Abstract

Central auditory processing disorders (CAPD) constitute a neuroauditory syndrome which affects the lives of adults and children in profound ways. CAPD is often diagnosed in children who experience educational distress despite intact hearing and cognitive ability. The benefit of early diagnosis of CAPD is in the potential for implementation of an intervention program designed to ameliorate and minimize the negative effects of this syndrome. Diagnostic and therapeutic instruments are almost exclusively constructed for children for whom English is a first language (L1). Consequently, children for whom English is a second language (L2) who are experiencing educational distress are excluded from the benefits of diagnosis and intervention for CAPD since their difficulties are usually blamed on their L2 status. This study was designed to investigate the usefulness of the CAPD construct in the assessment of L2 children's educational distress, to explore the ability of current diagnostic instruments to distinguish those with CAPD in both L2 and L1 children, and to determine the effect CAPD has on those who are clinically diagnosed. The study included 116 children, aged 8;0-11;11, with normal cognitive ability and peripheral hearing. Two groups were formed on the basis of identification of their mother's mother tongue, and its use in the home. The two groups differed significantly on oral language tests. The children were investigated for CAPD and in terms of educational distress variables. Multiple regression analyses showed that CAPD or low central auditory system efficiency (CASE) was significantly correlated with low performance on oral language measures and academic distress in the L2 group. In the L1 group low CASE was significantly correlated with a psychosocial/behavioural variable and with low oral language test performance. Cluster and discriminant analyses identified educational performance clusters in both language groups. Low CASE was associated with clusters of children manifesting learning problems in the L2 group, but not in the L1 group. A multiple embedded case study profiled children with severe CAPD and demonstrated that while CAPD had a negative impact on the academic lives of individual children in both language groups, the problems of the L2 children were often more severe.