Some children (and adults) with perfectly normal hearing can still have difficulty understanding spoken language. This may be due to subtle deficits in areas of the central nervous system that are involved in decoding sounds.

Standard hearing testing consists of measuring one's ability to hear loudly and clearly enough to follow speech. It fails to determine the individual's ability to understand what is heard, which is especially important during early learning.

Problem areas may be:

• Difficulty understanding speech in noise or in a classroom
• Poor auditory attention skills
• Receptive language difficulties

which can result in

• Poor school performance
• Reading and spelling difficulties
• Distractibility and attention problems
• Failure to respond to commands

To address this need, qualified audiologists specializing in pediatrics established a protocol to evaluate Central Auditory Processing in school age children and adults.

A standard hearing evaluation is conducted prior to the day of central testing. Although standard hearing evaluations can be conducted even for young infants, frequently the minimum age requirement for central auditory evaluation is 5 years old.

The evaluation consists of responding to various listening tests, which are designed to locate specific areas of possible difficulty. For children, they play listening games with the examiner for about one hour.

Should a central auditory processing problem be detected, specific areas of deficit may be pinpointed. Comprehensive reports can be furnished and to assist your professional in developing a remediation plan. Our Board Certified Audiologists routinely work closely with your

• Physician
• Speech/Language Pathologist
• Reading Specialist
• Learning Disability Specialized
• Special ed or Resource Room Teacher
• Classroom Teacher
• School Psychologist