Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)
The easiest, quickest way to communicate is simply to say something and then deal with the other person's reply, right? Except that if your listener has a CAPD (Central Auditory Processing Disorder) your remark might come through with certain words drowned out by other noises, or with some words sounding like different words or as meaningless strings of verbiage. You might begin to suspect this when the other person's expression doesn't register understanding, or if he "answers the wrong question," or when he asks you for additional information which most people would have been able to infer from what you just said.
Most of us aren't that sophisticated about CAPD’s, however, and are much more likely to wonder if the listener is just not very intelligent or doesn't really care about us and what we are saying. People with CAPD’s (which are usually part of a learning disability) have been embarrassed by situations and reactions like these all their lives.
A CAPD is a physical hearing impairment, but one which does not show up as a hearing loss on routine screenings or an audiogram. Instead, it affects the hearing system beyond the ear, whose job it is to separate a meaningful message from non-essential background sound and deliver that information with good clarity to the intellectual centers of the brain (the central nervous system). When we receive distorted or incomplete auditory messages we lose one of our most vital links with the world and other people.
The most accurate way to sort out CAPD's from other problems that mimic them, however, is through clinical audiologic tests of central nervous system function. Also, there may be conditions accompanying the CAPD which are medically treatable like allergies, Attention Deficit Disorder, Tourette syndrome, or nutritional deficiencies.
For more information on CAPD, link to Living & Working with CAPD
Most of us aren't that sophisticated about CAPD’s, however, and are much more likely to wonder if the listener is just not very intelligent or doesn't really care about us and what we are saying. People with CAPD’s (which are usually part of a learning disability) have been embarrassed by situations and reactions like these all their lives.
A CAPD is a physical hearing impairment, but one which does not show up as a hearing loss on routine screenings or an audiogram. Instead, it affects the hearing system beyond the ear, whose job it is to separate a meaningful message from non-essential background sound and deliver that information with good clarity to the intellectual centers of the brain (the central nervous system). When we receive distorted or incomplete auditory messages we lose one of our most vital links with the world and other people.
The most accurate way to sort out CAPD's from other problems that mimic them, however, is through clinical audiologic tests of central nervous system function. Also, there may be conditions accompanying the CAPD which are medically treatable like allergies, Attention Deficit Disorder, Tourette syndrome, or nutritional deficiencies.
For more information on CAPD, link to Living & Working with CAPD
Comments