What have you done for your apd (auditory processing disorder)?

Destiny's Sister

Destiny's Sister

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I'm trying to learn as much as I can about APD so I can give myself the best chance of fixing it. I'm interested in seeing what others have tried and how it has worked out. Anything goes - nutrition, supplements, brain-boosting technology or games, exercises, therapy, mindfulness, environment, hearing aids, activities...

Here are a few thoughts I have at the moment...

1. Pain meds and antidepressants seem to make it worse. 2. Except I think my prescription antiinflammatory might be making it better. Not sure if that's because it actually does reduce pain and therefore I can focus more or if my brain likes the bloodthinning effect. I kind of suspect both. Interesting that omega 3's thin the blood too. Maybe that's why they're good for the brain? Although they don't seem to have helped me. 3. I've been trying to practice mindfulness every day for 10 minutes. Well, it usually works out to 3 or 4 times a week, but that's better than nothing. I think that has helped too. 4. Hearing aids - not sure if they are helping or hurting. I heard that for every year of untreated moderate hearing loss, you lose one cubic cm of brain cells (10 year study done in folks over 50). The areas hardest hit are memory, cognitive ability and obviously the auditory cortex. But sometimes the quantity of different sounds coming in through my Phonaks is overwhelming and I can't think.
 
DeafNerdMommy said:
https://www.understood.org/en/learn...ment-options-for-auditory-processing-disorder

This might help. I know your not a child, but it's a place to start. My best answer is hearing aids and coping hahaha.
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Thanks DNM. I don't see anything for adults there, like you said it's mostly for kids. That's what I keep coming across. I did check out a blog somebody mentioned and that led me to 'top jobs for deaf people' and that led me to 'learning how to write apps'. OK, I just did a search for APD apps and I see that there are a number of them out there, including for adults. That's a good start. I've bookmarked it for future. I'm using a PC based program at the moment - I think I'll give that a few weeks before I introduce something new to my brain. Oh, just in case you want to check out the apps, here's the bookmark:

https://www.virtualspeechcenter.com...y_Processing?gclid=CNvCis6ou9ICFV61wAodfQ0J3g

I also had a look at some of the books on Amazon but the 'sneak peaks' all related to children. I'll keep looking...
 
I don't know about pain meds affecting apd but ibuprofen makes my tinnitus crazy for days.

As far as apd goes, when I found out that's what it was I was excited. I thought it was something I could fix or improve. I havn't found any way to make it any easier.
 
jonnyghost said:
I don't know about pain meds affecting apd but ibuprofen makes my tinnitus crazy for days.

As far as apd goes, when I found out that's what it was I was excited. I thought it was something I could fix or improve. I havn't found any way to make it any easier.
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Good to know about ibuprofen - Thanks. Hopefully somebody here can find something that works for APD, particularly for adults, a demographic that seems to me to be almost 100% unserviced.
 
I was told I could go to any learning program and they have a computer program that teaches your brain to use the auditory nerves more. It is only a learning disability, so it can be practiced out. My fix was hearing aids.
 
I'm a big believer in brain plasticity. I'm a thousand times better than I was as a kid because I've worked very hard at it but I will never be without it. It's still a lot of work following conversation and I still have a hard time with tone of voice. I haven't found any programs that are for adult and the kids ones I've looked at where just that.

There's nothing that's going to turn me from a visual person to an auditory one and I'm fine with that. I have my stregnths because of it. I learned to use my stregnths and compensate for my weakness.

I have been interested in hearing aids or FM. I was told no hearing aids because I have exceptional hearing. One of these days I'll give FM a try. Would be nice to go to a restaurant and have a conversation!
 
I was told hearing aids help the brain concentrate but I also had mild hearing loss when I got diagnosed.
 
I think that's the difference. I know there have been people doing studies about APD and hearing aids but there is still much disagreement about it apparently. I've wondered if the directional capabilities work well enough to help.
 
jonnyghost said:
I'm a big believer in brain plasticity. I'm a thousand times better than I was as a kid because I've worked very hard at it but I will never be without it. It's still a lot of work following conversation and I still have a hard time with tone of voice. I haven't found any programs that are for adult and the kids ones I've looked at where just that.

