2010年3月20日星期六

Auditory Processing Disorder Verses Attention Deficit Disorder: A BIG Difference

"My child is Inflatable Arch take medicin for ADD, but I realli don't see ani differ in him." "Sinc begin medicin for ADHD, my daughter ha becom veri moodi and still ha problem with her attent span and focus on what she need to do." These ar but a few of the comment that can be heard from a parent whose child ha been misdiagnos with Attention Deficit Disord ADD rather then with the appropri diagnosi of Auditori Process Disord APD .

A lthough symptom for both ADD and APD can mirror each other, the causat and treatment ar gener much different. Behavior or symptom that can be found in either ADD or APD, but not limit to, ar as follows: poor attent span, easili distracted, difficulti in follow directions, disorgan and forgetful, poor listen skills, poor academ performance, behavior problems, and problem lose things. It should be note that in some situations, both disord do coexist and treatment need will also need to coexist.

It is believ that attent disorder, or ADD is genet and biolog in causation. In thi disorder, the brain of the affect person doe not secret the proper amount of a neurotransmitt known as Dopamine. Other causat relat to the brain' inabl to effect us the Dopamin that the brain ha secreted. The most commonli prescrib treatment for ADD is the us of a stimul drug design to gener more product of Dopamine, still other benefit from drug which boost the effect of the natur product of Dopamine. Thus, it is most wide agre that ADD relat to chemic imbal or chemic deficit in the brain.

On the other hand, APD occur when the inform that on hear is not processed and coordin correctli in the brain. Sever known caus for APD ar lead poisoning, traumat brain injury, or frequent ear infect dure the first two year of a child' life. Peopl with APD most often demonstr no problem with hear spoken languag or sound that compris language. In other words, if test by an Audiologist, their middl ear detect auditori signal without problem. Howev it is in the transfer of inform to the appropri target area of the brain that hold the problem in thi disorder. In APD, the person hear what is present to them; thei just lack the abil to understand the mean of what is said to them. APD is a problem that most often extend itself into function task such as reading, writing, and spelling. Mani note scientist correl APD as a signific caus of dyslexia. Treatment recommend for these disord mai be veri different; correct diagnosi is imper for the outcom and benefit for individu suffer from ADD or APD. ADD children and APD children mai look veri similar, but their root caus and thu treatment need ar much different. While attent disord is primarili treat through medication, process disord can be treat through scientif develop program and therapist techniqu design to enhanc the wai the brain transfer inform and make the necessari correl between signal and meaning. Befor begin treatment for ADD, an evalu by a Speech/Languag Pathologist or Audiologist who is experienc in the diagnosi and treatment of APD mai be valid and beneficial.

In summary, Becaus there exist an overlap of behavior symptoms, misdiagnosi of attent disord is sometim made when in fact the problem is a process disorder. The causat of Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD, and Auditori Process Disorder, or APD, is total differ and likewis the treatment for each is total different. Proper diagnosi of a child' true neurolog disord is critic to the overal effect and success of the treatment program.