The correlation between central auditory processing in autistic children and their language processing abilities.

AIM: To study the auditory profile at different levels of the auditory system in children with ASD and to verify the role of (Central) auditory processing disorder as an essential pathology of the autistic disorder or as an associated co-morbidity, and to establish the correlation between CAP findings and the language delay in these cases.

PATIENTS: The study included 30 children with definite autistic disorder according to DSM-IV-TR criteria and ADI-R among those attending the outpatient neuropsychiatry clinic of Alexandria University Children Hospital at El Shatby. An informed consent was taken from all patients in this part of the study. Confidentiality of the records was maintained.

METHODS: All cases were subjected to complete history taking and examination; special assessment to language skills and evoked potentials were done.

RESULTS: The results concluded that (central) auditory processing disorder is an essential pathology of the autistic disorder. Autistic children possess a dysfunctioning or an immature central auditory nervous system at both the brainstem and cortical levels.