Auditory evoked potentials in children with reading problems show abnormal auditory processing

Auditory processing was tested behaviourally and objectively (using auditory evoked potentials) in children with no reading difficulties (control group), a child with a history of reading difficulties who now has age appropriate reading, and a child with reading delay. Reading and auditory processing measured behaviourally were normal for the control group and the child with previous reading difficulties. The reading-delayed child showed auditory processing deficits on both behavioural and auditory evoked potential tests. Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) were also poorer in the child with a history of reading difficulties than in control children. Differences in AEP results between control children and the two children with past or present reading difficulties suggest that neural mechanisms underlying auditory processing in these children differ from those in children with no reading difficulties. The two case studies presented here are illustrative of results obtained in a larger study of auditory processing in children with reading difficulties.8 page(s