LEARNING-DISABILITIES AND CENTRAL AUDITORY DYSFUNCTION

Hearing loss, whether peripheral or central, compounds the communicati on and educational problems of the learning disabled student. A centra l auditory processing disorder uniquely interferes with both the input and integration of verbal information, further resulting in a potenti ally permanent cognitive dysfunction during the developmental period o f acquisition of language. Illustrative cases are presented that indic ate the panorama of cognitive dysfunction associated with the learning disabled status. Methods of evaluation and identification and diagnos tic criteria are correlated with auditory, visual, and academic perfor mance. Comments regarding clinical awareness, prompt recognition, and ensuing individualized remediation are submitted.