Auditory backward masking deficits in children with reading disabilities

Studies evaluating temporal auditory processing among individuals with reading and other language deficits have yielded inconsistent findings due to methodological problems (Studdert-Kennedy & Mody, 1995) and sample differences. In the current study, seven auditory masking thresholds were measured in fifty-two 7- to 10-year-old children (26 diagnosed with reading disability [RD], 26 without reading disability). Hierarchic multiple regression analyses indicated that RD status predicted performance only in the backward-bandpass noise (p < .05) and backward notched-noise conditions (p < .05), suggesting both temporal and spectral auditory processing deficits. These results suggest that any auditory deficit associated with RD may be more complex than previously hypothesized.