Efficacy of training with the Arabic "differential processing training program "on temporal processing skills in dyslexic children with auditory processing disorder: A randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: There is a lot of debate regarding auditory processing disorders, especially treatment, as there is no gold standard to date. Learning and literacy challenges can result from impaired auditory processing abilities, specifically temporal processing skills, compromising a child's academic and social accomplishment. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of auditory processing training using the adapted translated version of the "Differential Processing Training Program" on auditory and cognitive functions in Egyptian Arabic-speaking dyslexic children with auditory processing disorder in comparison to training with the established Arabic computer-based auditory training program. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 52 dyslexic children with an auditory processing disorder. Using block randomization, the children were divided into two groups: a case group called the DPTP group and a control group called the CBAT group. Objective assessments were used to assess both groups' auditory skills. The DPTP group received training using the "Differential Processing Training Program," while CBAT received training in a computer-based auditory training program. Both groups were re-evaluated post-therapy using the same protocol. RESULTS: All assessed parameters demonstrated statistical improvement in both groups when pre-therapy and post-therapy scores were compared. Furthermore, the DPTP group exhibited superior performance in the AFTR when percent change was compared between the studied groups. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal processing skills showed a favorable response to therapy. Comparable results of the Arabic version of the "Differential Processing Training Program" and the Arabic computer-based training program Hence, the Arabic version of the "Differential Processing Training Program" is a reliable and valid training program for the tested population.

Evaluation and remediation of central auditory processing disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders.

OBJECTIVES: This study was carried out to assess various skills of central auditory processing (CAP) in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and to evaluate the efficacy of auditory training in these children. METHODS: This study is a non-randomized clinical experiment. 30 high functioning ASD children aged from 7 to 12 years were included in the study. They underwent behavioral assessments of CAP skills with subsequent remediation by dichotic training therapy for the children who revealed dichotic deficits. RESULTS: Scores of CAP skills in ASD children are wide-ranging from completely normal to substantially defective and generally lower than those of typically developing children. By auditory training, ASD children improved their dichotic deficits as well as other untrained areas of auditory and language processing skills. CONCLUSIONS: A group of ASD children showed different degrees of abnormalities in CAP that could be measured behaviorally and achieved benefits from auditory training in improving their dichotic listening, auditory and language processing skills.

The correlation between central auditory processing in autistic children and their language processing abilities.

AIM: To study the auditory profile at different levels of the auditory system in children with ASD and to verify the role of (Central) auditory processing disorder as an essential pathology of the autistic disorder or as an associated co-morbidity, and to establish the correlation between CAP findings and the language delay in these cases. PATIENTS: The study included 30 children with definite autistic disorder according to DSM-IV-TR criteria and ADI-R among those attending the outpatient neuropsychiatry clinic of Alexandria University Children Hospital at El Shatby. An informed consent was taken from all patients in this part of the study. Confidentiality of the records was maintained. METHODS: All cases were subjected to complete history taking and examination; special assessment to language skills and evoked potentials were done. RESULTS: The results concluded that (central) auditory processing disorder is an essential pathology of the autistic disorder. Autistic children possess a dysfunctioning or an immature central auditory nervous system at both the brainstem and cortical levels.

The processing of speech and non-speech sounds in aphasic patients as reflected by the mismatch negativity (MMN).

This study compared the discrimination of speech and non-speech sounds in left-hemisphere stroke patients with aphasia and healthy controls by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioural responses. It was found that the mismatch negativity (MMN) amplitude for vowel and duration changes in speech sounds was diminished in the patients. In contrast, there was no significant difference between the groups in the MMN for comparable frequency and duration changes in non-speech sounds. In the behavioural session, the patients were slower than the control subjects in discriminating duration changes of both types of sounds. These results suggest that left-hemisphere lesions have differential effects on the discrimination of speech and acoustic features indicating that they have separate neural substrates.

Auditory discrimination after left-hemisphere stroke: a mismatch negativity follow-up study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We sought to determine the recovery of cortical auditory discrimination in aphasic, left-hemisphere-stroke patients by using an electrophysiological response called mismatch negativity (MMN) and speech-comprehension tests. METHODS: MMN in 8 left-hemisphere stroke patients was recorded in response to duration and frequency changes in a repetitive, harmonically rich tone 4 and 10 days and again 3 and 6 months after their first unilateral stroke. Eight age-matched, healthy persons served as control subjects. RESULTS: At 4 days after stroke onset, patients' sound discrimination was impaired in their left hemisphere, as suggested by attenuated MMNs, especially to right-ear stimuli. At 3 months after stroke, however, MMN to the right-ear duration change had significantly increased and was of normal size. A significant change for the frequency MMN was found for left-ear stimuli between 3 and 6 months after stroke. During the follow-up period, progressive improvement in speech-comprehension tests was also observed. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between the change in the duration MMN amplitude and the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination speech-comprehension test from 10 days to 3 months after stroke. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the MMN can be used as an index of the recovery of auditory discrimination.