It is estimated that approximately 7% of children have APD.
However, despite this high percentage, APD itself is not well known.
APD is a condition called auditory processing disorder, in which the child hears sounds but cannot understand what is being said.
It can affect children's language development because it causes problems in hearing speech.
However, in children, APD is often overlooked, hidden by individual differences in growth and childishness.
It is also important to note that since APD itself is a language-based test, the correct test can be done as late as age 6.
Ideally, a newborn hearing screening at birth would isolate whether it is an ear problem.
Let's take a closer look at APD in children.
Please read more about APD in the article "APD (Auditory Processing Disorder) Symptoms of not being able to understand what is being said even though you can hear it".
Why is APD in children so hard to recognize?
Roughly half of all adults do not notice APD symptoms on their own until they are adults.
Statistics on when they became aware of their hearing difficulties showed that 51% of them were aware of their symptoms by the age of 18.
Of these, 30% were aware of their symptoms when they were in elementary school, since they were around 13 years old.
The remaining 49% became aware of their APD symptoms in their 20s or later.
So only 30% of the children are aware of their symptoms by the time they reach junior high school.
In the case of APD, symptoms are manifested by not listening to others properly or listening back too often.
In many cases, this is overlooked in children because they are children.
Although they are vulnerable to information from their ears, they can normally understand information from their eyes, so looking at a textbook does not have a huge impact on their grades.
This is why it is difficult to notice.
Different children develop different abilities
Slow language development does not necessarily mean that a person has APD.
Children's growth varies from person to person, especially when they are young, and while their child can already do this, our child can't yet! This is often the case.
There are various abilities such as speech itself, delayed development of intelligence, interpersonal relationships, hyperactivity, reading and writing, and so on.
Therefore, it is quite difficult to determine if a child has APD in early childhood.
Symptoms commonly seen in children with APD
It is difficult to immediately determine if a child has APD in early childhood because children's growth is highly individualized.
Therefore, let's take a look at behaviors suspected of APD that can be seen in children who have acquired some language after the age of 6.
- Frequent mishearing at home and at school
- Spacing out in class.
- Teacher warns you to listen carefully
- Forgetting what you are told immediately
- Mishearing causes difficulties in socializing.
- Need to tell the same story over and over again
If you see any of these behaviors, get tested for APD.
About APD Testing
In order to suspect APD, it is necessary to isolate whether there is a hearing problem or APD in the first place.
Therefore, there is a process to be followed when we say we will test for APD.
Newborn hearing screening as a newborn can help us recognize a child's hearing loss earlier.
A hearing test is then performed, and APD is suspected only when the hearing test is clear.
Do a hearing test
If you notice any discomfort, such as your child hearing back a lot or seeming to have difficulty hearing the TV, a hearing test is recommended.
Newborn Hearing Screening for Congenital Hearing Loss
First, when the child is born, he or she can undergo a newborn hearing screening, a test to check whether or not he or she can hear.
Some municipalities offer newborn hearing screening free of charge, while others provide subsidies, depending on the municipality.
Most children with hearing loss are born to hearing parents, so everyone has the potential for congenital hearing loss.
The first step should be to perform newborn hearing screening to check for hearing loss.
Perform a hearing test
Hearing loss can be acquired without congenital hearing loss.
Acquired hearing loss may be most often associated with noise-induced hearing loss caused by listening to loud noises for long periods of time.
However, there are many other causes of hearing loss, such as high fever or side effects from medications.
Even if a newborn's hearing screening does not detect a hearing loss, acquired hearing loss is quite possible.
First, a hearing test should be performed at a specialized hospital.
For more information on hearing screening, please refer to the article, "The Hearing Screening for Physical Examinations is an Ultra-Simple Type: Types and Methods of Hearing Screening".
Testing for APD
If there are no hearing problems, APD is suspected.
APD often uses language as a test item, so the results cannot be determined correctly when the child is young.
For this reason, most APD tests are available for ages 5 and older.
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