The effectiveness of an auditory temporal training program in children who present voiceless/voiced-based orthographic errors.

INTRODUCTION: Studies on children's written production of the Brazilian Portuguese have shown that one of the most frequent phonological-based orthographic errors is the one related to voiceless/voiced phonemes. Children who make this type of error may have auditory temporal processing disorders, which can harm the perception of phonemes with similar characteristics. AIM: Verify the effectiveness of an auditory temporal training program based on activities adapted from the software Fast ForWord in the auditory temporal processing, i.e. the temporal ordering skill, and in reducing voiceless/voiced-based orthographic errors and the frequency of occurrence of these errors in the written production of the children. METHOD: Twenty-five children participated on this study. They were divided in two groups: experimental group consisting of 16 participants, who engaged in the auditory temporal training activities; and a placebo group consisting of nine participants, who engaged in passive visual activities. The behavioral measures applied in the pre-training evaluation, post-training and placebo evaluations were: i) auditory skill of temporal ordering by the Pitch Pattern Sequence Test; and ii) analysis of the amount of voiceless/voiced-based orthographic errors and the frequency of occurrence of these errors by the use of dictation. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were found concerning the placebo group in the pre-training and post-training evaluations, in all evaluation measures. However, statistically significant differences were found in the pre-training and post-training evaluations for the pitch pattern sequence test concerning the experimental group. These differences were specifically related to a reduction of the errors regarding fricative graphemes, and the frequency of occurrence of plosive and fricative graphemes. CONCLUSIONS: The auditory temporal training program was effective in improving the temporal ordering skill and reducing errors in the writing of children who made voiceless/voiced-based orthographic errors.

Can speech-evoked Auditory Brainstem Response become a useful tool in clinical practice?

PURPOSE: To discuss the clinical applicability of the speech-evoked Auditory Brainstem Response (speech-evoked ABR) to help identifying auditory processing disorders. METHODS: We analyzed the records of 27 children and adolescents, aged between seven and 15, who presented abnormal speech-evoked ABR. Then, the data from the behavioral auditory processing evaluation of these individuals were surveyed. RESULTS: It was observed that, among the 27 children with abnormal speech-evoked ABR, 23 also had auditory processing disorders. Therefore, from this sample, an 85.15% probability of observing abnormal behavioral assessment of auditory processing in a child who presented abnormal speech-evoked ABR was obtained. CONCLUSION: It is argued that the speech-evoked ABR can be used in clinical practice as an important aid tool in the diagnosis of auditory processing disorder, because, in this study, an abnormal speech-evoked ABR usually represented a deficit in the results of behavioral assessment of auditory processing. Thus, it can be used to obtain information about the perception of speech sounds in children under seven years or with challenging behavioral assessment.

O Potencial Evocado Auditivo com estímulo de fala pode ser uma ferramenta útil na prática clínica? / Can speech-evoked Auditory Brainstem Response become a useful tool in clinical practice?

RESUMO Objetivo: Discutir a aplicabilidade clínica do Potencial Evocado Auditivo com Estímulo de Fala (PEATEf) no auxílio à identificação dos transtornos do processamento auditivo. Métodos : Foram selecionados os prontuários de 27 crianças e adolescentes, com idade entre sete e 15 anos, que apresentaram alteração no PEATEf. Foram levantados os dados referentes à avaliação comportamental do processamento auditivo desses indivíduos. Resultados: Observou-se que das 27 crianças com PEATEf alterado, 23 também apresentaram alteração de processamento auditivo. A partir dessa amostra, foi possível apontar probabilidade de 85,15% em observar avaliação comportamental do processamento auditivo alterada em uma criança que apresentou PEATEf também alterado. Conclusão: Sugere-se que o PEATEf pode ser utilizado na prática clínica como uma ferramenta importante no diagnóstico do Transtorno do Processamento Auditivo, uma vez que neste estudo uma alteração do PEATEf quase sempre representou, também, uma alteração nos resultados da avaliação comportamental do processamento auditivo, portanto pode ser utilizado para obter informações acerca da percepção dos sons da fala em crianças menores de sete anos ou de difícil avaliação comportamental.

