Patterns in speech errors among children with auditory processing disorder

Abstract

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), a neurological hearing impairment, often leads to delays in speech development when diagnosed in childhood. It is unclear whether children with APD make articulation errors due to auditory processing deficits. The purpose of this study was to analyze the articulation error patterns of children diagnosed with APD. We examined speech samples from 26 children diagnosed with APD who participated in a previous research study involving speech perception testing. During this task, each child repeated each of 50 monosyllabic words presented to them in quiet. For each incorrect response, we examined the errors by type of articulation error (substitution, deletion, insertion, or distortion) and the syllable position (onset or coda). Speech perception scores were normal in quiet. However, 22 subjects responded incorrectly for one or more words, with substitution errors (40-50%) being the most prevalent type of errors. Articulation errors in the coda position (81%) were more common than errors in the onset position (19%). These results imply that children with APD, though generally performing well on speech tests in quiet, tend to display articulation issues not typically seen in normally developing children in the same age group. [Work supported by NIH COBRE Grants 2P20RR020173-06A1 and P30GM114736.]