It is common to see the following behaviors displayed when a person has hearing loss:
- Frequently says “huh” or “what”
- Doesn’t respond when spoken to
- Difficulty paying attention
- Limited or no participation in class discussions
- Overly dependent on visual cues
- Gets speech sounds confused
- Poor spoken and written language
- Poor reading skills
If a person has troubles with the above issues but do not have hearing loss, they might suffer from auditory processing disorder.
Children and adults with auditory processing disorder often have hearing sensitivity and intelligence that is well within the “normal” range, but they often struggle to be successful in academic and vocational settings due to these difficulties.