UF expert says attention and behavioral problems in children may be linked to hearing disorder

Hearing begins with the ears, but listening and understanding start with the brain.

And if the brain cannot quickly and correctly identify and process what is being heard, speech information is misunderstood or lost altogether, a frequently overlooked problem commonly referred to as an auditory processing disorder.

Because auditory processing disorders are often associated with behavioral problems, reading disorders and poor school performance in children, the disorder is often confused with an attention deficit disorder, language impairment or learning problem, such as dyslexia.

“An estimated three out of every 100 school-age children — about one child per classroom — have auditory processing disorders,” said James W. Hall III, Ph.D., a clinical professor of communicative disorders at the University of Florida College of Health Professions. Hall conducts research on auditory processing disorders at the UF Speech and Hearing Center.

Children with an auditory processing disorder are able to detect faint sounds, but have serious difficulties perceiving and processing conversational speech or listening effectively in situations where background noise is present, such as a classroom. They may also experience difficulty understanding garbled or rapid speech, following spoken instructions, and discriminating between similar speech sounds.

“Because of the complexity of auditory processing disorders and their similarity to other disorders, children are often misdiagnosed and just labeled ‘poor listeners,’” Hall said.

Although auditory processing disorders actually may be present from birth, the problem typically becomes apparent as a child enters school and academic and listening tasks become increasingly demanding.

“It’s very common for parents, teachers and pediatricians to first suspect an auditory problem when the child is about 8 or 9 years old and falling behind in reading, language development and communication abilities in general,” Hall said.

Some common characteristics of children with auditory processing disorders include: Academic problems, especially reading, spelling and writing Short attention span when listening Inability to follow spoken directions Asks people to repeat statements Poor social skills Difficulty discriminating between similar-sounding words Complains about loud noise Distracted by background noises Behavioral problems

Auditory processing disorders are diagnosed by licensed audiologists. Once such a diagnosis has been made, audiologists consult with other health providers to develop a treatment plan based on the type of disorder and other problems a patient exhibits, such as attention deficit and reading difficulties.

For more information on auditory processing disorders, contact Hall at the UF Speech and Hearing Center at 352-273-6168 or e-mail jhall@hp.ufl.edu.