Specific Learning Disabilities

Low Achievement ◽

Specific learning disability is a common neurodevelopmental disorder affecting about 5–8% of the school-aged population. A key concept in specific learning disabilities is unexpected low achievement. An individual whose achievement in reading, math, or writing is both low and less than what would be expected based on developmental capacity and opportunity to learn and whose low achievement cannot be explained by a sensory impairment, limited language proficiency, or other impairing medical condition is considered to have a specific learning disability. This chapter provides an overview of issues and challenges involved in the identification and diagnosis of a specific learning disability, and it provides information on prevalence, epidemiology, and interventions for specific learning disabilities. Response-to-instruction models of identification hold promise for the identification of individuals with a specific learning disability, and they provide a means for the identification of false positives while enhancing the instructional context for children at risk.

Deficits in musical rhythm perception in children with specific learning disabilities

Neurorehabilitation ◽

10.3233/nre-208013 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Vasudha Hande ◽

Shantala Hegde

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Learning Disability ◽

Language Processing ◽

Phonological Processing ◽

Target Language ◽

Rhythm Perception ◽

Musical Rhythm ◽

BACKGROUND: A specific learning disability comes with a cluster of deficits in the neurocognitive domain. Phonological processing deficits have been the core of different types of specific learning disabilities. In addition to difficulties in phonological processing and cognitive deficits, children with specific learning disability (SLD) are known to also found have deficits in more innate non-language-based skills like musical rhythm processing. OBJECTIVES: This paper reviews studies in the area of musical rhythm perception in children with SLD. An attempt was made to throw light on beneficial effects of music and rhythm-based intervention and their underlying mechanism. METHODS: A hypothesis-driven review of research in the domain of rhythm deficits and rhythm-based intervention in children with SLD was carried out. RESULTS: A summary of the reviewed literature highlights that music and language processing have shared neural underpinnings. Children with SLD in addition to difficulties in language processing and other neurocognitive deficits are known to have deficits in music and rhythm perception. This is explained in the background of deficits in auditory skills, perceptuo-motor skills and timing skills. Attempt has been made in the field to understand the effect of music training on the children’s auditory processing and language development. Music and rhythm-based intervention emerges as a powerful intervention method to target language processing and other neurocognitive functions. Future studies in this direction are highly underscored. CONCLUSIONS: Suggestions for future research on music-based interventions have been discussed.

Toward Defining Discrepancies for Specific Learning Disabilities: An Analysis and Alternatives

Learning Disability Quarterly ◽

10.2307/1510822 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 25-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Bob Algozzine ◽

Charles Forgnone ◽

Cecil Mercer ◽

John Trifiletti

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Learning Disabilities ◽

Learning Disability ◽

The United States ◽

Significant Discrepancy ◽

Severe Discrepancy ◽

According to the United States Office of Education, the only generally accepted manifestation of a specific learning disability is the existence of a significant discrepancy between expected and actual achievement. Within this context methods for determining the significance of any achievement discrepancies in children's performances become important. The research reported here attempted to evaluate the utility of two procedures for determining severe discrepancy levels; the benefits and liabilities of each are discussed.

Enhancing SLD Diagnoses Through the Identification of Psychological Processing Deficits

The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist ◽

10.1017/edp.2013.19 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 119-139 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Milton J. Dehn

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Learning Disability ◽

Integrated Model ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Processing Deficits ◽

Psychological Processing ◽

Specific Learning ◽

Identification Procedures

After defining psychological processing and providing descriptions of 10 interrelated neuropsychological processes, the author proposes an integrated model for identifying an individual's pattern of psychological processing strengths, weaknesses, and deficits when conducting a specific learning disability (SLD) assessment. The model incorporates approaches from other pattern of strengths and weaknesses (PSW) models, while adding three requirements designed to reduce psychometric concerns about the identification procedures. Details for analysing cross-battery data and recommendations for applying processing deficits to SLD determination are included. In support of the model, the article reviews research that links psychological processing deficits with specific learning disabilities. The article concludes with a brief overview of evidence-based interventions for psychological processing deficits.

Job Accommodations for Adults with Learning Disabilities: Brilliantly Disguised Opportunities

Learning Disability Quarterly ◽

10.2307/1511318 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 274-285 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Alice E. Jacobs ◽

Deborah J. Hendricks

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Learning Disability ◽

Final Section ◽

Information Service ◽

People With Disabilities ◽

Case Examples ◽

Job Accommodation ◽

Adults With Learning Disabilities ◽

The job accommodation needs of adults with a specific learning disability (SLD) are examined through an analysis of cases handled by the consultants at the Job Accommodation Network, an international accommodation information service of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. Case examples are included, which provide practical solutions to common situations involving adults with a SLD in the employment environment. The final section lists useful resources available to those involved in making accommodations for people with a SLD.

