Heidelberg Phoneme Discrimination Test (HLAD): Normative Data for Children of the Third Grade and Correlation with Spelling Ability

Abstract

Objective: The Heidelberg Phoneme Discrimination Test (HLAD), developed and standardized in 1998, is widely used in the differential diagnosis of dyslexia. Normative data have only been available for children of the 2nd and 4th grades, while norms for the 3rd grade are still missing. Patients andMethods: We assessed three HLAD subtests [auditory phoneme discrimination, kinesthetic phoneme discrimination (repeating minimal pairs) and phoneme analysis] in 140 children of the 3rd grade from eight elementary schools. Writing capacity was tested via DRT3. Results: Comparing children of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades, we found a continuing increase in phoneme discrimination capacity with age. This increase was especially evident for the task of auditory comparison. For the 3rd grade, the correlation between HLAD and writing test (qualitative analysis) was 0.55, and 0.36 between HLAD and writing (quantitative analysis). The correlation with writing tasks was highest in the 2nd grade. Conclusion: The steady increase in phoneme discrimination capacity from the 2nd to 4th grade may indicate maturation and learning effects at least until the age of 10 years.

Abnormal auditory ERP N100 in children with dyslexia: comparison with their control siblings

“…Given that developmental dyslexia is genetically associated [ 33 , 34 ] the possibility that the sibling controls of the current study were slightly dyslexic themselves cannot be completely ruled out. In this sense, the reports [ 35 , 36 ] provide additional explanatory hints underscoring the importance of the maturational age trajectory.…”

Suitability of Auditory Speech Sound Evaluation (A§E®) in German cochlear implant patients

“…Profoundly and prelingually deaf individuals lag significantly behind their hearing peers in standardized measures of reading achievement [4]. Tests like the Heidelberg phoneme discrimination test (HLAD) are suitable for normal hearing school age children only and not necessarily developed for hearing-impaired people [5]. As prelinguistic deaf children experience significant improvements in speech perception and production with decreasing implantation age approximately down to less than 1 year, there is a ''lack'' of methods testing phonemes in very young, hearing-impaired children.…”

Lautanalyse und Lautdiskrimination jugendlicher Sprachheilschüler

“…Normiert ist der H-LAD nur f ü r Kinder im Grundschulalter [2,6,11] . Nach der klinischen Erfahrung k ö nnen die durch ihn bestimmten Parameter aber auch bei Jugendlichen auff ä llig sein, insbesondere am unteren Ende des schulischen Leistungsspektrums, so z.…”

“…Fokussiert wurde auf folgende Gesichtspunkte: 1. F ü r den H-LAD wurde zun ä chst eine Verteilungsstatistik erstellt, denn bisher ist der Test nur an Grundsch ü lern normiert [2,6,11] …”

“…Diese Werteverteilung entspricht der bei Regelgrundsch ü lern [2,11] . F ü r das Gesamtkollektiv ist der Test somit " zu leicht " , im unteren Leistungssegment misst der H-LAD -ebenfalls entsprechend der j ü ngeren Altersgruppe -diff erenzierter.…”