The author analyses the role of auditory perception of children suffering from developmental speech disorders (developmental language disorder - DLD) by using auditory evoked potentials to clarify the relationship between disorder of speech comprehension and temporal processing. Diagnostic categories of interest are DLD, more commonly known in our country as developmental dysphasia and dysarthria. Children with country as developmental dysphasia have maximum difficulties in processing of the speech signal - auditory decoding deficit. This deficit in phonological processing has been suggested to be one of the basic underlying problems. Children with developmental dysarthria have specific articulation disorders without a cognitive deficit. Results: BAEP (brain stem auditory evoked potential) - a statistically significant difference between the values of latencies of wave V was found in children with dysarthria, in comparison of right a and left stimulated ears. In these children we assume a lesion in the subcortical region while in children with developmental dysphasia we suppose a more central localization of the time delay, i.e. in the cortical region. LAEP (long latency auditory evoked potential) were studied in children with developmental dysphasia. When comparing the results after tonal and verbal stimulation at the left side a statistically significant difference was found: the latencies of wave P3 to verbal stimuli were longer on the left side compared to tonal stimuli and to control. Latency differences may be related to a common timing deficit in developmental speech disorders. These results confirm disorders of temporal processing.

        Key words: developmental speech disorder, temporal processing, auditory evoked potentials.