TOKYO, Japan – Hiromi Soeda always had trouble hearing what people were saying, whether they were her teachers at school or – later – clients at the hair salon where she worked. At home, she struggled to hear her children over domestic noises like a ventilator fan or running water.
Doctors could find nothing wrong with her ears. It was only three years ago that Soeda, now 49, was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), a form of Listening Difficulty (LiD) where the brain can’t process the words one is hearing.