What is an auditory processing disorder?

An auditory processing disorder is the inability to discriminate speech sounds causing weakness in auditory memory, vocabulary, pronouncing complex words and/or learning phonics. The student’s hearing is normal. The root problem is the inability to hear small pieces of sounds, sounds as small as 30 milliseconds long. The /b/ sound is only 30 ms long. So even simple words such as “bad,” “dad,” and “pad” cause auditory confusion for the student. I believe that through the power of neuroplasticity, students can overcome this disorder.