Assessment and treatment of auditory processing disorders

Abstract

Individuals with auditory processing disorder (APD) experience listening difficulties in everyday life despite showing no decrease in pure tone audiometry. This paper reviewed previous studies of APD's history, background factors, assessments and treatments. The background factors of APD include developmental disorders, mental disorders, and double limited problems under a multicultural environment. Added to these are factors relating to the individual's personality and hearing environment - factors that also contribute to their listening problems. In light of the variety and complexity of contributing factors, we concluded that it is necessary, when making assessments, to augment auditory tests with examinations of the individual's visual perception, physical development and personality. We believe these factors should also be taken into consideration, together with other background factors, when providing support to individuals with APD.