Hearing impairment and auditory processing disorders can look very similar on the surface. To understand the difference, it helps to know what hearing is. We learn as kids that hearing is one of the five senses.
mixed hearing loss is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. there may be a problem in the outer or middle ear and in the inner ear or auditory nerve.
A sensorineural hearing loss is defined as damage to the hair cells in the cochlea (this is the sensory hearing organ) or damage to the neural pathways of hearing (nerves). With this type of hearing loss it is not always possible to tell which part is damaged and is therefore often listed together as sensorineural hearing loss.