Word identification performance in the presence of competing speech and noise in learning disabled adults

Eight learning disabled (LD) adults and eight control subjects identified monosyllabic words presented simultaneously in the presence of speech spectrum noise and three types of linguistic maskers. The performance of LD subjects was poorer than that of the control subjects under each masking condition. Word identification was poorest in the presence of speech noise for both groups. No difference in performance was seen as a function of the linguistic content of the competing speech maskers. These results suggest that LD subjects present greater susceptibility to acoustic masking relative to control subjects and may support the view that auditory-language deficits observed in LD individuals may be secondary to an underlying acoustic-phonetic disorder rather than a central phonologic disorder. LD college students may experience S/N ratios in the classroom that perpetuate or exacerbate their listening problems.