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Purpose: The article "It Is Time to Rethink Central Auditory Processing Disorder Protocols for School-Aged Children" (DeBonis, 2015) appeared in the American Journal of Audiology as a tutorial. The author used the argument made by Cowan, Rosen, and Moore (2009), referring to central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), that "such impairments have not been shown to uniquely contribute to a clearly defined condition that would warrant its inclusion in any of the major disease classification systems" (emphasis added; p. 129). However, CAPD is included in the U.S. version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems-10th Revision (ICD-10) under the code H93.25; this was not mentioned in the article by DeBonis. We would like to point out some additional omissions of this tutorial that may bias its conclusions.
According to the author of the article in question, the purpose was "to review the literature that pertains to ongoing concerns regarding the central auditory processing construct among school-aged children and to assess whether the degree of uncertainty surrounding central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) warrants a change in current protocols" (DeBonis, 2015, p. 124). However, consider the following points.
In the article, the definition of CAPD (DeBonis, 2015, p. 125) is limited to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) technical report, even though the American Academy of Audiology (2010) Clinical Practice Guidelines, British Society of Audiology Position Statement (2011), and Canadian Guidelines on Auditory Processing Disorder in Children and Adults: Assessment & Intervention (2012) are more recent.
The author uses the term traditional testing without defining what this is and then states that "[t]he traditional testing process supports the view that CAPD is primarily due to reduced function of the bottom-up aspects of the auditory system" (DeBonis, 2015, p. 125) without substantiating this claim by any reference. In addition, no reference is provided for the statement, "The researchers also suggested that performance differences between ears on dichotic tasks may be minimized when memory is controlled" (DeBonis, 2015, p. 125)
The article links dichotic digits and Digit Span Test, stating, "Consistent with this, Maerlender, Wallis, and Isquith (2004), on the basis of correlations noted between performance on dichotic digits and the Digit Span Test of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (Wechsler, 2004), suggested that...