Visual and Auditory Learning Processes in Normal Children and Children with Specific Learning Disabilities

Council review ◽

10.1177/001440297003600803 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 36 (8) ◽

pp. 581-589 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Harold J. McGrady ◽

Don A. Olson

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Learning Disability ◽

Learning Processes ◽

Social Stimuli ◽

Normal Children ◽

Auditory Learning ◽

Disability Group ◽

The study was intended to describe and compare the psychosensory functioning of normal children and children with specific learning disabilities. Each of these children was given an automated battery of 13 psychosensory tests representing various combinations of auditory and visual intra and intersensory conditions for verbal, nonverbal-nonsocial, and nonverbal-social stimuli. On the psychosensory evaluation the learning disability groups made significantly more errors on the verbal psychosensory functions, regardless of the sensory conditions. The learning disability group also performed these tasks more slowly than normal children in nearly every comparison.

HIPERKINEZINIŲ SUTRIKIMŲ TURINČIŲ VAIKŲ INTELEKTO STRUKTŪRA

Psichologija ◽

10.15388/psichol.2011.44.2548 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. 57-74

Author(s):

L. Rakickienė ◽

S. Girdzijauskienė

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Learning Disability ◽

Processing Speed ◽

Digit Span ◽

Clinical Group ◽

Intelligence Scale ◽

Intellectual Abilities ◽

Freedom From Distractibility ◽

Straipsnyje aprašomas tyrimas, kuriuo siekta įvertinti Lietuvos pradinio mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų, turinčių hiperkinezinių sutrikimų, intelekto struktūros ypatumus. Tyrime dalyvavo 29 septynerių–dešimties metų vaikai, kuriems diagnozuotas hiperkinezinis sutrikimas. Tyrimo dalyviai atliko lietuviškąją Wechslerio intelekto testo vaikams – trečio leidimo versiją (WISC-III). Patvirtinančioji bei tiriančioji faktorių analizė parodė, kad hiperkinezinių sutrikimų turinčių vaikų intelekto struktūra, nustatyta WISC-III testu, nesiskiria nuo reprezentacinėje vaikų imtyje nustatytos intelekto struktūros. Klinikinės vaikų imties rezultatų vidurkių profilis buvo palygintas su WISC-III Lietuvos standartizacinės imties rezultatais. Nustatyta, kad hiperkinezinių sutrikimų turinčių vaikų WISC-III atlikimui būdinga žemas Atsparumo trukdžiams balas bei AKIS profilis (žemi Aritmetikos, Kodavimo, Informacijos ir Skaičių eilės subtestų balai), atspindintys dėmesio koncentracijos, atminties, nuoseklaus girdimosios informacijos apdorojimo ir žinių kaupimo sunkumus. Santykinai geri Panašumų, Paveikslėlių išdėstymo, Kubelių kompozicijos rezultatai leidžia teigti, kad operavimas sąvokomis, analizės ir sintezės gebėjimai, takusis intelektas yra hiperkinezinių sutrikimų turinčių vaikų galios. Kadangi didelei daliai klinikinės imties vaikų be hiperkinezinio sutrikimo buvo diagnozuotas gretutinis specifinis mokymosi gebėjimų raidos sutrikimas, palyginome vaikų, turinčių vien hiperkinezinį sutrikimą, ir vaikų, turinčių abi minėtas diagnozes, gebėjimų profilius. Pasirodė, kad nors hiperkinezinį sutrikimą bei gretutinį specifinį mokymosi gebėjimų raidos sutrikimą turinčių vaikų intelektiniai gebėjimai menkesni, gretutinis mokymosi gebėjimų raidos sutrikimas beveik neturi įtakos hiperkinezinių sutrikimų turinčių vaikų intelektinių gebėjimų profiliui.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: hiperkineziniai sutrikimai, intelekto struktūra, WISC-III, gretutinis mokymosi gebėjimų raidos sutrikimas. Intelligence Structure in Children with Hyperkinetic DisordersRakickienė L., Girdzijauskienė S. SummaryThe Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Third edition (WISC-III) has been widely used to assess the intellectual abilities of children with hyperkinetic disorders by both researchers and practitioners. The characteristic features of the WISC-III profile of this clinical group have been described by several authors (Anastopoulos et al., 1994; Assessmany et al., 2001; Snow and Sapp, 2000; Mayes and Calhoun, 2006; Ek et al., 2007). However, the issue of the WISC-III construct validity in this particular clinical group was scarcely addressed. It remains possible that in hyperkinetic children with poor attention this long and attention-demanding test measures other constructs than in general population. The objective of this study was to examine the structure of intelligence in primary school children diagnosed with hyperkinetic disorders. 29 children (23 boys and 6 girls) aged seven to ten years, participated in the study. All the children were diagnosed with a hyperkinetic disorder, and ten of them had a comorbid diagnosis of specific learning disabilities. The participants of the study completed the Lithuanian version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Third edition (WISC-III) (2002). The Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the construct validity of WISC-III when used in hyperkinetic children: one factor model (general intelligence) fits the data satisfactorily, while two factor (Verbal IQ, Performance IQ) and four factor (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organisation, Freedom from Distractibility, Processing Speed) models fit the data very well. However, the exploratory factor analysis revealed a different factor structure without the Processing Speed factor, more similar to WISC-R. It also showed that Object Arrangement is a problematic subtest when used with hyperkinetic children as it does not fit with any of the three factors. We suggest that its performance could be determined by emotional variables rather than by cognitive ones. The WISC-III profile of hyperkinetic children as a group was characterized by the low Freedom from Distractibility score and ACID profile (low Arithmetic, Coding, Information and Digit span scores). The mean scores of these subtests and factors were significantly lower than the standardization sample mean, which is 10 for subtest scores and 100 for factor scores: M = 8.4, t = –3.215, p < 0.01 for Information; M = 8.5, t = –5.998, p < 0.01 for Coding; M = 8.4, t = –3.194, p < 0.01 for Arithmetic; M = 6.9, t = –5.998, p < 0.01 for Digit Span; M = 86.17, t = –5.393, p < 0.01 for Freedom from Distractibility. These peculiarities of hyperkinetic children’s WISC-III performance are explained by difficulties in attention, short-term memory, sequential auditory processing and factual knowledge. Satisfactory results of Similarities, Picture Completion and Block Design suggest relative strengths of using concepts, ability to analyse and synthesize information, and fluid intelligence. It has been proposed that comorbid specific learning disabilities may affect the cognitive performance of hyperkinetic children. For this reason, the effect of a comorbid learning disability was also assessed. The results showed that, although the intellectual abilities of hyperkinetic children with a comorbid learning disability are lower, the comorbid learning disability does not change the hyperkinetic children’s intelligence profile.Keywords: hyperkinetic disorders, intelligence structure, WISC-III, specific learning disabilities.

Types of Specific Learning Disability

10.5772/intechopen.100809 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Vinutha U. Muktamath ◽

Priya R. Hegde ◽

Samreen Chand

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Learning Disability ◽

Language Processing ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Holistic Understanding ◽

Teachers And Parents ◽

The Individual ◽

The chapter “Specific Learning Disability and its Types” is an effort to educate the readers, specially the educators about a developmental disorder that begins by school age, although it may not be recognized until later. It involves on-going problems learning key academic skills, including reading, writing, and math. The chapter makes an attempt to bring about understanding of SLD, brief historical perspective and its classification. The chapter elaborately discusses the seven types of specific learning disability according to Learning Disabilities Association of America. The chapter centers around seven learning disabilities namely, dyslexia ,dysgraphia, dyscalculia, auditory processing disorder, language processing disorder, non-verbal learning disabilities , visual perceptual deficit; their causes and symptoms to give a holistic understanding about the disability for the teachers and parents to understand the individual differences.

Caregiver Burden in Learning Disability

International Journal of Indian Psychology ◽

10.25215/0203.011 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Archana Simon ◽

Veena Easvaradoss

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Learning Disabilities ◽

Parenting Stress ◽

Learning Disability ◽

Developmental Disorders ◽

World Health ◽

The Relationship ◽

Developmental Disorders interrupt normal development in childhood and involve significant handicaps, with onset before 18 years, which affect adaptive, self-help, cognitive and/or social skills. One of the most commonly occurring developmental disorders in normal school going children in India is Specific Learning Disability (3 % to 10%, Arun et al.,2013). The essential feature of Learning Disabilities is the presence of average to above average intelligence with large discrepancies between their abilities and specific areas of difficulty (DSM IV-TR, 2000). Parents play a crucial role in facilitating and maintaining gains in children with developmental disorders. Managing developmental disorders in children affects various aspects of the wellbeing of parents- the primary caregivers. This study focuses on the Quality of Life and Parenting Stress among parents whose children have Learning Disabilities. One hundred parents whose children were diagnosed with Learning Disability were involved in this study. The tools used were the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (1996) and the Parenting Stress Scale by Judy. O. Berry (1995). Comparison with 100 parents whose children were normal was also studied and significant results were obtained. Gender differences in the experience of Quality of Life and Parenting Stress among parents whose children were diagnosed with Learning Disability was also seen. The study also explored the relationship between the Quality of Life and Parenting Stress experienced by parents whose children have Learning Disability. The relationship between the Quality of Life and Parenting Stress experienced by parents whose children are normal was also studied. The results of this study highlight the importance of integrating parental counselling and psycho-education for the effective management of Specific Learning Disability.

Reversal-Shift Behavior in Children with Specific Learning Disabilities

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1974.38.2.431 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 431-438 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Janet J. Fritz

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Drug Treatment ◽

Learning Disability ◽

Discrimination Learning ◽

Reversal Shift ◽

Shift Task ◽

Attention Model ◽

Shift Performance ◽

The discrimination learning of 7- to 9-yr.-olds with specific learning disabilities was studied by using the reversal and intradimensional shift paradigms. Three groups of Ss included 20 normal controls, 20 having learning disability but receiving no drug treatment, and 10 having learning disability and receiving drug treatment. All groups given the intradimensional shift task performed significantly better than those given the reversal shift task, while the controls performed significantly better on both shift tasks than Ss with learning disabilities. The prediction of superior shift performance by the latter Ss who were receiving drug treatment, compared to that by the non-drug group, was not substantiated. Results were discussed in terms of support for the Zeaman and House attention model of discrimination learning and the effects of drug therapy on attention for children with specific learning disabilities.