https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920996421000128?via%3Dihub
short answer; they don’t know, but auditory processing disorders and thought disorders were strongly correlated.
The results revealed that all neuropsychological tests were significantly correlated with at least one auditory processing test. Working memory, response inhibition, attention, short-term memory, processing speed, lexical access, cognitive flexibility and executive control were all correlated with measured auditory processing performance. Multiple correlations were found between executive control and performance in all auditory processing tests.
Does this correlation mean that APD affects cognition, cognition deficits affect auditory processing, or they are co-affected as a result of structural or functional brain alterations? In order to answer this, we need to have longitudinal studies at very early stages of schizophrenia to observe which deficit appears first in the process of time.