Hearing can be defined simply as the ability for the inner ear to pick up the vibrations we know as sound and register them in your brain.  Listening on the other hand is more advanced and involves the brain's ability to distinguish between sounds that are important to us and the background sounds that do not need to be processed.  Children and adults who suffer from auditory dyslexia, as well as ADHD and some other developmental disabilities often have a problem with listening, but not hearing.  Brain research has shown that normal or non-dyslexic readers process the written word in the back part of the brain that integrates letters and sounds, the dyslexic brain however processes writing in a forward part of the brain that is most often associated with speech.  Visual dyslexia and auditory dyslexia often go hand in hand, and may be diagnosed together or separately.  A child with poor listening skills but average visual skills may be diagnosed with the auditory variety of dyslexia while those that have poor visual skills but average listening skills may be diagnosed with visual dyslexia.

Ineffective listening by itself should not automatically be associated with auditory dyslexia.  It is possible that someone who doesn't listen is just bored or disinterested in the topics at hand.  Another symptom that may be present in the dyslexic, is difficulty in sounding out words or even individual letters.  The auditory dyslexic may hear letter or words as jumbled, and may be unable to repeat something that they just heard moments ago.  Most people associate dyslexia with reading difficulties.  This type of dyslexia is no different, because they cannot hear words as  most people hear them, associating written words with sounds that are jumbled makes reading and writing much more difficult.  Dysphonetic is another word used to describe someone who has auditory processing issues.  As the word describes, individuals with this diagnosis have problems with phonetics.

An indirect symptom of someone with any type of dyslexia is low self esteem developed when they realize that they cannot keep up with their peers with normal instruction.  This often leads to acting out in a negative way or closing down and becoming painfully shy.  Again, these symptoms may or may not be present in someone with auditory dyslexia.  Also indirect, are the other types of dyslexia that may be diagnosed at the same time.  Dysgraphia is revealed as problems with writing.  Dyscalculia may also be known as math dyslexia.  As mentioned above, visual dyslexia can also be diagnosed.  All of these types may be interrelated with each other or may be totally separate.

Auditory dyslexia research continues every day and new discoveries are made all the time.  The symptoms listed above are neither all inclusive or definitive.  If you or someone you know has some, most, or all of the symptoms, it may be a good idea to have a professional assessment.