Development of Binaural Fusion Test in Malayalam

Abstract

Objective: APD has been referred to as dyslexia for the ears. The objectives of the present study were Develop a binaural fusion test in Malayalam for different age groups in children. The study also aimed at assessing the gender and age effect on the test developed.

Materials and Methods: A group of 60 school going children between the age group of 7 to 12.11 years were divided into 6 groups. A total of 300 CVCV words that are commonly used in Malayalam were selected from sources such as dictionary, newspapers and textbooks and story books suitable for the age group selected. A 10 point rating scale was used to judge the words, with 1 being ‘least suitable ’, 5 being ‘average’ and 10 being ‘the most suitable’ and the familiarity check was done at 4 levels. The finalized 80 CVCV words were divided into 4 lists of 20 words each by random numbering.

Results and Discussion: The results from the present study indicate a better performance in children with increasing age. This could probably be attributed to the characteristic of central nervous system characterised by an intrinsic “redundancy”—that is, an extensive interaction of its structures that is responsible for the resistance of the system to exhibit deficits on standard auditory testing in the presence of a lesion. The present study developed a test material which can be used for assessing the auditory processing in children.