Relevant Symptoms: - Not able to block out meaningless/excess background
noise, may appear to the observer to be easily distractible and/or inattentive.
- Fear of loud noises.
Sensitivity to sound.
- Experiences excessive auditory fatigue - frequently requires ‘quiet’
downtime/breaks.
- (One of the characteristics of CAPD is described as, or compared to, being at a very loud crowded
party.)
- Days fatiguing - many times comes home exhausted.
- Difficulty following a
series of spoken and/or long directions. Multi-step directions given orally need to be given one direction at a time.
- Unusually
forgetful of information previously memorized, or of household or school routines and responsibilities, despite frequent reminders.
- Issues regarding short term memory. Forgets what is said within
a few minutes.
- Impaired ability to attend to, discriminate, remember,
recognize, or comprehend auditory information. Exhibits poor listening skills.
- Have trouble paying attention to and remembering information presented orally, and may cope better with visually
acquired information.
- Needs more time to process information.
“Under such circumstances, the repetition of information stops the processing
process and often adds and emotional overlay. Students are often quick to pick up impatience or irritation.”
- Slow responses to questions.
- Slower Pace for everything (Another characteristic of having CAPD is that the world moves faster than the individual
with CAPD does. They absolutely march to their own beat.)
- Have difficulty
with reading, comprehension, spelling, and vocabulary. (Reads very slow.)
- Difficulty recalling names, dates, times, numbers, words, and so on.
- Academic difficulties
- Better performance in
small groups.
- Disorganization/messiness.
- Self-esteem issues
- Says ‘Huh/” and
“What?” repeatedly.
- Daydreams.
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“Comparison to or competition with others is never
productive... competition with one self is motivating.” (Not ->“You
are the last one... everyone else did XYZ, not you...” Do not use shame based tactics. Rather, “Are
you doing better than you did before?”)
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“CAPD often
presents a confusing and inconsistent profile.” “Test results confuse teachers, and they often mistakenly
assume the child is simply not trying hard enough.”
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The goal is to manage negative symptoms...
build on what is right. Strengths must be developed and focused on, rather than focusing on weaknesses... which can and will
prove daunting.
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“Too often, teachers, parents, and the student notice the weaker areas and ignore or minimize
the stronger areas. These strengths can become the foundations upon which an intervention program is planned.
The student who believe he or she has tools to work with is often motivated to improve outcomes. This student becomes
vested in the process. Psychological/academic burnout is far too common in students with auditory processing disorder.
They have already given up. This unfortunate outcome may be the result of inadequate or delayed identification/assessment,
poor program planning, or ineffective communication within the intervention team, among other reasons.” (pg
240-241 Intro to APD)
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When a child hears an adult comment in disapproval, not only is judgment
being modeled, but so is intolerance. Different is just different. Judgement shouldn’t have
a role. Be mindful of comments and tones.
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