(Central) Auditory Processing Disorders

Dyslexia is a package deal.  Sometimes the child with dyslexia has some issue with central auditory processing.  This Month’s Speaker is Dr. Anne Rutter.  Anne is a clinical audiologist at The Toledo Hospital and has been in practice for 15 years.  Over the past 7 year she has specialized in central auditory processing disorders and is committed to properly identifying children who have the disorder

Auditory processing is essentially “what we do with what we hear” (Katz, Stecker & Henderson, 1992) or how our brain understands and interprets verbal signals heard by our ears.  There are individuals whose hearing ability (audiogram) is normal but they do not understand what is said.  Auditory processing disorders are difficulties in processing auditory information. Those who have an auditory processing disorder often do not recognize subtle differences between sounds in words, even when the sounds are loud and clear enough to be heard. These types of problems often occur in background noise, which is often a natural listening environment, especially in a school setting. Individuals with auditory processing disorders have problems understanding what is said when the listening environment is less than optimal.

An audiologist can perform a (central) auditory processing test battery. This test battery assesses how effectively the auditory nervous system handles complex auditory information.  If your child has difficulty on this battery of tests, it is an indication that his/her auditory system does not process auditory information as efficiently as it should.

Often times, the audiologist, speech-language pathologist, psychologist, school teacher and parents work together as a multi-disciplinary team to determine the scope of the problem and the most effective treatment techniques.

About Our Speaker:

Dr. Anne Rutter – received her master’s degree in audiology from Bowling Green State University and her doctorate degree in audiology from Arizona School of Health Sciences.  She is a clinical audiologist at The Toledo Hospital and has been in practice for 15 years.  Over the past 7 year she has specialized in central auditory processing disorders and is committed to properly identifying children who have the disorder. Additionally, she and /or the other Toledo Hospital audiologist perform audio logical services for infants through the geriatric population. Testing includes comprehensive vestibular evaluations, hearing aid amplification, cochlear implant programming, electrophysiology testing and audiometric testing.

Should you have any questions regarding the services Dr. Rutter offers through the audiology department at The Toledo Hospital, please feel free to contact her at (419)291-5680.

Teachers - Certificates of Participation toward 2 CEU credit hours will be offered for this event

Dyslexia is a language- based learning disability. Each year students with dyslexia struggle to keep up with their peers in the classroom. According to the Dyslexia Association, dyslexia has been identified as being present in 95 percent of the learning disabilities found in classroom students today.

This meeting also provides a chance for parents to share questions and concerns they may have with other group members during the meeting’s open forum at the end of the presentation.

>For more information visit the Parent To Parent website @ www.nwoparenttoparent.org or call 419-865-4640.

Parents: Let your school’s main offices, teachers and other parents know about this…Get the word out. J

> PARKING NOTE: You may park in the rear of the building and enter through the back door.

Each meeting for Parent To Parent takes place at the Holland Free Methodist Church at 6605 Angola Rd., Holland Call 419-865-4640 for further information.

Parent to Parent of N.W.O. is an informational support group organized to help equip parents and teachers of children with dyslexia and other related learning difficulties.  This program provides a monthly platform throughout the school year for professional speakers to come and address different aspects that challenge a child in the classroom. These programs are presented free of charge (unless otherwise specified); this to get affordable, timely help to parents and educators when they need it most.

Parent To Parent meets the second Saturday of each month from September through May, (In March we meet the first Saturday).    PTP breaks due to holiday and weather in December and January.