Central Auditory Processing Disorder?

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SmallFruitSong
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22 Aug 2010, 5:23 am

Just wondering if anyone here has been diagnosed with CAPD?

I'm thinking of getting tested because I'm being nagged to do something some of my issues with regards to listening, with the main ones being:

+ Delay/lag in processing speech - I hear the sounds but the meanings of said sound can take a while, so I often ask people to repeat themselves;
+ Problems with hearing people in noisy environments - I find it hard to differentiate between foreground and background noise;
+ Difficulty discriminating certain sounds - and therefore I wind up sometimes completely misinterpreting what someone had said to me [hence sometimes looking like a jackass];
+ Missing words in sentences, or entire sentences from instructions and conversations, so sometimes I look like a space cadet.

Does this sound similar to your experiences, and also how did you go about getting it tested? I'm thinking of going through the GP > audiologist path but I'm a little afraid of the cost, because I don't think my private health insurance would cover the testing.

I have a hearing test done in 2007 because I was getting some specially-moulded earplugs made up and my hearing was fine, and nothing catastrophic has happened to me since then so I surmise my hearing is still in the normal range.


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melissa17b
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22 Aug 2010, 7:31 am

SmallFruitSong, my experiences are identical to what you have described – lengthy delays in processing what I hear (15 seconds is not uncommon), major problems filtering speech from background noise, and even in quiet environments only processing fragments of the conversation. These issues have shown no overall tendency to get better or worse over the years, although the difference from one day to the next can be substantial.

Since first learning about CAPD a few years ago, I have researched it fairly extensively, and am as certain as I can be without professional confirmation that I have it. I have had ordinary hearing evaluations done and have no problem hearing even faint sounds up to about 20KHz, except for a minor "blip" around 4KHz. However, following a conversation even in a quiet one-on-one setting is a challenge, as I can make out enough of what is being said, with occasional repeat requests, to be able to follow the conversation. (Knowing how to respond is a whole other matter.) Having a conversation while walking down an ordinary city street, or in (say) a coffee shop, is a total impossibility. Having a conversation in a quiet restaurant is a strain, but usually possible.

As I don't, at least at this time, have any reason other than curiosity to seek a diagnostic evaluation, I unfortunately have nothing to offer you there. My suspected CAPD is only one in a long list of sensory integration and processing irregularities, and they all probably relate to being autistic. so for the moment I'm content to read, learn and speculate, until the day arrives when I become compelled to find out for sure.



pgd
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22 Aug 2010, 9:09 am

SmallFruitSong wrote:
Just wondering if anyone here has been diagnosed with CAPD?

I'm thinking of getting tested because I'm being nagged to do something some of my issues with regards to listening, with the main ones being:

+ Delay/lag in processing speech - I hear the sounds but the meanings of said sound can take a while, so I often ask people to repeat themselves;
+ Problems with hearing people in noisy environments - I find it hard to differentiate between foreground and background noise;
+ Difficulty discriminating certain sounds - and therefore I wind up sometimes completely misinterpreting what someone had said to me [hence sometimes looking like a jackass];
+ Missing words in sentences, or entire sentences from instructions and conversations, so sometimes I look like a space cadet.

Does this sound similar to your experiences, and also how did you go about getting it tested? I'm thinking of going through the GP > audiologist path but I'm a little afraid of the cost, because I don't think my private health insurance would cover the testing.

I have a hearing test done in 2007 because I was getting some specially-moulded earplugs made up and my hearing was fine, and nothing catastrophic has happened to me since then so I surmise my hearing is still in the normal range.


---

Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). The most insightful account I'm familiar with about CAPD is contained in a How To (understand) book about ADHD Inattentive by C. Thomas Wild where he reports that a FDA approved medicine called Tirend temporarily improved (not a cure) his ability to process sounds and words (from Morse code to phone conversations to understanding words to music) a little: 5% (five-percent).

http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-5/auditory.htm

Most of the articles written about CAPD simply describe the challenge. Wild's book actually reports a FDA approved medicine which temporarily improves hearing (not a cure) which is very, very unusual.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/ea ... itory.html

It's common for persons with CAPD to pass a basic hearing test due to the known imperfections/flaws in a basic hearing test. Too often only basic hearing tests are covered under health care insurance plans but a test for CAPD is not covered or offered.

