Central auditory processing in urban black children, normal and learning disabled.

Abstract

Normative data from Windham et al (1985) for urban Black children aged 7-10 yrs on the SSW test and the Willeford central auditory processing battery were used to compare those norms with scores of 40 children of similar age and from the same population who were referred from the Howard University Child Development Center as being at risk for learning disability (LD). The L-competing, L-non-competing, and Total Error Score indexes from the SSW test, and the L-ear score from Willeford's Competing Sentences subtest, differentiated the LD Ss as a group from normals (p less than .05). Other tests were of questionable or no value in this regard for this population. It is suggested that it would be wise to view the results of these tests with caution and preferably in connection with other audiological testing when applied to LD Ss, especially if normative data for the particular subpopulation have not been collected.