Introduction: The aim of the study was to assess load surface with regard to muscle tone distribution of premature infants compared to full-term infants. Material and methods: Twenty-four infants aged 3-6 months (adjusted age) were examined, including 12 premature infants (born before 37 weeks) and 12 full-term infants. The study was carried out at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw in the period from January to June 2016. The study involved interviews with the infants’ parents and examinations of infants in a supine and prone position performed on PodoBaby digital podoscope. Support surface, i.e. the loading on the left and right side of the body and the length of trunk sides were analysed. Statistical analysis was performed with the use of Statistica v.12 software and Student’s t-test. Results: No significant differences between premature infants and full-term infants regarding the loading on the right side measured in a supine position were revealed (analogous lack of differences was noted on the left side and in a prone position). In a prone position, the correlation between support surface and the length of trunk sides was noted, i.e. the loaded side of the trunk was lengthened, while the unloaded side was shortened. Conclusions: Considerable asymmetry of the loads of trunk sides was noted in premature infants, while in the case of full-term infants, the values of loads were close to symmetry. An examination with the use of PodoBaby podoscope may be applied in early diagnostics in pediatric rehabilitation.

The occurrence of problems linked to cognitive-linguistic and auditory processing may lead to serious phonological disorders such as an incorrect use of sounds by a child. Early diagnosis of auditory processing disorders makes it possible to start the therapy quickly and enhances the child's chances of proper development. In the cerebral cortex, there is a physiological connection between auditory processing and speech production. Auditory processing disorders lead to improper development of speech and language communication. Auditory processing disorders in older children are assessed with the use of behavioural tests such as a binaural integration test, Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW) test, Dichotic Digit Test and Speech-in-noise (SIN) test. The drawbacks of these tests are that they are applied when speech production disorders already occur. They cannot be used in newborns due to the fact that they are incapable of cooperating. The NBAS scale used in physiotherapeutic diagnosis may be employed to assess processing disorders in the youngest children. This procedure is very simple and results provide early information regarding the child's auditory integration. Foreign research points to a significant correlation between auditory processing disorders and phonological disorders mainly in terms of distinguishing phonemes. auditory perception, speech disorders in children, NBAS Streszczenie Występowanie problemów związanych z przetwarzaniem poznawczo-językowym oraz słuchowym może prowadzić do powstania poważnych zaburzeń fonologicznych, polegających m.in. na tym, że dziecko niepoprawnie używa dźwięków. Wczesne rozpoznanie zaburzeń przetwarzania słuchowego daje szansę na szybkie rozpoczęcie terapii