Question
What can be done to help adults with auditory processing problems? I have read about so many programs (Samonas, The Listening Program, ect.) that I am not sure which one is valid. I would appreciate any information you could send me.
Answer
Both the Samonas program and The Listening Program are directed at improving "active listening skills" which is not the basis behind a person having an auditory processing disorder. The evaluating audiologist who determined that an auditory processing disorder exists would be able to best provide treatment suggestions, as these would be dependent on the person's deficit profile (all people with an auditory processing disorder do not exhibit deficits in the same areas, and therefore one program does NOT fit all needs).
I would also refer you to When the Brain Can't Hear (2002), a book by Terri Bellis, who is a researcher and audiologist who did not have an auditory processing disorder herself until adulthood. Several excellent suggestions are provided in that book, that can be more "fine-tuned" to the actual deficits in the APD profile you would want to improve.
Martha Coen Cummings, Ph.D. CCC is the Coordinator of Speech Pathology Services at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Mason Outpatient satellite. She focuses on research and treatment of children with disorders of auditory processing and voice. She is a former President and Chairperson of numerous committees for the following professional associations: the Ohio Speech-Language and Hearing Association, Northern Kentucky Speech-Language *Hearing Association, and the Southwestern Ohio Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Martha has previously presented numerous workshops and full-day presentations on central auditory processing disorders, metalinguistic therapy, and voice assessment/therapy at the local, state, national, and international levels.
