ABSTRACT
Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is a developmental disorder involving dysfunction of the auditory perceptual system that is not due to a peripheral hearing loss (1). Children diagnosed with CAPD typically have poor listening skills, difficulty hearing in background noise, difficulty following oral instructions, academic difficulties, poor auditory association skills, distractibility/inattentiveness, and require increased time to complete tasks (6). This disorder, which is typically diagnosed by an audiologist, was conceptualized in the last 40 years (2). Conceptual and diagnostic concepts surrounding the disorder are typically taught in speech-language pathology and audiology training programs, leaving physicians and psychologists with a paucity of knowledge on the subject (2). Furthermore, CAPD is not a disorder listed in the DSM-IV (8), which provides a framework for diagnosis for many professionals. However, CAPD is an important disorder to understand due to the fact that it shares symptomatology with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and language-based learning disabilities (language-based LD), which can make accurate differential diagnosis difficult.
