Meet
Dr. Amanda Levy
I founded Levy Audiology Processing Center in 2022 to help children and adults listen with ease. Auditory processing is the basis of how we learn and connect with others. I want to help children learn the underlying auditory skills necessary for literacy BEFORE they fall behind in Kindergarten or 1st grade. I want to help adults tolerate and even thrive in challenging listening environments to succeed at work and in important relationships. I want to help people who are struggling with communication despite using hearing aids or cochlear implants use their auditory brain to defy the limitations of their devices.
So much of Audiology starts and ends with “can you hear the beep?”
If you or your child are struggling with auditory processing, I want to take you beyond the beep and into a life of meaningful listening.
About Me
- I live in San Marcos with my husband, toddler daughter, and
two dogs
- I earned my BA in music at UC Santa Barbara and continue
to sing and play guitar and ukulele.
- I am an avid Pickleball player
Associations
- Professor at California State University San Marcos in the
department of Speech Language Pathology
- Member of the California Academy of Audiology
- Member of the Educational Audiology Association
What is Auditory Processing?
Do you know that we hear with our brain?
In terms of listening, our ears are the hardware and our brains are the software. Once sound enters the brain through our ears, it is broken down and processed in countless ways to help us make sense of each sound wave.
If our brain has difficulty processing sound, we may struggle to learn, read, and have meaningful communication with others.
The good news is that auditory processing is a skill that can be improved with practice.
Auditory Training Improves Auditory Processing Skills in adults and children
My son is making friends at school now that he can understand other kids
Now I can be in the same room with my husband while he watches TV
My daughter's reading skills have improved an entire grade level since finishing auditory training
My son did auditory training with Dr. Levy over the summer. He always tested below-average at school. He just just had his IEP testing and this is the first year he actually scored in the average or above average range! He even scored in the "superior" range on one test! The school psychologist was shocked.
This was a success story... Thank You!
- Tamara K.
What My Patients
Are Saying
I don't have to work as hard to hear in meetings and zoom calls
Adult patient in Carlsbad
The road noise on the freeway doesn't bother me anymore
College student in Costa Mesa
My son is making friends at school now that he can understand other kids
Parents of 12 year old patient in Encinitas
What is Auditory Processing?
"Auditory Processing is what our brain does with what our ears hear"
- Jack Katz, Ph.D.
Do you know that we hear with our brain?
In terms of listening, our ears are the hardware and our brains are the software. Once sound enters the brain through our ears, it is broken down and processed in countless ways to help us make sense of each sound wave.
Our brain helps us determine if a sound is speech or noise. It combines and separates information from each ear to help us tell where sound is coming from. It helps us understand speech in quiet and noisy environments. It helps us tell the difference between similar sounds. And that’s only the start!
When we are young, we use sound to learn to speak and understand language. As we grow, the way we process sound forms the foundation for the literacy skills we need to read. We use our listening skills to succeed in classrooms with varying degrees of background noise. We listen critically in the workplace to quickly and accurately communicate and collaborate with others. Listening forms the basis of communication and relationships with our friends and family.
Hardware
Software
So what happens when our brain has trouble listening?
Sometimes, even if our ears are able to detect sound at soft levels, our brain has difficulty making sense of that information. Perhaps this occurs in all situations, or only certain situations when there is background noise or music. Perhaps it impacts your child’s learning to read, your communication with your colleagues, or your connection with friends and family.
This type of difficulty is called:
auditory processing deficit,
auditory processing disorder,
or central auditory processing disorder.
It is estimated to affect 2-3% of all children, and 43% of children already identified with learning disabilities. In adults age 55 and older, the estimated prevalence is 23-76%. Auditory processing difficulties can impact individuals with no other conditions, or it can occur with conditions such as ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, and other instances of neurodivergence.
Auditory processing challenges can also impact people with hearing loss. Often, when people receive hearing aids or cochlear implants, their devices provide better access to sound without providing better clarity and understanding of speech.
The Good News
Auditory processing is a skill that can be improved!
Regardless of the cause, an auditory processing evaluation can identify an individual’s unique patterns of processing strengths and weaknesses to create an action plan for improvement through auditory training. Auditory training is a systematic set of exercises designed to improve auditory skills. If someone has difficulty with a skill, we teach them to do the skill. As the brilliant APD-specialized Audiologist Angela Alexander says, “It isn’t rocket surgery!”
Dr. Levy is proud to be one of the only Audiologists in California who provides auditory training in-person and remotely.
Book A Free Zoom Consult With Dr. Levy
What is Auditory Training?
Auditory Training is a personalized program of exercises to improve auditory processing skills
What gets measured gets improved.
Auditory processing skills are similar to any other skill we learn. With practice, we improve skills. Most people develop their auditory processing skills through all of the listening we do throughout childhood. If you have an auditory processing deficit, you may need to work on developing these skills for the first time, or improve upon skills that are difficult.
Dr. Levy creates a personalized therapy plan based upon your unique pattern of auditory processing strengths and challenges.
Click below to learn more about some of the programs Dr. Levy uses to create a therapy plan.
Buffalo Model Auditory Training
Buffalo Model Auditory Training, or BMAT, is an evidence-based, simple and effective method for improving difficulties with decoding of speech sounds and understanding speech in noise.
The program is designed to target the sounds you struggle to clearly identify and teaches your brain to hear sound clearly in both quiet and noisy environments.
BMAT works for children and adults. It is flexible and can be completed in-person or virtually!
Acoustic Pioneer
Acoustic Pioneer is a brilliant set of auditory training apps each targeting different auditory processing skills. While it may feel like playing a video game, these apps seriously challenge auditory skills.
Designed for ages 5 and up, Zoo Caper Skyscraper works on dichotic listening, or helping your brain learn to process different input from both ears at the same time.
Designed for ages 7 and up, Insane Earplane helps improve tonal and pitch processing skills.
Designed for age 8 and up, Elephant Memory helps to improve auditory memory skills.
ARIA:
Auditory Rehabilitation for Interaural Asymmetry
ARIA is one of the most rigorously researched and evidence-based therapies for improving a condition called amblyaudia, a significant processing weakness in one ear. Typically, amblyaudia is found in the left ear, but it is possible to have right ear amblyaudia.
ARIA requires one initial test session followed by four weekly therapy sessions. Each session lasts around 90 minutes, with a break in the middle. You’ll sit in a room with a speaker on your left side and right side, listening to words or numbers at a comfortable volume, and are asked to repeat back what you heard.
ARIA is incredibly effective in children and adults, and results are typically seen in approximately 1 month.
Not everyone is a candidate for ARIA, but if you’re interested in learning more, you can click here to contact Dr. Levy.
LOCATION
Virtual services throughout California
In-person services in Carlsbad, CA
(760) 571-9465
Clinic hours
Monday through Thursday
9:00 am to 5:00 pm
