About APD Therapy

How Does Auditory Therapy Work?

Little Listeners is staffed with audiologists and audiology assistants that are specifically trained to identify and treat APD. We have designed a therapy program that is not only effective, but is engaging and fun as well. Our patient testimonials and performance improvements have always highlighted the effectiveness of APD therapy. However, this study scientifically proves that APD therapy is effective, at least to some degree, for all types and degrees of auditory processing disorder.

Purpose of Auditory Therapy

The purpose of auditory therapy is to help young minds learn to listen. More specifically, the scientific purpose of therapy is to provide intensive auditory experiences with the auditory processing skills so the auditory nerve can make extra neural connections, increasing the surface area of the nerve, and effectively speeding up the transmission of auditory information to the brain.

Similar to giving a child HGH (Human Growth Hormone) when they fall below the growth curve, we boost the nerve with extra, intensive listening experiences to get a child’s skills back on their auditory nerve growth curve. The “auditory nerve growth curve” is essentially a visual representation of where a child’s score falls in the mean of other listeners their age. When a listener falls two standard deviations or more below the norm for their age, this is defined as a deficit and signals the need for intervention. It is necessary to keep a listener within the norm range for their age from year-to-year so they are able to maintain momentum and continue to develop at an appropriate pace and reach their peak potential on time.

Gradual Improvement

The therapy is designed to produce gradual improvement in auditory processing skills which helps the brain slowly condition to various listening situations. When an individual is able to master auditory skills in isolation, they are then able to tap into those skills automatically in real-time conversation and active listening is less taxing and more natural. This is similar to how isolated skills practiced in sports helps an athlete condition to the skills that they need to draw on automatically in a real-time game.

The Little Listeners PASE Program utilizes four different tools:

Listening

The custom recordings provide listening experiences that start in easy conditions and gradually increase in difficulty as the child’s skills improve, providing the auditory experiences that the brain needs to learn how to listen effectively and with less effort.

Rhythm Training

The IM Home therapy tool provides important rhythm training that helps the brain coordinate, synchronize and regulate the auditory information as it travels through the complex network of auditory connections

Home Exercises

The recommended Home Exercises provide more practice and re-enforcement of the listening and rhythm training skills to promote program success. This can include a variety of different commercially available resources, as well as various toys and games that can enhance the listening skills that are being taught in the clinic.

Reassessment

The Reassessment completed by an Audiologist provides the means to monitor and score therapy outcomes and generally includes retesting only the deficit areas that were borderline normal or deficient prior to therapy. This is typically accomplished in less than an hour.