Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) Assessment in Melbourne

Written by Mini Gupta, Principal Audiologist and specialist in tinnitus, hyperacusis and misophonia. MAudA (CCP). Testing is conducted by Ingrid Lau; analysis, interpretation and your functional report are by Mini Gupta. Last updated: 5 July 2026

Most people who come to us for an auditory processing assessment have already been told their hearing is fine. And often it is. What brings them here is the part a standard hearing test does not explain: the child who hears you but does not seem to catch what you said, who asks “what?” across a busy room, who follows beautifully one to one and loses the thread the moment the classroom fills with noise. Adults describe their own version, hearing every word in a meeting and still working hard to hold onto the meaning by the end of it. Auditory processing is what the brain does with sound once the ears have done their part.

When that work takes more effort than it should, listening becomes tiring long before anyone would call it a hearing loss. An auditory processing assessment looks into that gap, between healthy ears and effortful listening, and works out what sits behind it. At our Melbourne clinic, we assess auditory processing in children, adolescents and adults. The approach is the same whoever the patient is, and so are the fees.

You do not have to commit to anything to talk to us. We offer a free 20-minute appointment, in person or over the phone, with our paediatric and general audiologist, Ingrid Lau. Bring your questions, tell us what you are noticing at home or at school, and Ingrid will help you work out whether an assessment is the right move for your child. No cost, and no obligation.

Hearing happens in steps. Sound travels from the outer ear, through the cochlea, along the hearing nerve, up the brainstem, and into the listening centres of the brain. A difficulty can arise at any point on that route, and where it arises changes what a person experiences and what will help them.

This is where a specialist assessment earns its place. Several distinct conditions sit along this one pathway, and they are easily mistaken for one another :-

• Hidden hearing loss, where the connections between the inner ear and the hearing nerve are reduced even though a standard hearing test looks normal (Kujawa & Liberman, 2009)
• Hyperacusis and sound sensitivity, linked to raised gain within the central auditory system, so ordinary sounds are experienced as louder or more intense (Auerbach, Rodrigues & Salvi, 2014)
• Auditory processing disorder, where peripheral hearing is intact and the difficulty lies in how the central auditory nervous system handles sound (American SpeechLanguage-Hearing Association, 2005; American Academy of Audiology, 2010)More than one of these can be present at the same time. Our task is to find where along the pathway your listening difficulty begins, because that is the answer that makes sense of everything else.

When families arrive, they usually want two things: to be taken seriously, and to be given a real answer. Locating the source of the difficulty is how we offer both.

• Management depends on it. Support for hyperacusis looks nothing like support for a temporal processing difficulty, so a plan is only as good as the assessment behind it
• It gives you a true picture from the start. Once we know where the difficulty arises, the right support can be aimed at the right place from day one.
• A child cannot always put their experience into words. It is our responsibility to use every tool available to understand what is happening for them, and to turn it into something the family can clearly see.

We would rather take the time to locate the difficulty precisely than hand you a label that does not quite fit. That is the thinking behind our protocol, and it is why we keep to it for every patient.

Many of the children referred to us for APD testing are also the ones covering their ears at assembly, finding the hand dryer or the busy classroom too much, or coming home wrung out after a day of noise. Sound sensitivity and processing difficulty travel together more often than people expect, and awareness of hyperacusis and misophonia is still catching up.

Assessing sound tolerance is a core part of every assessment we do. To establish whether hyperacusis or misophonia is present, and how much it is shaping things, we carry out:

• A full structured clinical interview
• Validated questionnaires
• UCL (uncomfortable loudness level) testing

This tells us whether one or both are present, and where the greater impact sits, so the full picture is on the table before we talk about management.

Someone can pass a standard hearing test and still have a difference in how the signal travels, so ABR gives us information a hearing test alone cannot.

Matching the battery to age means the results reflect true listening ability, rather than the demands of a task someone is too young for.

Auditory processing testing gives a detailed profile of how a person listens. Sometimes it confirms a diagnosis of APD. At other times it maps out specific areas of difficulty that do not meet the full diagnostic threshold, and that information is every bit as useful. For example, a person may score within the typical range across most of the battery, yet show reduced performance in one area such as understanding speech in noise, or following rapid changes in sound (temporal processing). A formal APD diagnosis is generally based on results falling well below the average on at least two different tests (American Academy of Audiology, 2010). A single area of difficulty may sit below that threshold while still explaining a great deal about the listening effort a person is carrying. Whatever the results show, everything is explained in the report, so you understand the listening profile in full and know what to do with it.

A diagnosis is only worth having if it leads somewhere. Once we understand how your child listens, we put together a plan built around what they need, and no two plans are the same.
Depending on what the assessment shows, support may include:

• Auditory training sessions with us, working on the specific listening skills the assessment picks up
• Low-gain hearing aids, which give gentle support for hearing clearly in noisy settings
• Home-based listening exercises you and your child can do together between sessions
• Strategies for the classroom, school and other learning settings
• Strategies for noisy places, so busy environments feel easier to handle
• Counselling and support for your child, including help with any social anxiety that has grown out of sensory overload or listening difficulty

We stay with you as this unfolds, and adjust the plan as your child grows and makes progress.

We deliver this across separate appointments, so each person is at their best for the parts that ask the most of them.

