Changes in backward masking thresholds, reading, phoneme awareness, and language skills following an auditory training program

Deficits in auditory temporal processing, or the ability to process the rapid sequence of auditory stimuli within speech, have been linked to reading and language disorders. It has been suggested that a temporal processing deficit interferes with the development of phonological awareness, a prerequisite to early reading skills. This investigation examined the effects of an intense auditory training program, Fast ForWord (FFW, Scientific Learning Corporation, 1998) designed to increase auditory temporal processing on a group of children with poor reading skills. Two primary research questions were posed. Will children increase temporal processing abilities, as measured through backward masking, immediately following FFW and will temporal processing abilities be sustained six months following FFW? Secondly, will children increase reading, phoneme awareness, and language skills immediately following FFW, and will increases continue six months after FFW?; Immediately following FFW, backward masking thresholds improved, however there was no statistical difference between the FFW group and a control group. Even though masking thresholds improved, there were no increases in reading and only a modest increase on phoneme awareness as measured by the Nonword Repetition Task (p = .05). A significant increase of language measures was found immediate following FFW. Further assessment six months after FFW did not reveal a significant increase in 0-ms gap backward masking thresholds. Previous increases in language measures were not sustained at the end of the school year and there were no significant increases in reading skills. Both the FFW group and the control group increased phoneme awareness based on the NWT, however, only the children in the low average reading group significantly improved scores on the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization test.; This study calls into question the efficacy of an intensive auditory training program to improve reading skills. Although, phonological awareness abilities improved over the course of the school year, there were no improvements in reading abilities. The FFW program is designed to target an increase in auditory temporal processing skills, however, this investigation revealed that immediate improvements in backward masking thresholds do not necessarily precipitate increases in reading abilities immediately following FFW or six months later.