Learning to Listen

There's an important difference between hearing words spoken and actually listening. The latter is all but impossible for children with a rare and little-studied condition called auditory processing disorder (APD).No one knows what causes the condition, defined by the inability to recognize and interpret sounds. It appears in an estimated two to five percent of children, and is only beginning to get a bit of public attention.Last week, speech pathologist Lois Kam Heymann published a book about APD called The Sound of Hope. The book has made a splash thanks to comedian Rosie O'Donnell, who wrote about her 10-year-old son's struggle with the disorder in the book's foreword.Read more at...SFARI, May 2010.