PURPOSE: To study the relationship between phonological disorder and auditory processing. METHODS: Data were gathered from patients' records, and included individuals with diagnosis of phonological disorder, with seven years old or more, who had carried out auditory processing tests. The study considered auditory processing evaluation, speech evaluation, gender, age, and school grade. RESULTS: All subjects (100%) presented at least one subprofile of the auditory processing altered. When compared the presence of substitution and syllabic structure processes to the results of auditory processing tests, a statistically significant correlation was found for the stage of binaural integration in the right ear on the dichotic digits test (p=0.018), and for the naming condition of the PPS test (p=0.041). When compared the auditory processing tests to the age variable, there was a statistically significant difference in the PSI test in the right ear (p=0.011) for the age range from ten to 12 years. The same result was found in the comparison between auditory processing tests and school grade, in which the right competitive condition of the SSW test (p=0.039) and attention directed to the right on the dichotic digits test (p=0.037) had statistically significant results for the more advanced school grades. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested the existence of a close relationship between auditory processing and phonological disorder, especially regarding the performance of the right ear. This finding evidences the importance of investigating the occurrence of deficits in the auditory abilities of children with phonological disorder.
Hearing; Auditory perception; Developmental disabilities; Language; Speech disorders
