Abstract
Audiologists managing children with auditory processing disorders (APD) encounter challenges that include conflicting definitions, several classification profiles, problems with differential diagnosis and a lack of standardised guidelines. The heterogeneity of the disorder and its concomitant childhood disorders makes diagnosis difficult. Linguistic and cultural issues are additional challenges faced by South African audiologists. The study aimed to describe the practices, challenges and recommendations of South African audiologists managing children with APD. A quantitative, non-experimental descriptive survey was used to obtain data from 156 audiologists registered with the Health Professions of South Africa. Findings revealed that 67% screened for APD, 42% assessed while 43% provided intervention. A variety of screening and assessment procedures were being administered, with no standard test battery identified. A range of intervention strategies being used are discussed. When the relationship between the number of years of experience and the audiologists’ level of preparedness to practice in the field of APD was compared, a statistically significant difference (p = 0.049) was seen in that participants with more than 10 years of experience were more prepared to practice in this area. Those participants having qualified as speech-language therapists and audiologists were significantly more prepared (p = 0.03) to practice than the audiologists who comprised the sample. Challenges experienced by the participants included the lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate screening and assessment tools and limited normative data. Recommendations included reviewing the undergraduate audiology training programmes, reinstituting the South African APD Taskforce, developing linguistically and culturally appropriate normative data, creating awareness among educators and involving them in the multidisciplinary team.
Highlights
The only currently available international prevalence of auditory processing disorders (APD) in the paediatric population is estimated to be between 2% and 5% (Chermak, Silva, Nye, Habrouck & Musiek, 2007)
The results are presented with respect to the study’s two objectives, the first being to describe the practices and challenges of audiologists regarding the screening, assessment and intervention of children with APD and the second objective was to describe the recommendations provided by participants
The findings of the present study revealed that a variety of test procedures are being administered by audiologists to manage children with APD
Summary
The only currently available international prevalence of auditory processing disorders (APD) in the paediatric population is estimated to be between 2% and 5% (Chermak, Silva, Nye, Habrouck & Musiek, 2007). Given the association between disease and hearing loss, audiologists, especially those working within the public health sector, are overwhelmed with the burgeoning demands for service delivery with the focus being placed on the management of more commonly occurring conditions It is a challenge to provide audiology services to children presenting with APD and other auditory pathologies. Due to the lack of linguistically appropriate assessment tools, there are few standardised normative data http://www.sajcd.org.za available, influencing the reliability and validity of screening and assessment measures (Ferguson, 2014) This impacts on appropriately diagnosing and managing children presenting with APD. The study included an open-ended question, allowing participants to report on their own personal opinions of challenges restricting them from practicing in the area of APD and to provide recommendations to improve APD services in South Africa Such information can be used in policy formulation and to improve service delivery
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