Increased rate of listening difficulties in autistic children

• Published in: Journal of communication disorders 2022-09, Vol.99, p.106252-106252, Article 106252
• Main Authors: James, Philippa, Schafer, Erin, Wolfe, Jace, Matthews, Lauren, Browning, Stephanie, Oleson, Jacob, Sorensen, Eldon, Rance, Gary, Shiels, Lucy, Dunn, Andrea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Auditory filtering; Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Dichotic listening (DL); Listening difficulties; Speech-in-noise
• ISSN: 0021-9924; 1873-7994
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106252

•In autistic children with perceived listening difficulties, the most common parent-reported co-occurring conditions were aversion to noise, followed by attention deficits and recurrent otitis media.•The majority (86%) of ASD patients who self-referred to listening clinics due to hearing concerns presented with auditory deficits despite normal pure-tone hearing sensitivity.•The rate of parent-reported sensory issues, speech recognition in noise and dichotic listening deficits observed in autistic patients with normal pure-tone hearing were significantly higher than expected in a theoretical neurotypical population without listening difficulties.•Listening issues in autistic children were not attributed to pure-tone hearing sensitivity and were not correlated with attention. Auditory challenges are both common and disruptive for autistic children and evidence suggests that listening difficulties may be linked to academic underachievement (Ashburner, Ziviani & Rodger, 2008). Such deficits may also contribute to issues with attention, behavior, and communication (Ashburner et al., 2008; Riccio, Cohen, Garrison & Smith, 2005). The present study aims to summarize the auditory challenges of autistic children with normal pure-tone hearing thresholds, and perceived listening difficulties, seen at auditory-ASD clinics in the US and Australia. Data were compiled on a comprehensive, auditory-focused test battery in a large clinical sample of school-age autistic children with normal pure-tone hearing to date (N = 71, 6–14 years). Measures included a parent-reported auditory sensory processing questionnaire and tests of speech recognition in noise, binaural integration, attention, auditory memory and listening comprehension. Individual test performance was compared to normative data from children with no listening difficulties. Over 40% of patients exhibited significantly reduced speech recognition in noise and abnormal dichotic integration that were not attributed to deficits in attention. The majority of patients (86%) performed abnormally on at least one auditory measure, suggesting that functional auditory issues can exist in autistic patients despite normal pure-tone sensitivity. Including functional listening measures during audiological evaluations may improve clinicians’ ability to detect and manage the auditory challenges impacting this population. Learner Outcomes: 1) Readers will be able to describe the auditory difficulties experienced by some autistic pati