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PubMed1985

Signs of neurobehavioral dysfunction in a sample of learning disabled children: stability and concurrent validity.

Of 270 learning disabled children with average intelligence and significant delays in reading comprehension a sample of 37 were evaluated for signs of neurobehavioral dysfunction. All such signs--primitive reflexes, equilibrium reactions, and postrotary nystagmus--were reliably assessed. A subsample of 19 children was compared with developmentally normal and mentally retarded samples for the occurrence of tonic neck reflexes and equilibrium reactions. The learning disabled children consistently showed deviancies like those of the retarded children; both of these groups differed from the normal children on most measures. These deviant responses persisted over a 9-mo. period for the learning disabled group. Compared with norms, the total learning disabled sample displayed hyponystagmus, and this depressed nystagmus persisted for 11 mo. Results are discussed in relation to the lack of correlation among the various signs of neurobehavioral dysfunction in the learning disabled children.

Achievement↗

PubMed1988

The relationship between visual-perceptual motor abilities and clumsiness in children with and without learning disabilities.

One visual-perceptual test, four visual-motor tests, and a test of motor impairment were administered to 22 children with learning disabilities and 22 children without learning disabilities, aged 5 to 8 years. The children with learning disabilities were divided into two groups--"clumsy" and "nonclumsy"--based on their scores on the motor impairment test. It was hypothesized that the clumsy children with learning disabilities would score significantly lower on visual-perceptual and visual-motor tests than the nonclumsy children with learning disabilities who, in turn, would score significantly lower than the children without learning disabilities. It was further hypothesized that there would be a significant correlation between the degree of clumsiness and the degree of visual-perceptual and visual-motor deficit. Analysis of the data indicated that, as expected, the clumsy children with learning disabilities scored significantly lower than the children without learning disabilities (the control group). There was no significant difference between the clumsy and nonclumsy children with learning disabilities or between the nonclumsy children with learning disabilities and the control group. Degree of clumsiness significantly correlated with scores on four of five tests. Results are discussed in terms of subtypes of learning disabilities and sample size.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1989

A childhood learning disability that predisposes those afflicted to adolescent and adult depression and suicide risk.

A particular subtype of learning disability (nonverbal learning disability) is described. This subtype of individuals with learning disability is seen to be at particular risk for depression and suicide. The origins of the study of this subtype of learning disability, its incidence in various forms of neurological disease, disorder, and dysfunction, and its behavioral and socioemotional manifestations (including its association with significant internalized forms of psychopathology) are described. A case history of a young woman who manifests this disability and who has attempted suicide on three occasions is also presented.

Adjustment Disorders↗

PubMed1980

Blind evaluation of body reflexes and motor skills in learning disability.

Motor dysfunctions have been associated with learning disabilities in casual observation and systematic study. However, most prior work has concentrated solely on high-level skills and has been subject to observer bias. In this study, boys with learning disability were blindly compared with paired controls on measures of postural and equilibrium reflexes as well as skills. Learning-disabled children as a group showed significant deficits on all measures; a few, however, were totally without deficit. The implications of these findings for controversies about the role of motor dysfunction in learning disabilities are examined.

Child↗

PubMed1992

Depression and learning disabilities in children.

Occurrence of learning disabilities was determined in 30 inpatient children aged 6-12 with major depressive disorder (MDD). Learning disabilities (LD) occurred seven times more often compared to community base rates (33% v 4.7%). While rates of comorbid diagnoses, severity of depression, and children's and parents' reports (DICA-C, DICA-P) did not differ between groups, teachers' reports (TRS, TRF) indicated increased classroom problems and poorer adaptive functioning in MDD/LD subjects (P < 0.0001).

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Working with families of learning disabled children.

The lives of learning disabled children and their parents are beset by bewildering paradoxes and misunderstandings, especially as they try to cope with educational systems. Social work professionals, as counselors and advocates, are shown to have the skills needed for early remedial intervention for the learning disabled.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1987

Sensitivity to nonverbal communication among male learning disabled adolescents.

9 white male learning disabled adolescents were administered the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity to assess their sensitivity to nonverbal communication. Analysis indicated these adolescents were poorer at decoding nonverbal cues than the nondisabled standardization sample. They also had difficulties in interpreting nonverbal messages, regardless of the mode in which they were presented. The relationship of learning disabled adolescents' sensitivity to nonverbal communication and social skills should be studied.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Pragmatic language skills of students with language and/or learning disabilities: a quantitative synthesis.

A meta-analytic review of 33 studies investigating the pragmatic language skills of 3- to 12-year-old students with language disorders, language-learning disabilities, or learning disabilities as compared with the pragmatic language skills of nondisabled peers was conducted. The students with language and/or learning disabilities demonstrated consistent and pervasive pragmatic deficits in conversation compared to non-disordered peers (mean effect size = -0.52; SE = 0.06) across settings, conversational partners, age groups, and types of pragmatic skills measured. The pragmatic differences between the students with language or learning disabilities and control groups could not be accounted for by differences in study methodology or design. Furthermore, these pragmatic deficits appeared to be more attributable to underlying language deficits than to insufficient social knowledge. These findings are consistent with the perspective that students with learning disabilities can also be described as language disordered, and that children with language disorders experience a continuum of language failure that may be manifested in different ways as they progress through school.

Child↗

PubMed1983

Physiological correlates of conduct problems and anxiety in hyperactive and learning-disabled children.

Thirty-six learning disabled children (21 of whom were also classified as hyperactive) were subgrouped according to teacher ratings of tension-anxiety and conduct problems and then compared on measures of tonic and phasic autonomic arousal. The results indicated that children rated high on the conduct problem dimension evidenced smaller amplitude specific skin conductance responses, and that anxiety appeared to exert a moderating effect on physiological responses. When the hyperactive sample was considered separately, lower skin conductance levels were observed in children rated high on conduct problems than in hyperactive children rated low in conduct problems. These findings support the notion that hyperactive and learning-disabled children are heterogeneous at a physiological level and suggest that physiological differences previously attributed to hyperactivity may actually be correlates of the conduct problem dimension.

Anxiety↗

PubMed1986

Cognitive and learning profiles of delinquent and learning-disabled adolescents.

The association between juvenile delinquency and learning disabilities has been a focus of considerable discussion and controversy. Nevertheless, only a limited number of investigators have directly contrasted these two populations. In those studies which have examined the link between antisocial behavior and school problems, research methodology has varied, resulting in conflicting evidence and limited consensus. The present study was designed to address this issue by comparing the cognitive and learning profiles of delinquents and learning-disabled adolescents. Specifically, 53 delinquents, 26 learning-disabled adolescents, and 50 average achievers were evaluated with newly developed educational and cognitive inventories. These assessment techniques were used to analyze several functional areas including processing efficiency, problem solving, and response style. Application of discriminant analysis to the cognitive and educational profiles of these adolescents suggested the existence of various subtypes of delinquency. Learning disabilities characterized one of these subgroups. It was concluded that more specific descriptions of the learning profiles of adolescent delinquents holds promise for rehabilitation and, perhaps, prevention of juvenile delinquency.

Achievement↗

PubMed1979

Nystagmus and ocular fixation difficulties in learning-disabled children.

The visual fixation ability of learning-disabled children was evaluated after sensory integrative therapy had been administered for short or long periods of time. Children with hyporesponsive postrotary nystagmus displayed reduced oculomotor control skills, but the deficit was apparent only in those who had been in therapy for a shorter interval. These results present further support for the hypothesis that the learning disabled can be differentiated according to their nystagmus characteristics. In addition, very tentative evidence suggested that sensory integrative therapy may have been successful in ameliorating the fixation deficiency; however, further research into this possibility is needed. The data also indicate that oculomotor control dysfunction may be a mediating mechanism for at least part of the learning disabilities experienced by some learning-disabled children.

Child↗

PubMed1983

A developmental study of vigilance in learning-disabled and nondisabled children.

To test the proposition that learning-disabled children manifest a sustained attentional deficit, the Continuous Performance Test was administered to learning-disabled and nondisabled children at three age levels. Children were tested on three task lengths (5, 10, and 15 minutes) and two modalities (auditory and visual) in which dependent measures were correct detections and false responses, d' and B values. As expected, learning-disabled children male fewer correct detections and more false responses and were less sensitive (d') to critical stimuli than were nondisabled children at all ages. There was also evidence to indicate that learning-disabled children apply different response criteria across age when compared to nondisabled children. B values varied significantly across age, group, modality, and time on task; d' remained relatively unchanged across time periods. The popular notion that learning-disabled and younger subjects start a vigilance task with the same capacity as nondisabled older children but show a decline in attention as time on task increases was not supported.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

Current status of the neuromaturational examination as an index of learning disability.

To further define the role of the neuromaturational examination in determining the presence of learning problems, we examined 104 boys, ages 9.5 to 14.1 years, representing three populations of school children: normal (32 boys), gifted (37), and learning disabled (35). Information concerning each child's behavior and development was obtained through a parent questionnaire; cognitive ability and academic achievement were measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (revised) and Woodcock -Johnson Psychoeducational Battery, respectively. Significant relationships emerged between the number of neuromaturational signs and data group membership (LD greater than N greater than G,P less than 0.05). The number of neuromaturational signs decreased with age for normal (P less than 0.05) and gifted (P less than 0.05) children, but not for the learning-disabled group. Tasks that differentiated the normal and learning disabled were entered into a stepwise discriminant analysis, with a resulting classification accuracy of 93.1% and 100% for the normal and learning-disabled boys, respectively. Analysis of covariance indicated that differences in performance of the three groups may reflect IQ differences among the populations. Learning disabled boys were more likely to exhibit synkinesis than normal boys, but gifted boys did not differ from the learning disabled in the frequency of synkinesis. Our data indicate that, although a composite set of neuromaturational tasks can discriminate normal and learning-disabled boys with a high level of accuracy, caution is urged because the findings may be more related to overall intelligence than to a specific learning disability.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Improving the test-taking skills of learning-disabled students.

16 learning-disabled second- and third-grade students were matched on previous years' achievement scores and grade and assigned at random to experimental and control conditions. Students in the experimental condition were given 8 20-min. sessions of training in test-taking skills particular to the Stanford Achievement Test. Analysis of test scores indicated trained students scored significantly higher on one subtest of a shortened version of the test than students who had not been trained.

Achievement↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A German perspective on learning disabilities.

German practices in the field of learning disabilities beyond preschool level are described in the context of their historical formation. In a historical perspective it becomes obvious that the German notion of Lernbehinderung, although being just a translation of "learning disabilities," differs markedly from the American definition. Definitional problems, educational practices, and emerging trends in the German field of "learning disabilities" are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The genetics of learning disabilities.

Rapid progress in the study of learning disabilities requires a common context within which investigators and professionals with very diverse backgrounds can work towards common goals. Much evidence points to the heterogeneity of origin and clinical expression of learning disabilities as well as to many other ways in which they resemble such multifactorial conditions as mental retardation, gout and hypertension. In these conditions, genetic and epidemiological methods have been used to sort out the constitutional and environmental factors which precipitate disease in susceptible persons. Such an approach to learning disabilities can be expected to be rewarding.

Dyslexia↗

PubMed1983

A categorical analysis of the social attributions of learning-disabled children.

The social attributions of learning-disabled and control children with either similar or higher social acceptance ratings were assessed within an open-ended interview format. In addition, measures of social self-esteem and expectation of social success were obtained. The learning-disabled group used luck more frequently and personality interaction less frequently as explanations for social outcomes than did the other two groups. Learning-disabled children also had the lowest expectation of social success and, like the low acceptance group, had a poorer social self-image. Possible explanations for the development of these attributions and the implications for holding them were discussed.

Child↗

PubMed1983

Learning disabilities and the college student: identification and diagnosis.

The identification and diagnosis of a learning disability in the college student are complex tasks. They constitute important tasks when we realize that 720,000 college students (6 percent, if we assume that there are 12 million in college today) may be learning disabled ( Astin 1983). It is evident that children with learning disabilities are at risk for psychological and social problems in adolescence and young adulthood ( Bellak 1979; Crabtree 1981; Cruikshank et al. 1980; Horowitz 1981). There is a risk that the learning disability will not be identified, and, hence, the problem will be treated as only a psychogenic one. Unfortunately, this will tend to contribute not only to the student's feelings of guilt, stupidity, and inability to change but also to the clinician's sense of frustration. The description of the learning disabled college student and the two-step identification process in this chapter provides guidelines to aid understanding of these issues. Most colleges have not yet come to grips with what it means to have learning disabled students in terms of teaching, academic evaluation, diagnosis, and college counseling. To do so is important not only because of recent laws that guarantee equal educational opportunity for these students but also because a learning disability, whether overt or covert, can profoundly affect a person's educational and psychosocial development. It has often been said that the capacity to love and work is the foundation for the healthy adult. It is easy to see how academic learning is the work of the college student and educational success or failure is linked integrally to self-esteem and self-love.

Dyslexia↗