ERIC Number: EJ1176485
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Apr
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Screening Tests Reveal High Risk among Adjudicated Adolescents of Auditory Processing and Language Disorders
Moncrieff, Deborah; Miller, Elizabeth; Hill, Earl
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v61 n4 p924-935 Apr 2018
Purpose: The study investigated the prevalence of risk factors for auditory processing and language disorders among adolescents residing at a local juvenile detention center. Method: A total of 782 adjudicated adolescents with normal hearing were screened with the Randomized Dichotic Digits Test (Strouse & Wilson, 1999) and the Dichotic Words Test (Moncrieff, 2015). A subset of 420 of those adolescents was also screened with the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF; Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2003). Results: More than 70% of the adolescents produced weakness on at least 1 dichotic listening test. One third of those produced weakness across both dichotic listening tests, consistent with a binaural integration deficit pattern. Nearly 48% of the subgroup of adolescents produced CELF scores that fell below the criterion for age. Dichotic listening and language scores were more associated in participants with poor performance in both ears during dichotic tests, who also produced the lowest scores on the CELF. There was no main effect of race, but 17- and 18-year-old Black adolescents produced lower CELF scores than White adolescents of the same age. Conclusions: School-age children referred for disciplinary action may have undiagnosed deficits in auditory processing and/or language. Efforts to screen, diagnose, and remediate these deficits could lead to improvements in communication, learning, and language skills in this population.
Descriptors: Screening Tests, Adolescents, Juvenile Justice, Language Tests, Risk, Auditory Perception, Language Processing, Scores, Correlation, Race, African Americans, Whites, Discipline, Clinical Diagnosis, Language Impairments, Communication Skills, Language Skills
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Special Education Programs (ED/OSERS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A