What Happens in an Auditory Processing Evaluation

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-23

What an auditory processing evaluation is

An auditory processing evaluation is a set of listening tests. An audiologist gives them.

A US audiology body says to choose these tests with care (American Academy of Audiology, 2010). That advice is from a 2010 guideline. The guideline calls this set of tests a battery.

Some are listening tasks the child answers. Others record how the brain responds to sound. The tasks use speech and other sounds.

A British audiology body describes auditory processing disorder as listening trouble with normal hearing (British Society of Audiology, 2018). Auditory processing disorder is sometimes called central auditory processing disorder. We cannot tell you whether your child has auditory processing disorder.

The kinds of test

The US guideline names several kinds of test. Here they are in plain words.

• Dichotic listening. Different words or numbers play in each ear at the same time. The child says what they heard.
• Gaps and patterns. The child listens for tiny gaps of silence in a noise. Or they name the order of high and low tones, or long and short ones.
• Hard-to-hear speech. The child listens to speech in one ear that is muffled, sped up, or in noise.
• Both ears together. For example, the child picks out speech by where it comes from.
• Telling sounds apart. The child tells apart sounds or syllables that differ very slightly.
• Brain-response recordings. These record the brain's response to sound. The child does not need to answer.

The audiologist chooses which tests to give.

Dichotic listening

Dichotic listening means hearing different sounds in each ear at the same time.

Different words or numbers play in each ear at the same time. The child says what they heard. Dichotic listening is one kind of test in the battery, not the whole evaluation.

More tests are not always better

The guideline warns that more tests are not always better. Each test added can flag more children who do not have the disorder.

A checklist is not an evaluation

A US audiology body says audiologists should diagnose auditory processing disorder (American Academy of Audiology, 2010). It says checklists and single tests are not a full assessment.

Two small studies looked at listening questionnaires (Barry and colleagues, 2015; Shaikh and colleagues, 2020). The questionnaires did not predict who was diagnosed. We could read only their summaries.

A checklist can describe listening trouble. It cannot tell you whether your child has auditory processing disorder.

Nothing we cite here tests Learning Success.

Age and the tests

A US audiology body wrote about testing (American Academy of Audiology, 2010). It says many listening tests for auditory processing disorder need a developmental age of seven or eight. That is a stage of development, not a birthday. In younger children, the skills these tests measure are still developing. An audiologist can tell you what can be tested at your child's age.

That age limit is about the tests. In our view, it is not a reason to put off asking.

Before the visit

Ask your child's doctor whether hearing has been checked recently. In our view, take a hearing concern to your child's doctor or an audiologist.

We hold no source on how long the testing takes. In our view, ask the audiologist when you book.

After the tests

We hold no source that explains an auditory processing report. So this page does not explain the scores.

In our view, ask the audiologist to go through the report with you, test by test.

If your child has lost a skill

Some children could do something and now cannot. That is different from a child who has not built the skill yet. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Schoolwork well below what school expects.
• A teacher who raises a concern about learning.
• Extreme upset about schoolwork.
• Complete avoidance of school or learning.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.