Poor Reading: A Deep Dive
The link between APD and dysgraphia
What is APD?
Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) refers to difficulties the brain has in processing and interpreting auditory information, even though hearing is normal. This means someone with APD may have trouble understanding what they hear, despite having normal hearing sensitivity.
What is dysgraphia?
Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects writing (particularly handwriting and spelling), and it frequently overlaps with reading difficulties.
Converging factors
Interestingly, the neurological factors that contribute to APD can also shed light on why dysgraphia (a writing disorder) often co-exists or shares features with APD.
Dysgraphia is characterized by difficulty in writing, spelling, and organizing written expression, and researchers have found overlaps in the cognitive profiles of children with APD and those with language-based learning disabilities like dyslexia and dysgraphia.
Phonological processing
One key connection is through phonological processing. APD’s auditory deficits – especially in discriminating sounds and holding auditory information in memory – can lead to weak phonological skills (difficulty manipulating the sounds of language).
Dysgraphia often includes poor spelling and trouble encoding sounds into written form, which are rooted in those same phonological weaknesses. In fact, studies show that a subset of children with developmental dysgraphia have measurable impairments in auditory processing, similar to those seen in dyslexia. In a 2018 study, for example, researchers observed that some dysgraphic children performed worse on auditory processing tasks compared to their normally-achieving peers. These children also had pronounced phonological deficits, suggesting that auditory processing deficits can cause downstream problems in phonological awareness and working memory, which are crucial for spelling and writing.
Neurology and timing
Neurologically, if APD is caused by imprecise neural timing or poor auditory neural synchrony, those same timing issues might affect other brain networks involved in sequencing and motor planning for writing. There is evidence that APD is sometimes part of a broader pattern of “global deficits” in memory, attention, or language processing. These global cognitive functions also play a role in writing. For instance, a child with APD-related attention deficits may struggle to focus on writing tasks, or one with auditory memory issues may have trouble remembering the spelling of words or the content they want to write. So the root causes (like a neuromaturational delay in the brain’s processing speed) that lead to APD symptoms can simultaneously manifest as dysgraphia symptoms – e.g., disorganized writing or omissions in written work due to memory and attention lapses.
Atypical brain development
Additionally, both APD and dysgraphia can be developmental output of atypical brain development. If a genetic or prenatal factor subtly altered how the left hemisphere auditory-language regions developed, a child might show both APD (difficulty processing sounds) and dysgraphia (difficulty with the language output of writing). It’s notable that children with reading disorders (dyslexia) – which are closely related to dysgraphia – often have auditory processing deficits. According to Ramus (2003) and others, many dyslexic individuals have underlying auditory timing or frequency discrimination issues that contribute to their reading problems. The same study of dysgraphic children mentioned above found two subgroups: one subgroup had both auditory processing and phonological deficits, while another had phonological deficits without auditory issues. This suggests that in some children, auditory processing weaknesses are a driving factor behind their writing and spelling difficulties. In practice, this overlap means that interventions targeting auditory skills (like phonemic discrimination) often help improve spelling and writing, and vice versa.
Summary
APD’s causes (whether a subtle brain difference or developmental delay) can create a ripple effect: the brain’s difficulty in processing sounds can impair the sound-to-symbol translation necessary for writing. Understanding this linkage helps professionals design comprehensive interventions. For instance, evaluating a child with dysgraphia for APD may reveal auditory memory issues contributing to writing problems. Likewise, treating auditory processing can sometimes improve language output. The neurological connection underscores that strengthening auditory processing can be a key component in supporting writing skills in those who have both APD and dysgraphia-related symptoms.
Next up: Building skills through technology
How digital tools can help strengthen auditory processing abilities.
When auditory processing issues impact your child’s learning, interactive tools can make a real difference. In our next post, we explore how computer-based strategies support auditory skills in a fun, focused, and research-backed way.