BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN AT RISK OF CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER WITHOUT READING DEFICITS

Abstract

Background Auditory processing abilities in children with dyslexia and reading disabilities have been widely studied using various behavioral and electrophysiological measures. However such explorations in children with (C)APD without reading disability lacks in literature. Hence the present study was designed to examine the different behavioral test responses for auditory processing in children who are at the risk of (C)APD without reading difficulties. Materials and Method Study consisted of two groups, an experimental and a control group. Behavioral tests for (C)APD that were administered to each of the participants in both the groups included Gap Detection Test (GDT), Pitch Pattern test (PPT), Dichotic Consonant Vowel test (DCV), Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) and Masking Level Difference (MLD) test. Fifteen children who were at the risk of (C)APD without reading difficulties and fifteen typically developing children were part of the study. Results Children who were at the risk of (C)APD without reading deficit displayed higher thresholds in GDT and gained poorer scores on PPT as well as SPIN when compared to the group of typically developing children. However, the results of MLD and DCV performance were comparable between the groups. Conclusions Hence, the present study suggests a combination of GDT, PPT and SPIN as a possible sensitive tool in clinics for tracing the central auditory deficits in children who are at the risk of (C)APD without reading deficits. Nonetheless, DCV and MLD did not demonstrate to be sensitive towards the concern in such a population.