Does your child’s teacher complain that he/she just doesn’t pay attention or insist your child has ADD, but you know they’re wrong? Trust your instincts! Many children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder may actually have a Central Auditory Processing Disorder, and mood-altering drugs will not affect their ability to perform well in school.

For the longest time, I thought my daughter was “slow” or brain damaged. When the cashier at the grocery told her she looked pretty, Hannah would reply, “Fine, thank you.” When the announcer called for clean-up on aisle five, Hannah would shout, “Where’s the fire?” And when her tumbling coach asked her to demonstrate a cartwheel for the other children, she looked at him like he was speaking Martian.

I knew there was a problem, but what the heck was it?

What is CAPD?

Central Auditory Processing Disorder is a condition in which the sensory organ (the ear) functions properly, but the signals don’t make it through the processing organ (the brain) properly. No one knows exactly what causes the problem, but many audiologists believe it is due to the improper building of neurological pathways in the brain during infancy and early childhood. Neurological pathways are built through the repetition of information or actions (like memorizing the multiplication tables). If a child does not hear sounds and words correctly or in the same way each time, these pathways will not be built properly. There can be many reasons why a child may not hear sounds correctly, such as head trauma or lead poisoning, but the most common factor is chronic ear infections in infancy and early childhood. Because the ear is filled with fluid for such a long time, the child hears muffled or distorted sounds, and the brain is unable to make the proper neural pathways.