Does Auditory Processing Disorder Meet the Criteria for a Legitimate Clinical Entity?

Editor’s note: In response to our recent School Matter’s column, “Don’t Wait to Diagnose Auditory Processing Disorder,” we are presenting a series of blog posts sharing various views on the validity of APD as a specific diagnosis. A legitimate communications disorder is called a “clinical entity.” The concept of the clinical entity is important when addressing controversial conditions such as auditory processing disorder (APD)—sometimes also called central auditory processing disorder. Although the ASHA Working Group on APD concluded in 2005 that sufficient evidence exists to support APD as a diagnostic entity, others—me included—remain skeptical. In his 2011 article published in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (LSHSS), Alan G. Kamhi wrote that there are, “compelling theoretical and clinical reasons to question whether APD is in fact a distinct clinical entity.” Other communication sciences and disorders professionals agree with Kamhi’s take on APD, including Geraldine Wallach in an article from the same issue of LSHSS. She notes: “Professionals are hard pressed, even if they accept the APD diagnosis, to find agreement about how to proceed to help the children and adolescents in their care.” “The evidence base is too small and weak to provide clear guidance to speech-language pathologists faced with treating children with diagnosed APD,” concludes a review from the ASHA Committee on the Role of the Speech-Language Patholog...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology auditory processing disorder Language Disorders Source Type: blogs