Auditory Processing Disorder Awareness Stamp

I was recently diagnosed with something called auditory processing disorder. It explains a lot, like why I was never able to connect letters to their sounds and why I can't hear words too well despite having normal hearing.

I asked why I wasn't diagnosed as a kid so I could have been helped sooner. The therapist told me few people were aware of it back then. I can believe that. Every time I complained about not being able to hear or understand what people were saying, my parents would take me to the doctor's after a while to have my hearing tested. This happened every year from about age four to age fourteen! My hearing always came back normal, and that was the end of that for another year. I gave up by the time I was in 7th grade or 8th grade. By then I found ways around the problem, I guess. Or I just got sick of no one really listening to me when I told them that my actual hearing was fine, and that I only had trouble hearing words... so I shut up about it. XD

Even now, she said, people aren't that aware of it. Kids are still told they have selective hearing (I was told that a lot) or diagnosed with autism instead. So I guess a stamp and more awareness for this disorder in general is needed.


Some basic facts:
*Auditory processing disorder is abbreviated APD. (which is why it's used in the stamp-- I couldn't fit whole name in the stamp)

*It's also called central auditory processing disorder and, as such, abbreviated CAPD.

*It is regarded as both a learning disability and a communication problem in the medical field... when it is recognized and by those who recognize it as a disorder.

*People with it have NORMAL hearing. But we will tell you we can't hear what you are saying. What we mean is we don't understand what you're saying.

*Most of us act deaf when someone's talking... at least before we're diagnosed and are further along in treatment.

*As babies, we start talking late and pick up new words very slowly. Our parents often think we're deaf as a result and take us to have our hearing tested quite often during this time.

*It's more of a speech comprehension and processing problem rather than an actual hearing problem. The brain, for some reason, can't make sense of what's being said too well.

*Speech is often impacted in those who have it. That's because we can't 'hear' the subtle differences in speech and can't even tell when we mispronounce letter sounds when we talk.

*A lot of people with it also have ADHD. Or rather a lot of people with ADHD also have APD. No one knows why.

*It usually begins in early childhood-- symptoms may even be present during infancy-- whether you're diagnosed then or not, but some people do develop it later in life or otherwise become affected by it as adults.

*There's no medication for APD... except for possibly ADHD meds for those who also have ADHD. There is also no generalized treatment for APD-- it's all individualized. Basically the brain has to be taught or retrained to recognize the differences in human speech.

*You can find a simulation of what it's like here: [link]



Resources:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA): [link]
American Academy of Audiology (AAA): [link]
National Coalition of Auditory Processing Disorders (NCAPD): [link]
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): [link]




The words in the background of the stamp are supposed to symbolize in written-form what it's like to have this disorder in one way. Mainly how everything's coming at you at once and barely audible by having everything cluttered and barely readable. This way you can't figure out what they say very well. (Except for the "APD Awareness" because it's kinda important for that one to be clear and easy to read!)

If you're curious, they say: "I can't hear you," "I don't understand," and "Huh?" I find myself saying those a lot.



Update:
Wrong file was uploaded. This one's main text should be more readable now.