What this means is that a person can be falsely told their hearing is fine (aka fibbed to - lied to) when it is not and the health care provider will not test for CAPD at all since such an exclusion of CAPD coverage increases profits for the health care provider and that's their primary goal: profits over people (so to speak).

Some persons with subtle hearing difficulties can easily slip through the standard health care system.

Also, there is a lot of evidence that CAPD cannot be trained/educated/practiced out of a person with listening programs at all. CAPD can often only be recognized and lived with.

CAPD is neither deafness nor a hearing loss but an imperfection in the ability to process sounds normally.

Some persons with CAPD have learned how to partially lip read and can often hear a little better in face to face conversations than in a blind conventional phone conversation.

A number of clinics which treat children regularly have been known to be unaware of central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) at all. Some clinics have never heard of the term CAPD although that has slowly changed in recent years/the last decade or so a little.

That's my understanding.

Words

Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) - Auditory processing disorder (APD)
ADHD - ADD - Hyperactivity
ADHD Inattentive
Attention Deficit(s)
Comprehension (Written words vs auditory words)
Deafness
Hearing Loss
Paying Attention
Petit mal/absence/complex partial/TLE

and so on



Davidlorenzo41
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01 Jan 2013, 12:22 am

CAPD is a big problem for me too--all the symptoms you described. My dad has it too, but we used to think it was hearing loss from working at a plant. He may have some hearing loss, but not as much as we thought. Sometimes when things are quiet and my mom, sister, and I are having a conversation in one room and he is in another, it becomes clear he heard every word even though our voices were low. I'm the same way. My hearing can be very sharp, but I can't filter background noise. If the TV is on and someone wants to say something to me, I have to mute the TV in order to understand them. My wife has had to learn not to try to talk to me from another room, since I will hear that she's talking but won't understand. Cell phone conversations are a problem too since there's often static, or the person on the other end may have background noise.


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SkyHeart
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01 Jan 2013, 12:51 am

yes.



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01 Jan 2013, 1:20 am

I used to think I had CAPD, but then realized I can't filter out people talking for crap.


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01 Jan 2013, 2:24 am

I have problems with filtering out background noise, and with someone talking to me while in another room. I can hear the person's voice, but can't understand what they are saying. It's really a frustrating condition. I'm always asking people to repeat themselves, and they don't understand why hearing aids won't help me.


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01 Jan 2013, 4:32 am

Never diagnosed but yes, moderate to severe problems with everything you listed.

I do feel my auditory processing has improved somewhat through practice, i.e. I listen to a LOT of audio plays (not audio books, fully cast plays) and podcasts related to my special interests (Doctor Who/Science fiction and autism), and I feel it has improved my ability to discern sounds and also to recognise people's voices better.



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01 Jan 2013, 12:45 pm

I've been non-officially diagnosed with it. By that I mean, I saw an audiologist who said I fit the diagnosis, but I have to go into the city in order to receive the official diagnostic test. I have no doubt that I have it.


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01 Jan 2013, 3:34 pm

Anyone else have a hard time understanding Intercoms or CB Radio audio?



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01 Jan 2013, 11:00 pm

I experience many of the problems & symptoms that people with CAPD describe. I had never heard of CAPD until about a year ago, which also raised my curiosity even more so to the fact that I likely have aspergers. As soon as I heard about CAPD I was surprised (and relieved) to hear about these problems that I thought were completely unique to me. I've asked many friends and people through out my life if they have these issues and they said they do not and have never heard of such things. I have had my hearing tested several times through my life, my hearing is just fine, I have not be diagnosed, but I am almost certain I have it.





SmallFruitSong wrote:
Just wondering if anyone here has been diagnosed with CAPD?

