The evidence base is too small and weak to provide clear guidance to speech-language pathologists faced with treating children with diagnosed APD, but some cautious skepticism is warranted until the record of evidence is more complete. Clinicians who decide to use auditory interventions should be aware of the limitations in the evidence and take special care to monitor the spoken and written language status of their young clients.
Despite concerted efforts by researchers and clinical professionals, minimal concrete evidence is available to guide practicing professionals responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of APD. The role of the speech-language pathologist in diagnosing and treating APD remains under discussion, with varying perspectives advocated by individuals based on their research and clinical experience.
The role of the SLP in diagnosing and treating APD remains under discussion, despite lack of efficacy data supporting auditory intervention and questions regarding the clinical relevance and validity of APD.
We respond to Bellis, Chermak, Weihing, and Musiek's (2012) criticisms of the evidence-based systematic review of Fey et al. (2011) on the effects of auditory training on auditory, spoken, and written language performance of children with auditory processing disorder or language impairment. In general, we argue that the conceptualizations and methods on which our review was based were well motivated, and that our original conclusions are valid given the limited evidence that is currently available from clinical studies of auditory training with school-age children with auditory processing disorder or language impairment.
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