ABSTRACT Purpose : To discuss the clinical applicability of the speech-evoked Auditory Brainstem Response (speech-evoked ABR) to help identifying auditory processing disorders. Methods : We analyzed the records of 27 children and adolescents, aged between seven and 15, who presented abnormal speech-evoked ABR. Then, the data from the behavioral auditory processing evaluation of these individuals were surveyed. Results : It was observed that, among the 27 children with abnormal speech-evoked ABR, 23 also had auditory processing disorders. Therefore, from this sample, an 85.15% probability of observing abnormal behavioral assessment of auditory processing in a child who presented abnormal speech-evoked ABR was obtained. Conclusion : It is argued that the speech-evoked ABR can be used in clinical practice as an important aid tool in the diagnosis of auditory processing disorder, because, in this study, an abnormal speech-evoked ABR usually represented a deficit in the results of behavioral assessment of auditory processing. Thus, it can be used to obtain information about the perception of speech sounds in children under seven years or with challenging behavioral assessment.

The memory systems of children with (central) auditory disorder.

This study aims to investigate working, declarative, and procedural memory in children with (central) auditory processing disorder who showed poor phonological awareness. Thirty 9- and 10-year-old children participated in the study and were distributed into two groups: a control group consisting of 15 children with typical development, and an experimental group consisting of 15 children with (central) auditory processing disorder who were classified according to three behavioral tests and who showed poor phonological awareness in the CONFIAS test battery. The memory systems were assessed through the adapted tests in the program E-PRIME 2.0. The working memory was assessed by the Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C), whereas the declarative memory was assessed by a picture-naming test and the procedural memory was assessed by means of a morphosyntactic processing test. The results showed that, when compared to the control group, children with poor phonological awareness scored lower in the working, declarative, and procedural memory tasks. The results of this study suggest that in children with (central) auditory processing disorder, phonological awareness is associated with the analyzed memory systems.

The memory systems of children with (central) auditory disorder / Os sistemas de memória de crianças portadoras do distúrbio do processamento auditivo (central)

This study aims to investigate working, declarative, and procedural memory in children with (central) auditory processing disorder who showed poor phonological awareness. Thirty 9- and 10-year-old children participated in the study and were distributed into two groups: a control group consisting of 15 children with typical development, and an experimental group consisting of 15 children with (central) auditory processing disorder who were classified according to three behavioral tests and who showed poor phonological awareness in the CONFIAS test battery. The memory systems were assessed through the adapted tests in the program E-PRIME 2.0. The working memory was assessed by the Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C), whereas the declarative memory was assessed by a picture-naming test and the procedural memory was assessed by means of a morphosyntactic processing test. The results showed that, when compared to the control group, children with poor phonological awareness scored lower in the working, declarative, and procedural memory tasks. The results of this study suggest that in children with (central) auditory processing disorder, phonological awareness is associated with the analyzed memory systems.

O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar os sistemas de memória de trabalho, memória declarativa e memória procedural em crianças portadoras de distúrbio do processamento auditivo (central) que apresentam baixo desempenho na avaliação da consciência fonológica. A amostra foi constituída de 30 crianças, na faixa etária entre 9 e 10 anos, que foram distribuídas em 2 grupos: um grupo controle, constituído de 15 crianças com desenvolvimento normal e um grupo experimental, constituído de 15 crianças com distúrbio do processamento auditivo (central), que foram classificadas de acordo com 3 testes comportamentais e com baixo desempenho na avaliação da consciência fonológica por intermédio da bateria de testes CONFIAS. Os sistemas de memória foram avaliados por meio de testes adaptados no programa E-Prime 2.0. A memória de trabalho foi avaliada com base na Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C), enquanto a memória declarativa foi avaliada por meio de um teste de nomeação de figuras, e a memória procedural, por meio de um teste de processamento morfossintático. Os resultados revelaram que, quando comparadas ao grupo controle, as crianças do grupo experimental apresentaram desempenho inferior na avaliação dos sistemas de memória de trabalho, declarativa e procedural. O presente estudo sugere que, em crianças com distúrbio do processamento auditivo (central), o processamento fonológico está relacionado com os sistemas de memória em estudo.