There's nothing that's going to turn me from a visual person to an auditory one and I'm fine with that. I have my stregnths because of it. I learned to use my stregnths and compensate for my weakness.

I have been interested in hearing aids or FM. I was told no hearing aids because I have exceptional hearing. One of these days I'll give FM a try. Would be nice to go to a restaurant and have a conversation!
Click to expand...
What is FM?
 
jonnyghost said:
I think that's the difference. I know there have been people doing studies about APD and hearing aids but there is still much disagreement about it apparently. I've wondered if the directional capabilities work well enough to help.
Click to expand...
I'd love to look at those studies. Do you have any links to them?
 
DeafNerdMommy said:
I was told I could go to any learning program and they have a computer program that teaches your brain to use the auditory nerves more. It is only a learning disability, so it can be practiced out. My fix was hearing aids.
Click to expand...

APD is not a learning disability, it's a neurological condition, with educational ramifications.
It isn't something that can be "practiced out" any more than colour blindness can be "practiced out" - you can however learn how to better understand how your APD effects you and how to work with it better.


Coping strategies certainly help - but it's not something that you just "try harder" and it gets better (actually most of the time, "trying harder" makes it worse)
 
Anij said:
APD is not a learning disability, it's a neurological condition, with educational ramifications.
It isn't something that can be "practiced out" any more than colour blindness can be "practiced out" - you can however learn how to better understand how your APD effects you and how to work with it better.


Coping strategies certainly help - but it's not something that you just "try harder" and it gets better (actually most of the time, "trying harder" makes it worse)
Click to expand...
I am aware that it is a neurological condition but in oregon it is considered a learning disability, I have contacted many professionals in my state and they say it can be learned out. I however don't believe that which is why I never tried to fix it. But I was told it is not debilitating or should make a huge impact in my life.
 
DeafNerdMommy said:
I am aware that it is a neurological condition but in oregon it is considered a learning disability, I have contacted many professionals in my state and they say it can be learned out. I however don't believe that which is why I never tried to fix it. But I was told it is not debilitating or should make a huge impact in my life.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you'll agree when I say HA! It only affected my school life, social life and career. Other than that it hasn't had much impact.
 
Anij said:
APD is not a learning disability, it's a neurological condition, with educational ramifications.
It isn't something that can be "practiced out" any more than colour blindness can be "practiced out" - you can however learn how to better understand how your APD effects you and how to work with it better.

Coping strategies certainly help - but it's not something that you just "try harder" and it gets better (actually most of the time, "trying harder" makes it worse)
Click to expand...

A learning disability is a neurological disorder. I agree it can't be practiced out but I think it can get better with effort. Or perhaps I just cope better, I'd believe that too.
 
Here's one. I'll have to track down the other I was thinking of when I remember the doctors name.

Donna R. Moore, B.S. 2015 done for requirements for the Degree Doctor of Audiology

https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/72352/AUD_capstone_Moore2015.pdf?sequence=1

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of mild gain hearing aids with
directional microphones and noise reduction in adults with auditory processing difficulties.
 
jonnyghost said:
I don't know about pain meds affecting apd but ibuprofen makes my tinnitus crazy for days.

As far as apd goes, when I found out that's what it was I was excited. I thought it was something I could fix or improve. I havn't found any way to make it any easier.
Click to expand...


You are correct about ibuprofen causing tinnitus. Long before I was diagnosed with AIED, I unintentionally took too many ibuprofen tablets (too often, not all at once) for a sore throat, and the result was bilateral ringing and a weird "unreal" feeling.

Some times I think my condition is not truly autoimmune, and is in fact the result of a combination of medications I had taken in the previous months. Two potent NSAIDs were among those meds: Indocin and Toradol.

It makes me wonder how much of the hearing loss we think is natural is actually the result of ototoxic pharmaceuticals.
 
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