Odd-numbered items begin in the right ear and even-numbered items begin in the left ear. For example, one can study the performance for right and left ears individually as well as when they are competing with one another (Katz, 1968 Katz & Pack, 1975). The SSW Test - was devised to evaluate auditory function in patients with brain lesions (Katz, 1961), but because of its makeup and complexity it turned out to be sensitive to various components of auditory processing. This is necessary because hearing loss, as well as fluid in the middle ear, can influence performance on central tests such conditions should be compensated for (e.g., using higher presentation levels) and/or taken into account when making interpretations from the data. Prior to evaluation with the Buffalo Battery pure-tone thresholds, tympanometry and acoustic reflexes should be carried out to determine the status of the person's peripheral hearing and middle ear functions. We feel particularly confident in this, in part, because such difficulties respond so well to basic auditory therapies. We do believe that understanding speech in quiet as well as in noise, dichotic listening, short-term/working auditory memory, sequencing, and sound localization are among the many functions that are heavily dependent upon auditory processing skills. There is no clear line between where auditory processing ends and where language or higher cognitive functions begin. Our notion is that APD refers to rather basic functions of the central nervous system (CNS), but we recognize that any behavioral speech test or therapeutic procedure requires some language and cognitive knowledge. The Buffalo Model definition of APD is, "what we do with what we hear." It is how efficiently and effectively people process what they hear. More recently, additional therapeutic measures and evaluation techniques have been added. At that time the three central tests were combined into a diagnostic battery, and the various therapeutic procedures that had been used for many years fit in neatly as effective approaches to remediate the underlying auditory processing difficulties. However, the conceptual link between these components was not made until 1986 when the Buffalo Model was conceived. Our first APD test and therapy procedure was Phonemic Synthesis in 1957, followed by the Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW) test in 1961, and the third test and therapy procedure was Speech-in-Noise in 1966. The Buffalo Model is a coherent approach to the evaluation and remediation of APD. The therapies are geared to address the underlying APD issues, which are expected not only to show improvement on retests but, more importantly, to result in improvement in the related academic and communicative problems. First, this article will discuss the Buffalo Battery of tests and relate their results to categories of APD, which in turn will point to therapies and the expected results from therapy.
Over the years more and more attention has been directed toward remediation of auditory processing difficulties (Katz & Burge, 1971 Sloan, 1986 Tallal, 1996 Musiek, 1999). In the 1970s interest turned to the evaluation of APD in those who have learning and/or communicative problems (Katz & Illmer, 1972). Each test takes a different look at auditory processing and together they provide more than 30 indicators that help to identify APD and what types of problems it represents.Īudiologists have long been interested in the diagnosis of central auditory disorders starting in the days when the focus was identifying site-of-dysfunction in patients with brain lesions (Bocca et al., 1954). The Buffalo Model is a conceptualization of auditory processing disorders (APD) based on the results of a three-test battery.
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