Persistent Auditory Language Deficits in Adults with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

To the casual observer, learning disabled adults' oral language appears adequate. When they enter college, heavy demands are placed on both receptive and expressive oral language abilities, but typically only reading and written language abilities are assessed. Dr. Blalock describes below the auditory processing, receptive, and expressive language deficits she found in her study of 80 LD adults and how they themselves observed the effects of these deficits on their performance in a variety of settings; academic, social, and vocational. Because oral language is not evaluated consistently in LD adults entering college LD programs, her findings have significant implications for assessment and program development at the college level if inroads are to be made in the improvement of the most severe and widespread deficit in LD adults, namely, the deficit in written language. Of 80 young adults diagnosed as having learning disabilities, 63 were found to have oral language and/or auditory processing deficits. These problems included deficits in auditory discrimination, comprehension, memory, auditory recall, oral formulation, and pronunciation of multisyllabic words. Problems in metalinguistic abilities were seen most frequently. These residual auditory deficits were reported to interfere with social and vocational functioning as well as with academic performance.