The incidence of central auditory processing disorders (CAPD) has been reported to be from one to six percent of school age children. CAPD is often referred to as simply auditory processing disorder (APD). By either name this is a problem which can cause significant problems with learning. APD is defined as the inability to use information which the ears send to the brain. The exact cause of auditory processing disorders are not clearly understood. The earliest recognition of this problem was around 1950 when the VA was studying veterans who had brain injuries from war. Veterans who sustained significant damage to their temporal lobes reported significant hearing loss even though their ears were fine. Tests were developed which would show that when the auditory system was taxed with challenging stimuli, the patient would act as though they could not hear. Several tests were developed which correlated well with damage to different parts of the central auditory nervous system.

Fortunately, most people with CAPD (APD) do not have brain lesions. For some reason it appears that the auditory system has not developed as it should have. Children with central auditory processing disorders typically are not centrally deaf just like most people with hearing loss are not deaf. The early studies involving the veterans laid the ground work for working with CAPD (APD) today. In the early days not much could be done to help when a person was identified as having auditory processing deficits. Today therapy can offer significant help to improve auditory function. Basically therapy addresses the underlying auditory skills which are deficient.

Therapies used include: Earobics, Fastforword, LACE, and auditory training using traditional and Verbotonal methods. Improvement can be seen if diligent effort is given. It is not possible to say how much change any given person can expect from treatment. Many people require extended treatment to reach maximum improvement. Some still have significant processing issues which require the implementation of compensatory strategies to help them function well in school or the workplace.

In addition to therapy to help improve the underlying processing issues, new digital hearing aid technology which employs signal processing to enhance speech signals and down play background noise are also being studied to see what they can offer people with auditory processing disorders. The goal of these instruments is to try to improve the signal to noise ratio so that the speech signal "stands out" from other sounds. Other devices which fall in the domain of assistive listening devices are also used. These devices include FM auditory listening systems for classroom use. Other assistive devices are used for specific purposes such as listening to TV.