain doesn’t know how to listen?

That’s the challenge for children with auditory processing disorder, a poorly understood syndrome that interferes with the brain’s ability to recognize and interpret sounds. It’s been estimated that 2 to 5 percent of children have the disorder, said Gail D. Chermak, an expert on speech and hearing sciences at Washington State University, and it’s likely that many cases have gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

The symptoms of A.P.D. — trouble paying attention and following directions, low academic performance, behavior problems and poor reading and vocabulary — are often mistaken for attention problems or even autism."


Take the link to read the whole article. I thought it was fascinating and informative.

 

[AllieLuv83]

I actually did a paper of APD in grad school. Yes it is not very well knows and the diagnostic process can be lengthy. I often times wonder about some of our students in my class since they seem to be in their own little world.

 

[megumic]

I took a course on this in college. It is very interesting b/c it''s like, the kids hear you, but somewhere between the ears and the brain/cognition center, something gets garbled or lost. Very interesting and I can imagine kids with APD are often diagnosed as ADD or ADHD.