About the Auditory Processing Institute
The Auditory Processing Institute offers online master courses for audiologists and speech-language pathologists. The courses are available on-demand and allow professionals to increase the quality of service they offer clients.
The Institute is a private organization owned and led by audiologist Angela Alexander, Au.D. Angela has been treating APD for more than a decade.
Now, she is training others to evaluate and treat APD.
Two courses are currently on offer.
The Evaluate APD Master Course teaches audiologists to use the Buffalo Model to diagnose and categorize a patients' specific auditory processing deficits.
The Treat APD Master Course teaches professionals to treat a patients' APD using Phonemic Training Program exercises, the Phonemic Synthesis Training Program, and the Words in Noise Training. This course is appropriate for both speech-language pathologists and audiologists.
About Angela Alexander, Au.D.
APD Specialized Audiologist and TEDx Speaker
Angela Alexander, Au.D., CCC-A, MNZAS, graduated from the University of Kansas in 2010 with a Doctor of Audiology. Angela's passion is in the treatment of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD).
Angela was privileged to have been mentored by Jack Katz, Ph.D., a world-leading expert on APD. Learn more about Dr. Katz here. Angela worked with Katz for seven years between 2004 to 2012, building her knowledge and expertise. Listen to her podcast.
Following this, Angela worked as an audiologist in New Zealand for the past decade. She moved to Sunshine Coast, Australia in November 2020.
Her TEDx talk: Escaping the Hidden Prison of Auditory Processing Disorder was the most-watched TEDx worldwide in September of 2021.
With the Auditory Processing Institute, Angela is looking to train her peers in the skills needed to provide effective APD diagnostic and therapeutic options. She aims to double the number of SLP/Au.D. professionals providing effective auditory processing services through the online APD Master Courses by 2022.
What is APD, exactly?
The term APD [Auditory Processing Disorder] refers to a group of hearing disorders that result from the atypical processing of auditory information in the brain.
Around 5 percent of children experience APD. If untreated, APD can have significant impacts on children's learning outcomes.
Audiologists can learn to evaluate and treat APD.
The Auditory Processing Institute recommends and teaches Jack Katz's Buffalo Model for APD diagnosis and treatment.
The Buffalo Model
The Buffalo Model is a coherent approach to the evaluation and remediation of APD.
The model was designed by Jack Katz Ph.D., CCC-A/SLP.
The Buffalo Model uses a battery of tests to diagnose and conceptualize a client's specific auditory processing disorder.
Each test assesses a different aspect of a client's auditory processing abilities. Test results provide more than 30 indicators, which help identify a client's specific difficulties with auditory processing.
The Phonemic Training Program
The Phonemic Training Program (PTP) is an evidence-based approach to retrain phonemically encoded errors. The PTP trains patients with APD to recognize specific phonemes.
PTP is supported by the Phonemic Synthesis training program, which moves phoneme recognition into connecting sounds to words. In this program, individual phonemes are presented and the client is to say the word they form. The lessons gradually increase the difficulty level of the phonemes and the number of phonemes (e.g., 3 to 4). Eventually, consonant blends are introduced.
Words-in-Noise Training is also taught. WINT uses recorded words and trains clients in the basic auditory processing task: pulling speech out of a background of noise.
A client's progress in PTP, PS, and WINT is measured by monitoring improvements in the client's test speed and accuracy.
Angela Alexander, Au.D.
"The best way to learn APD testing is to watch a trained audiologist administer it.
"I was lucky because I was able to sit at the elbow of
Jack Katz for several years, to learn his method."
APD Master Courses
Learn the time-tested methods of testing and treating APD.
Angela Alexander says the best way to learn testing is through experience.
"A person needs to observe testing being done by another professional on many occasions before they can feel prepared to administer it themselves.
"I was lucky because I was able to sit at the elbow of Jack Katz for several years to learn his method directly from him."
Unfortunately, there aren't many providers of this service. It is hard to get this first-hand experience, as a result.
"Fortunately, the internet provides us with options to overcome these difficulties," Dr. Alexander says.
The APD Master Courses are run online, allowing participants to complete them at their own pace.
The courses we offer:
For:
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Audiologists
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Speech-Language Pathologists
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Students and Early Graduates of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
Format:
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Online, on-demand