Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

The NATSIP briefing paper on Auditory Processing Disorder (2015) gives an agreed definition of the condition as below:

“Auditory Processing Disorder is a condition where a person has difficulty making sense of the sounds they hear. The important expression of this difficulty is when listening to speech, particularly in noise. It is suspected that many (but not all) children who have language-learning difficulties may also have APD. However, it is useful to make the distinction that the term APD is used when the child finds it difficult to understand when listening, whereasthe term Speech and Language difficulty means the child has difficulties developing and/or understanding speech and language.”

Although children and young people with APD are usually supported by the SENSS Communication and Interaction team there are some situations when a teacher of the deaf from the SENSS Hearing Impairment team can additionally provide support and advice.Indicators for involvement from the SENSS Hearing Impairment team are where:

  • The child or young person has a hearing loss in addition to APD and the paediatric audiology department has fitted hearing aids.
  • The paediatric audiology department has recommended that an assistive listening devicemay be of benefit (iSense, Mini MIc GN Resound, Soundfield, etc.).

In each instance the SENSS Hearing Impairment team can further advise on the listening environment and support the use of any equipment provided by the school or setting.

Usually once a diagnosis of APD has been made by a specialist audiological centre this is passed to the school or educational setting along with recommendations for intervention.

As APD affects listening skills in situations where background noise is high, many of the strategies recommended for children and young people with a hearing loss are appropriate for children with normal hearing and APD. The guidance on the Local Offerfor Special Educational Needs Support in Oxfordshire Schools and Settings (Hearing Needs pages) is therefore a good source of information for helpful strategies. This can be found under guidance and policies about SEN and disability.

The British Society for Audiology (BSA) offers advice and educational management tips which can be downloaded from the BSA APD pages on their website There is also information about programmes and interventions which have, anecdotally, helped some children.

There is an internet based network and information,including the NatSIP briefing paper, is available from the National Deaf Children’s Society’s website: