auditory processing disorder adhd adults

AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER ADHD ADULTS FULL
AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER ADHD ADULTS SERIES

Has problems carrying out multi-step directions.

Has trouble paying attention to and remembering information presented orally.

The following characteristics of CAPD, from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, sound similar to those of ADHD: The difference lies in the type of treatment available - an important distinction, because research in this area suggests methylphenidate (the generic name for the medication in Ritalin and Concerta, for example) can improve CAPD symptoms, often dramatically.īy contrast, nonmedical interventions for CAPD are limited to strategies such as using electronic devices and altering the learning environment (less ambient noise). Yet, as one review paper summarized: “Whether the child (or adult) receives the diagnosis of CAPD or ADHD may depend on whether an audiologist or a psychologist assesses the person first.”Ī rigorous reading of the literature points to a “discipline bias” - the condition is diagnosed differently, depending on the professional’s area of specialty. Limited evidence suggests that Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is sometimes a condition separate from ADHD. But psychologists and psychiatrists seldom use these terms, which originate in the speech and language profession. We hear a lot about children having CAPD or Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). We call these problems Central Auditory Processing Disorders.” ADHD or Auditory Processing Disorder? Some adults have problems in converting these electrical neuronal impulses into meaning. “The brain processes these electrical impulses into sounds, then into words, and then into meaningful sentences and ideas,” says Kutscher.

AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER ADHD ADULTS SERIES

From this point, what the listener thinks he “hears” is actually a series of silent electrical stimuli carried by neuronal wires.The listener’s eardrums vibrate, causing movement of three tiny bones that, in turn, stimulate the cochlear nerve.The speaker’s vocal cords produce a sequence of vibrations that travel invisibly through the air and land on the recipient’s eardrums.Here’s what happens in an exchange between speaker and listener: “What you think you ‘hear’ is a virtual-reality recreation of sounds that stopped at your eardrum and, from there on, exist as soundless electrical impulses.” “There’s no tiny speaker inside your brain that relays messages from the outside,” explains neurologist Martin Kutscher, M.D., author of ADHD-Living Without Brakes. “We’ve had hardly any garbled messages since George started taking medication for his ADHD,” says Diane.

The couple also discovered that stimulant medication may rectify misinterpretation by “strengthening the signal,” the neurochemical pathway from the ear (where sound waves enter) to the brain’s auditory processing cortex (where sounds are interpreted and given meaning). Their therapist gave George and Diane strategies for enhancing communication. Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) and ADHD Simply put, CAPD causes a person to misinterpret what someone is saying and the tone of voice in which it is said. The couple was relieved when the cognitive therapist explained to them that ADHD has a common comorbid condition called Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). Just as their miscommunication reached fever pitch, George was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But the message had been sliced and diced on the way from my mouth to his understanding of what I’d said.” Diane was right. He was looking right at me, paying attention. Diane didn’t buy it: “It’s not that he wasn’t listening or didn’t want to listen. The couple’s therapist suggested that George had a deep-seated resistance to listening to Diane, so he blocked her out.

AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER ADHD ADULTS FULL

Given the couple’s tangled talk, and George’s penchant for watching TV at full volume, Diane thought he had a hearing problem, but testing nixed that theory. Puzzled, he said, “Your suits stare? What?”ĭespite Diane’s clarification, George insisted that she had said exactly that - and in a disapproving tone of voice. Once she met him at her front door with a warm smile, noticed mud on his shoes, and asked him to leave his boots on the stairs. “Garbled.” That is how Diane described communicating with her fiancé George.

Auditory processing disorder adhd adults