PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between auditory abilities and combinations of distinctive features present in the speech of children with phonological disorders. METHODS: Participants were 22 children diagnosed with phonological disorders, of both genders, with ages between 5 and 7 years. Speech data were gathered using the Phonological Assessment of Children. The combination of features was observed through the Implicational Model Complexity of Traces (MICT). The acquired features considered a correct production above 80%. The following tests were also applied: Simplified Auditory Processing Evaluation (screening), Staggered Spondaix Word Test (SSW), Dichotic Listening Test, Binaural Fusion Test, Speech-in-Noise Test, and Pediatric Speech Intelligibility (PSI). RESULTS: All children had 100% success in the PSI. In the Binaural Fusion and Speech-in-Noise tests, as well as in the screening, subjects also had high averages. The SSW and the Dichotic Listening Test showed low scores. The combination of features that was more affected was [+approximant,+continuous], which is in the composition of the phoneme /r/, followed by [coronal,+continuous]/(-front), which compose the phonemes /ʃ,ʒ/. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in the SSW and Dichotic Listening Test showed a deficit in the abilities of complex temporal order and figure-ground, as well as lagged sensorial memory. These deficits might jeopardize the acquisition of the features described.
Speech disorders; Hearing disorders; Auditory perception; Auditory perceptual disorders; Hearing tests; Child
