| dc.description.abstract | Objectives: To document the auditory processing, visual attention, digit memory,
phonological processing, and receptive language abilities of individual children with
identified word reading difficulties.
Design: Twenty-five children with word reading difficulties and 28 control children
with good word reading skills participated. All children were aged between 8 and
11 years, with normal hearing sensitivity and typical non-verbal intelligence. Both groups
of children completed a test battery designed to assess their auditory processing, visual
attention, digit memory, phonological processing, and receptive language.
Results: When compared to children who were good readers, children with word
reading difficulties obtained significantly lower average scores on tests of auditory
processing, including the frequency pattern test, gaps in noise, frequency discrimination,
Dichotic Digit difference Test, and Listening in Spatialized Noise. The two groups did
not differ on the discrimination measures of sinusoidal amplitude modulation or iterated
rippled noise. The results from children with word reading difficulties showed that
5 children (20%) had comorbid deficits in auditory processing, visual attention, and
backward digit memory; whereas 12 children (48%) had comorbid auditory processing
and visual attention deficits only, and 2 children (8%) had comorbid deficits in auditory
processing and digit memory; the remaining children had only auditory processing, visual
attention, or digit memory deficits.
Conclusion: The current study highlights the general co-existence of auditory
processing, memory, and visual attention deficits in children with word reading
difficulties. It is also noteworthy, however, that only one fifth of the current cohort had
deficits across all measured tasks. Hence, our results also show the significant individual
variability inherent in children with word reading difficulties. | en_US |
