Speech Recognition in Noise by Children with and without Dyslexia: How is it Related to Reading?
Reading problems and speech-in-noise problems in dyslexia travel separately, so assess and treat each one.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Nittrouer et al. (2018) compared two groups of school-age kids: children with dyslexia and children who read on grade level.
Each child took a quick reading test and a speech-in-noise test. The speech test used simple words played with background babble.
The team wanted to know if one shared auditory problem causes both poor reading and poor speech-in-noise scores.
What they found
Kids with dyslexia scored lower on both tests, but the gaps were small and did not line up.
A child who was worst at reading was not always worst at hearing words in noise.
The data showed two separate, mild problems instead of one root cause.
How this fits with other research
Poelmans et al. (2011) looked at the same age group and also found weak speech-in-noise skills in dyslexia. They added that the trouble lasts into sixth grade, matching the mild deficit Susan saw.
Plant et al. (2007) tested kids labeled with auditory processing disorder. Those children were bothered equally by speech and non-speech sounds, hinting that different labels may share similar listening issues.
Sayyahi et al. (2017) studied preschoolers with speech sound disorder. They found that tiny gap-detection problems predicted inconsistent speech, showing auditory timing matters early on. Together, the four papers suggest auditory challenges pop up across diagnoses, but each child shows a unique mix.
Why it matters
Do not assume that fixing reading will automatically fix listening in noise, or the other way around. Check both skills during your assessment. If a student with dyslexia still struggles to follow directions in a noisy classroom, add a quick speech-in-noise screener. Target each weakness separately: use phonics drills for reading and auditory training or seating changes for listening. Small, paired checks keep goals clear and save therapy time.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: Developmental dyslexia is commonly viewed as a phonological deficit that makes it difficult to decode written language. But children with dyslexia typically exhibit other problems, as well, including poor speech recognition in noise. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the speech-in-noise problems of children with dyslexia are related to their reading problems, and if so, if a common underlying factor might explain both. The specific hypothesis examined was that a spectral processing disorder results in these children receiving smeared signals, which could explain both the diminished sensitivity to phonological structure - leading to reading problems - and the speech recognition in noise difficulties. The alternative hypothesis tested in this study was that children with dyslexia simply have broadly based language deficits. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-seven children between the ages of 7 years; 10 months and 12 years; 9 months participated: 46 with dyslexia and 51 without dyslexia. METHODS: Children were tested on two dependent measures: word reading and recognition in noise with two types of sentence materials: as unprocessed (UP) signals, and as spectrally smeared (SM) signals. Data were collected for four predictor variables: phonological awareness, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, and digit span. RESULTS: Children with dyslexia showed deficits on both dependent and all predictor variables. Their scores for speech recognition in noise were poorer than those of children without dyslexia for both the UP and SM signals, but by equivalent amounts across signal conditions indicating that they were not disproportionately hindered by spectral distortion. Correlation analyses on scores from children with dyslexia showed that reading ability and speech-in-noise recognition were only mildly correlated, and each skill was related to different underlying abilities. CONCLUSIONS: No substantial evidence was found to support the suggestion that the reading and speech recognition in noise problems of children with dyslexia arise from a single factor that could be defined as a spectral processing disorder. The reading and speech recognition in noise deficits of these children appeared to be largely independent.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2018 · doi:10.1111/desc.12558