30 min • $189

We deliver this across separate appointments, so each person is at their best for the parts that ask the most of them.

uditory processing testing asks the person to listen closely to challenging sounds, so they do their best when they arrive fresh and settled. A few things help:

• Bring some snacks and water
• Breaks are available whenever they are needed
• The clinician watches attention and concentration closely throughout

The child does not need to attend the discussion appointment.

Every assessment results in a detailed functional report of three to four pages, prepared for your child, or for you if you are the patient. It brings the whole picture together and explains what each result means in plain terms. You come away with clear recommendations you can act on.

Where the results point to it, we may recommend imaging so the structures of the auditory system can be looked at more closely. If this applies, we write to your GP with that recommendation and the reasons behind it.

Not ready to commit? You can start with a free 20-minute chat, no cost and no obligation. See below to book.
The same fees apply for children, adolescents and adults:

If your child is under NDIS, we can provide an itemised audiology invoice, which you may be able to use towards your NDIS funding. Please note that we do not deal with NDIS directly.
The full amount is payable on the day of each appointment.
A GP referral is recommended and welcomed, though it is not required to book.

Because we do this properly and in stages, the assessment unfolds over a few appointments rather than one. We mention this early so you can plan for it and know what to expect.

All we need from you is to come along to the appointments, and to let each one take the time it needs. You know your child better than anyone, and what you notice at home is part of the picture, so please share it with us as we go.

We know you are already doing a great deal for your child. Our role is to stand alongside you and help make sense of what is happening, so the effort you are putting in can go exactly where it counts.

Auditory processing difficulties often sit alongside ADHD and autism, and understanding how they fit together can make a real difference. Inattentive ADHD and APD can look very alike, because both can show up as a child who misses instructions or seems to drift when listening. They are two distinct conditions, and they can also be present together. The research supports looking at each in its own right while recognising how much their profiles overlap (Chermak, Hall & Musiek, 1999; Chermak,
Bamiou, Iliadou & Musiek, 2017).

Because of this, an auditory processing assessment can add a helpful piece to the picture:

• For a child already diagnosed with inattentive ADHD, it can show whether listening effort is playing a part too. This sits comfortably alongside the care they are already receiving.
• For a child whose difficulties are still being understood, it can help everyone involved
  see the whole picture.

We are always glad to work alongside your paediatrician, psychologist and GP. What sometimes reads as inattention can be a sign of high listening effort and auditory fatigue. When a child is working much harder than expected to follow sound, tiredness and a wandering focus can follow. Seeing that clearly opens another path of support, one that works hand in hand with everything else your child has in place.

This work sits at the centre of our practice, and we bring real depth of experience to it. You can feel confident that your child, adolescent or adult family member will be looked after with care, and will receive advice shaped around their own listening profile rather than a template.

We support children with these listening difficulties every week, and with the right individualised management in place, we consistently see them make real progress.

Booking an assessment feels easier when you can picture what you will hold at the end of it. Sample auditory processing reports are available to download below, so you can see the depth and clarity of the functional report before you decide.

The samples are de-identified and carry a SAMPLE watermark throughout. Details have been changed to protect privacy, and every report is written for the individual, so yours will be shaped around your own results.

For illustration only. A sample report is not a template; your report reflects your own assessment.

https://allearshearing.com.au/contact-us/You do not have to decide everything today. The easiest way to begin is a free 20-minute chat with our paediatric and general audiologist, Ingrid Lau, in person or by phone. Ask your questions, tell us what you are seeing, and we will help you decide what makes sense for your child. No cost, no obligation.

To book your free chat, or to arrange a full assessment, fill in the form below and we will be in touch within one business day.

You are also welcome to call us on 03 9886 7157, or email us at contact @allearshearing.com.au.
Our main clinic is in Mount Waverley, and we welcome families from across Melbourne and further afield.

Prefer to read later, or share it with your GP, paediatrician or your child’s school? Download this page as a PDF.

American Academy of Audiology. (2010). Clinical practice guidelines: Diagnosis, treatment and management ofchildren and adults with central auditory processing disorder. Reston, VA: American Academy of Audiology.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2005). (Central) auditory processing disorders [Technical report]. Rockville, MD: ASHA.

Auerbach, B. D., Rodrigues, P. V., & Salvi, R. J. (2014). Central gain control in tinnitus and hyperacusis. Frontiers in Neurology, 5, 206.

Chermak, G. D., Bamiou, D. E., Iliadou, V., & Musiek, F. E. (2017). Practical guidelines to minimise language and cognitive confounds in the diagnosis of CAPD: A brief tutorial. International Journal of Audiology, 56(7), 499-506.

Chermak, G. D., Hall, J. W., & Musiek, F. E. (1999). Differential diagnosis and management of central auditory processing disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of the American
Academy of Audiology, 10(6), 289-303.

Konopka, A. K., Kasprzyk, A., Pyttel, J., Chmielik, L. P., & Niedzielski, A. (2024). Etiology, diagnostic, and rehabilitative methods for children with central auditory processing disorders: A scoping review. Audiology Research, 14(4), Article 62.

Kujawa, S. G., & Liberman, M. C. (2009). Adding insult to injury: Cochlear nerve degeneration after “temporary” noise-induced hearing loss. Journal of Neuroscience, 29(45), 14077-14085.