Triagem de processamento auditivo central em crianças de 6 a 11 anos

The paper defines central auditory processing and explains its importance to literacy acquisition. It explains the nature and etiology of central auditory processing disorders in a history of repeated episodes of otitis, as well as its involvement in phonological processing disorders that underlie problems in the development of oral and written language, as in some cases of developmental dyslexia. The paper highlights the need for instruments capable of screening children with central auditory processing disorders in order to assess the effectiveness of intervention procedures aimed at preventing and treating oral and written language disorders. The paper examines ZA I DAN’^S (2001 ) battery for screening central auditory processing disorders^7 which consists of three tests for assessing the capability of repeating words presented under difficult audibility conditions: speech distorted by the omission of high frequency sounds, speech presented against background noise, and competitive speech presented in dichotic listening. In the present study, data re-analyses were conducted, this time with appropriate inferential statistics: ANCOVAs in order to control for wide variation among age levels. Results showed that ZAIDAN’s battery is, in fact, highly valid for 6-11- year-old children and sensitive enough to discriminate between children with and without clinical diagnosis of central audito~y processing disorder. Results showed that the validity and sensitivity were not res^b-icted to the battery as a whole but, rather, characterized each one of the three tests that compose it, since each test was, per se, sensitive enough to discriminate between children with and without central auditory processing disorders in the 6-1 1 age levels. Thus, Brazilian researchers, educators and practitioners have a powerful instrument for identifying children at risk of failing literacy acquisition, and for providing early intervention.