Criteria to Classify Children as Having Auditory Processing Disorders

Purpose: The study aimed to determine a criterion to diagnose the presence of auditory processing disorder (APD) in children. Method: Using a standard comparison design, 280 children "not at risk" for APD and 100 children "at risk" for APD were evaluated on 4 different tests: Speech-in-Noise Test in Indian English (Yathiraj, Vanaja, & Muthuselvi, 2010), Dichotic Consonant-Vowel (Yathiraj, 1999), Duration Pattern Test (Musiek, Baran, & Pinheiro, 1990), and the Revised Auditory Memory and Sequencing Test in Indian English (Yathiraj, Vanaja, & Muthuselvi, 2010). The age of the children ranged from 6 to 10 years. Results: With a cutoff criterion of 1 SD below the mean of the test scores, 8% of the children "at risk" for APD passed all the tests, whereas 28% passed with a criterion of 2 SDs below the mean scores. The tests most frequently failed by these children were Speech-in-Noise Test in Indian English and Dichotic Consonant-Vowel. Conclusions: A cutoff criterion of 2 SDs below the mean scores of typically developing children is recommended to diagnose children as having APD if they performed poorly on only one test. For children who performed poorly on more than one test, a cutoff criterion of 1 SD below the mean scores of typically developing children is recommended.