Persons with APD often:
* have trouble paying attention to and remembering information presented orally; they cope better with visually acquired information
* may have trouble paying attention and remembering information when information is simultaneously presented in multiple modalities
* have problems carrying out multi-step directions given orally; need to hear only one direction at a time
* appear to have poor listening skills, and need people to speak slowly
* need more time to process information.
* develop a dislike for locations with background noise such as bar, clubs or other social locations
* prefer written communication (e.g. text chat)
* have behavioral problems.
APD can manifest as problems determining the direction of sounds, difficulty perceiving differences between speech sounds and the sequencing of these sounds into meaningful words, confusing similar sounds such as "hat" with "bat", "there" with "where", etc. Fewer words may be perceived than were actually said, as there can be problems detecting the gaps between words, creating the sense that someone is speaking unfamiliar or nonsense words. Those suffering from APD may have problems relating what has been said with its meaning, despite obvious recognition that a word has been said, as well as repetition of the word. Background noise, such as the sound of a radio, television or a noisy bar can make it difficult to impossible to understand speech, depending on the severity of the auditory processing disorder. Using a telephone can be problematic for someone with auditory processing disorder, in comparison with someone with normal auditory processing, due to low quality audio, poor signal, intermittent sounds and the chopping of words. Many who have auditory processing disorder subconsciously develop visual coping strategies, such as lip reading, reading body language, and eye contact, to compensate for their auditory deficit, and these coping strategies are not available when using a telephone.