+ Delay/lag in processing speech - I hear the sounds but the meanings of said sound can take a while, so I often ask people to repeat themselves;


I experience this as well, not every single moment that I have a conversation, but several times in a conversation I'll ask people "what?" or ask them to repeat what they said. I can hear the sound coming out of their mouths, it's just hard for me to interpret that sound into words with meaning


Quote:
+ Problems with hearing people in noisy environments - I find it hard to differentiate between foreground and background noise;


I know how this goes all to well. Even if it's not a very loud environment, if there is a lot of different noises or sensory stimulus in general it is difficult for me to separate the words of the person speaking from everything else that's going on. Sometimes I'll close my eyes when I am really trying to hear what the person is saying, as a way to cut out visual input and focus on the words.

Another thing that relates to this....Lyrics in music. I have never been able to hear the lyrics/words in music. I can hear the sound of a voice singing, but I can not pull the words out separately from the music and interpret them into language. It's like the voice/lyrics just meld into the music and become a part of the song as a whole, I can't separate them.




Quote:
+ Missing words in sentences, or entire sentences from instructions and conversations, so sometimes I look like a space cadet


When given verbal instructions I'll go blank sometimes...I'll be looking off in the distance while the person is talking, not only because I don't make eye contact but I try to cut out all the information (*body language, etc...) coming at me so I can listen to what the person is saying....Only to ask them to repeat themselves .





VIDEODROME wrote:
Anyone else have a hard time understanding Intercoms or CB Radio audio?



YES!....I used to volunteer at a local race track and help out on race weekends. I was always given a hand held-radio or a head-set of sorts to communicate with the race coordinators and other track workers. This would always give me anxiety because I could not hear a damn thing over those radios...Then once the race started there was even more sounds & distractions going on. So what I ended up doing is giving the radio to who ever I was working with and have him do the communicating for me :lol:


And my dad is a truck driver....I've always had problems with hearing things over a CB-radio. But as I kid I spent hours playing with CB radios, talking to random people....and trolling people before that became popular on the internet :D .



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02 Jan 2013, 12:02 am

I did long haul driving for a few years but I didn't bother to keep a CB.


For a few years I've been aware that I lack "The Cocktail Party Effect" hearing ability. It astonished me to learn people really could hear each other in loud crowded gatherings or especially where a band is playing.



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02 Jan 2013, 6:37 am

Standard hearing test are only for testing the ears ability to hear. The patients just has to be able to push a button whenever they hear beeps that range in random various frequencies on each side of their ear; the paitent presses a right button when they hear it on their right & the left button for when they hear it on their left. I scored perfectly for every school hearing test I had(I have horrible vision thou so better hearing might be a slight way to compensate). A hearing test was stopped 1ce because the period changed & things were noisy with people switching class; the test was resumed after & the women said it was because the background noise could of interfered with the test.

I think I might could have CAPD but I'm not sure. I can have a hard time filtering out what is being said when there's background noise. I occasionally think I hear talking when it's just background noises(my psych thought it was related to my psychosis when I had a psychotic depression but I had that happen sometimes all my life). I can have problems filtering out background noises. I sometimes ask people to repeat what was said to me because I didn't get parts of it epsically if they talk low & I sometimes process what they said right after I say Huh, What ect. I may not hear what is said when I'm not paying attention thou I'd usually pick up that something was said to me; I have ADD/ADHD thou so maybe that's why. However I'm an auditory learner(which could be related to me having major vision problems) & I tend to remember & process what is said when it's a decent volume, not lots or loud background noises & I'm paying attention; I can get the exact wording, specific order & little details confused thou but that could be due to my dyslexia.


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02 Jan 2013, 9:10 am

My 20 yr old son has CAPD. We kept going to audiologists to get his hearing checked, and he also had 5 years of speech therapy before he would talk. It wasn't until we took him to yet another audiologist and he suggested that he may have CAPD. My son had to be tested by an audiologist who specialises in this field (or maybe it was a speech therapist?). This was done at a public hospital here in Adelaide, but my ex had to pay for it. This was about 13 years ago. I am pretty sure my son has mild autistic behaviours, but my ex never looked into it any further. Thank goodness the CAPD was found or my son would not have gotten any extra help at school otherwise. If you actually mention to an audiologist or speech therapist perhaps, then they may be able to steer you in the right direction as regards to a specific diagnosis. If you have already been diagnosed with as/asd probably not a lot more that could be done anyway.

Maz :)