Central Auditory Processing Disorders (CAPD) is a complex problem affecting about 5% of school children, ages 6 through 10, in the US. Undiagnosed and untreated, today nearly 20% of adults are estimated to have the CAPD. Age accompanied bodily changes and infections are implicated in CAPD in elderly patients in whom CAPD is said to be widely prevalent. CAPD is also known as auditory comprehension deficit, central auditory dysfunction and central deafness. Often CAPD children may also be diagnosed, incorrectly, with attention deficit disorder, autism, autism spectrum disorder, specific language impairment, pervasive developmental disorder, or developmental delay. Children with Central Auditory Processing Disorders have difficulty in recognizing subtle differences between sounds in words. The problem may especially be heightened in noisy environments, although the spoken words are loud and clear to be heard. Unlike children with hearing loss the CAPD children have normal intelligence but may experience a hearing problem. Symptoms of APD can range from mild to severe and can take many different behaviorial manifestations including poor vocabulary, poor listening comprehension and difficulty in following multi-step directions or phone conversations. At times, poor reading or spelling skills, articulation problems, difficulty remembering specific details of events, distractability and poor organizational skills are also seen in these children. In some children, poor listening skills due to CAPD can cause speech, language and reading deficits with implications for their academic performance and self-esteem.

Teachers and parents are amongst the first people to recognize auditory processing difficulties of a child. However, professional therapeutic intervention by an audiologist and a speech language pathologist is necessary to confirm the CAPD, the severity of the problem and recommend necessary corrective rehabilitative intervention. Usually, an audiologist may ask a child to listen to different words in either right or left ear or both ears or have the child listen sentences of varying loudness at the same time to determine the hearing function problem, if any. Note that listening has two components involving hearing sounds and the ability to process those sounds to comprehend what was heard. A Speech Language Pathologist may assess a child's ability to understand and use language. As a Speech Pathologist and Audiologist with over a decade of experience, Dr. Shaila Nanjundiah offers unique perspective to her patients. After detailed analysis of standardized battery of CAP testing using SSW, Phonemic Synthesis, Speech-in-noise and competing environmental tests, she conducts age equivalent performance to determine the type of audiology or speech pathology related CAPD in a child.

School teachers, study team directors, parents may request more information about CAPD through email or phone. As an advocate for school children who need her services, Dr. Nanjundiah can also make a presentation on CAPD. Parents may also consult with her for an individual evaluation of their child. Modification of environmental acoustics, exercises to improve language or vocabulary building, auditory memory enhancement and auditory integration training are some of the techniques employed to help children with CAPD. Please consult with a certified and experienced audiologist to determine individual course of action for your child. In our clinic, we employ one of the several programs such as Earobics, LIPS, Language processing kit, Fast Forward, Listening Program and Phonemic Synthesis Program as CAPD management Strategies. These approaches are aimed at improving an individual's auditory perception, enhance their speech/language and cognitive skills, in addition to developing academic resources and listening condition. You may also contact the following audiology and speech language pathology professional associations for more information

We also offer individualized Interactive Metronome(IM) program to improve focus and coordinated performance for children with CAPD, Attention deficit disorders, Autism, Asperger's syndrome and balance disorders. For additional information of this program please visit the Interactive Metronome website at http://www.interactivemetronome.com/ IMPublic/products.aspx