An evaluation of brainstem auditory evoked potential(BAEP) was carried out in 368 children with language development disorder and in 116 control children matched for age. An abnormal BAEP was documented in 290 children with language development disorder, whereas none was found in control subjects. Among patients with abnormal BAEP, 90 had a history of receiving aminoglycoside antibiotics, 55 had perinatal asphyxia,hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy or severe infection, 35 had cerebral pulsy, 41 had mental retardation to varied degree, 12 had a history of acute central nervous system infection,and 7 had a family history of hearing loss.Results suggested that BAEP evaluation might be a simple, noninvasive, objective and reliable test. It could be used as a screening test for early detection of hearing loss among children with language development disorder.