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Central Auditory Processing Disorder and Sound Therapy

Central auditory processing refers to the brain's ability to sort and make sense of auditory inputs (sounds). Central Auditory Processing Disoder (CAPD) is a complex group of symptoms which describes a difficulty with integrating auditory information.

Symptoms may include:

• difficulty in using language and articulating what one wants to say
• poor at following or remembering instructions
• slow to develop intelligible speech
• difficulty in reading aloud
• lack of response to human speech, although responds to environmental sounds
• letter and word reversals, e.g. "d" for "b" and "tip" for "pit"
• difficulty pronouncing words, e.g. says "busgetti" instead of "spaghetti"
• difficulty with rhyming
• slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
• difficulty (re-)telling a story in the correct sequence
• lack of clear hand preference by the age of 4 or 5

The ear is the end organ through which the auditory parts of the brain can be stimulated. The organised harmonic structure of classical music with its stimulating effect, further enhanced by Dr Tomatis' "Electronic Ear", has proved to be an effective way to increase neural efficiency in processing sound.

Dr Teri James Bellis detailed 5 sub-categories of CAPD, according to which region of the brain is dysfunctional:

Auditory decoding deficit

Region affected: Primary (left) auditory cortex

This is the classic type of CAPD. Information processing is slow and inaccurate, which means the child has to work much harder to interpret what they hear.

Associated problems include:

• difficulties with spelling
• poor analytic skills
• trouble hearing amid noise; appears to have hearing problems (will say they "can't hear" or "didn't hear") even though their hearing tests as normal

How Sound Therapy helps

• Stimulates connections in the auditory cortex.
• Improves clarity of hearing.
• Increases information-processing speed.

Learn more about how Sound Therapy works.

Auditory associative deficit

Region affected: Left (associative) cortex

These children have difficulty applying the rules of language to the sounds they hear. Background noise often reduces their ability to understand speech. They tend to perform less well with language demands in the classroom

Associated problems include:

• receptive language deficits, including semantics and syntax - they are likely to tell you they "don't understand" / "don't know what you mean"
• poor reading comprehension
• trouble with maths problems that involve words

How Sound Therapy helps

• Stimulates connections in the auditory cortex.
• Improves linguistic comprehension and spontaneous use of greater vocabulary.
• Increases processing speed.

Learn more about how Sound Therapy works.

Integration deficit

Regions affected: Corpus callosum and cerebellum

These children have difficulty performing tasks that require different senses integrating (e.g. eye/hand coordination). They have particular trouble tying auditory and visual information together, and frequently exhibit long delays in responding.

Associated problems include:

• tend to spell phonetically, not by the rules
• can "sing" the alphabet but struggle to list each letter
• poor memory when asked to repeat something they have just heard back
• poor coordination when using both hands

How Sound Therapy helps

• Stimulates sensory integration via the cerebellum.
• Improves auditory visual linkages.
• Stimulating the right ear / left brain improves the efficiency of the corpus callosum and auditory processing.

Learn more about how Sound Therapy works.

Prosodic deficit

Regions affected: Nonprimary (right) auditory cortex and associated areas and cerebellum

These children have particular trouble with using and understanding intonation. They talk or read in a monotone, and have trouble picking up on intonational cues which indicate that a message is intended to be humourous, sarcastic or a question.

Prosadic deficit children often have trouble with "pragmatic communication" - the basic elements of social communications, such as greetings, introductions, keeping a conversation going etc.

Associated problems include:

• difficulties with spelling
• difficulties with maths calculations
• poor visuospatial abilities, such as with gestalt patterning
• difficulty singing in tune

For a great example of how much intonation matters in providing meaning, see Ladle Red Rotten Hut. This is how some adults with CAPD say they hear.

How Sound Therapy helps

• Increases high frequency sensitivity and therefore emotional appreciation of meaning in sound.
• Stimulates and integrates the whole brain through use of complex melody, rhythm and harmony.
• Integrates the right hemisphere with multisensory inputs via the cerebellum.

Learn more about how Sound Therapy works.

Output organisational deficit

Regions affected: Temporal-to-frontal and/or efferent system and cerebellum

These children have trouble organising, sequencing, recalling or expressing an appropriate response. They have listened to, analysed, and correctly connected and pulled together all the necessary information, but have trouble articulating what they want to say.

Output organisational deficit children generally have difficulty with tasks which require planning or motor skills.

Associated problems include:

• poor hearing in a noisy environment
• poor organisational skills
• difficulty with expressive language and word retrieval

How Sound Therapy helps

• Improves motor praxis through stimulation of the cerebellum.
• Activates efferent auditory pathways.
• Improves whole brain connections and auditory memory.

Learn more about how Sound Therapy works.