Auditory Processing Disorder Screening

Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is a hearing problem that affects 3-5% of school-age children.  Children with CAPD can have difficulties listening in noisy environments, like their classrooms or playgrounds.  They can struggle to recognize slight differences between sounds in words, making it difficult for them to understand what is being said.

Common Signs of CAPD:

• Mishears sounds and words
• Noisy environments can be overwhelming
• Listening behaviors improve in quiet settings
• Trouble following verbal directions
• Trouble with spelling or phonetics
• Difficulty following conversations

CAPD is sometimes misunderstood because many of its symptoms are similar to those found in other disorders.  CAPD symptoms can be hidden by other problems, like speech-language delays, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The Hearing Beyond Audiology and Hearing Clinic offers Central Auditory Processing Delay Screenings to children (7 years and older).

What should you expect at a CAP screening?

First, a standard hearing test is performed.  Then, the audiologist performs several listening tests, each measuring a different aspect of the listening system.  These tests are designed to assess a child’s ability to listen and process sound when in difficult listening conditions.  For example, one test measures a child’s ability to repeat words when background noise is present.  Another test measures a child’s ability to “fill-in-the-gaps” when certain parts of a word is missing.

Overall, the assessment takes approximately 2 hours to complete.  Short breaks will be given to your child throughout the assessment.

After the assessment, a report will be sent to the child’s parents/guardian.

Please contact the Hearing Beyond Audiology Clinic to book a Central Auditory Processing Delay Screening.  You do not need a referral from a doctor for this assessment.