Auditory Processing Disorder - any experience or tips?

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Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice or experiences from parents of children diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) around age 6 or 7. I’d love to know what post-diagnosis looks like and what strategies have actually helped in school.

My 7yo DS had persistent glue ear earlier this year. His hearing test came back perfect, but the audiologist suspects APD based on a sudden change in his behavior and learning since the start of the year. We are currently awaiting further formal testing.

Because this developed when he was a little older, it hasn't affected his speech or his reading. He also shows no signs of anything like dyslexia, ADHD or ASD - I know they can often be linked.

What we're seeing (all new this year):

• Struggles to filter out background noise, and ignores his name or instructions unless he's looking directly at the speaker (at school, at home and in various activities)

• Can’t retain multi-step verbal instructions, but flies through tasks if given written instructions or worksheets.

• exhaustion after the 1st term this year - he's never been particularly tired after nursery or school but was completely wiped out.

• A strong, confident reader who reads chapter books independently at home, but is falling behind at school because comprehension tasks and assessments are usually verbal.

Unfortunately, school has been slow to engage. They keep putting it down to distraction or rudeness, and basic adjustments like sitting facing the teacher aren't consistently used. One teacher insisted that his listening was fine, he was just too chatty. It's been really difficult to hear - he is a very respectful, kind and thoughtful little boy and it feels like he has been written off.

I'd be so grateful to hear what has worked for your children—especially practical classroom adaptations that helped your school understand and support APD. Thank you!

My DD has APD. APD support UK have some great fact sheets, including info for school and about referral pathways. She was diagnosed after referral to UCLH.

It has been a challenge as it is not really known about. We had to teach her school all about it, and about what she needed to help. She now uses Assisted Listening Devices (ALD) which looks like hearing aids, they filter out the background noise using a microphone worn by her teachers. It has made a huge difference.

I have APD. Might be worth having a chat with the SENCo. They have a duty to make reasonable adjustments. What helped me: sitting at the front facing the teacher. Written instructions wherever possible. If he’s at a restaurant or some other noisy places, sitting with his back to the wall may help a bit. I think it would be reasonable for him to be able to have the text to read when they do otherwise verbal comprehension/reading tasks. Also make sure your child is comfortable and confident about checking with the teacher if he isn’t sure what he’s doing.

This is for later on, but for languages listening exams, I sat in a separate room and used headphones.

Ds has one ear that works better than the other auditory processing wise although these days i cant for the life of me remember which one is which. He also has a lot if other difficulties.

Makaton through preschool and early years. Good communication practices (face to face, eye contact offered but not insisted on, clear expressive face (exaggerate) SLOW speech

Tap or touch on the top of the arm or shoulder before communication. Both this and the above have survived as good practice to adulthood. Don't ever expect just calling the be to be effective, It may work and you will frequently do it out of instinct, but most times you'll just be calling into the air.

If we were out and about i often used to relay information (like instructions or entainment conversation) into the good ear.

The most practical school adaptation was a one to one (primary and secondary) who did all of the above. But he has other difficulties as well.

APD Support UK are a fantastic source of advice. This is one of their fact sheets https://apdsupportuk.yolasite.com/resources/APD%20IN%20THE%20CLASSROOM.pdf

Thank you so much for replying and offering such great insight.

We are in Scotland so don't have SENCo unfortunately. We do have a principle teacher who is, in theory, the equivalent - she is the person who suggested he was being rude. It's been a real challenge to get them to engage at all so far.

Can I ask how you found high school compared to primary? It's a long way off for us, but something I will need to consider.

Diagnosed in my 40s, I wish it was something picked up years ago. I struggled in chaotic loud classrooms as a kid. The subject I did best in had an old school type school mistress, silence in classroom, faced forward, I could hear! I got top marks! 1 subject out of the lot!
I struggle at work with tannoys, music playing, phones ringing.
I struggle in social situations, pubs, restaurants, I get overwhelmed and panicky.

I really feel for young kids struggling with it. Hearing volume but not distinctive sounds is frustrating. Loops have been a valuable tool but only in certain scenarios.

My son has this too and it has made me realise I do too. I struggle with audio learning - eg videos etc and have to use headphones for video calls. I studied languages at uni and the aural parts were a nightmare. Now I know why.

A PP mentioned about getting the person’s attention first and that is so true. Can’t believe I forgot that one! That’s so frustrating about the teacher! Perhaps drop off a factsheet (not that you should have to). Explain that it’s a bit like hearing dyslexia. It’s not a perfect comparison, but it’s not too shabby either. You’re not being unreasonable and the required adjustments are hardly unreasonable. It’s worth trying things to see what happens. I’m frustrated for you.

I found secondary school ok ish. As I say, I had an adjustment for languages exams. I tried to sit facing the teacher. I did struggle socially, but who knows if I would have struggled anyway (possible ASD). I would bear in mind that APD can accompany ASD. Have a google on it. I am NOT saying that your child has ASD, but it never hurts to have an awareness of these things.

Some teachers had strong accents that different from mine- I really found it hard in particular to follow one teacher. But that could happen anywhere, anytime, in or out of school. I used to ask classmates if I needed to check what we had to do for homework. There were more textbooks for secondary, which I much preferred. One thing I hated in primary was listening to books being read. Now I love reading so much, but I just cannot follow someone reading a book aloud.

Thank you for replying and for sharing the factsheet info, that is going to really help.

I think we will also have a real challenge ahead of us too sadly. We emailed in a letter from the audiologist with lots of tips and guidance - it wasn't shared with his teachers.

We are going private for the testing as the initial wait time for a childrens audiology appointment was 92 weeks! We weren't comfortable with DS struggling in class for so long.

Thank you!

I am going to print a factsheet and send it in, while also confirming that we are going ahead with testing.

I'm relieved to hear that you found high school okay and that adjustments were made. That's great.

On getting his attention - this is definitely the thing that all of this stemmed from as it was a sudden change. He's fine at home in a quiet environment but anywhere else is a struggle. And once I have his attention, I have to remind him to keep looking at me while I speak to maintain the attention.

I am definitely keeping an open mind on ASD, we have family and friends with various combinations of ADHD, AuDHD and autism. I've never noticed anything in DS that caused concern and school agree, but wouldn't rule anything out.

Getting it checked for a proper diagnosis would help in better treatment plan as well and that would be effective.