A developmental-organizational perspective was employed to explore underlying risk for problem behavior in children with language learning disabilities. The independent and relative influences of social discourse and social skills on problem behavior were examined in 50 children with language learning disabilities (LLD) and 50 control children (children without LLD) aged 8 to 12 years. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that when examined independently, both impaired social discourse skill and poor social skills accounted for the negative effect of LLD status on children's problem behavior. When social discourse and social skills were examined simultaneously in relation to problem behavior, social discourse no longer retained its predictive value. This result suggests that children's impaired social interactional functioning is central to the development of behavioral symptomatology. However, the importance of social discourse cannot be overlooked, given the significant correlation between social discourse and social skills ratings. Though these results are correlational in nature, it is argued that the impaired communicative competence of some children with LLD may contribute to poor social skills that ultimately manifest themselves as more clinical problem behaviors characterized by internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Finally, differences were confirmed in social discourse performance, social skills, and problem behaviors between the children with LLD and the control group children. Findings emphasize the importance of the routine assessment and monitoring of broader social discourse skills, in addition to social competence, in children with LLD.
Our previous 1-year evaluation (Kershner, Cummings, Clarke, Hadfield, & Kershner, 1986) of the school-based Tomatis Program (LTP) failed to support its purported remedial effectiveness. Children with learning disabilities (LD) had been assigned randomly to an LTP plus direct instruction group or to a placebo group receiving only direct instruction. The purpose of the present study was to address the argument that favorable treatment effects of such process-oriented, neuropsychological training programs may occur over a longer span of time. Retesting the original sample one year after cessation of treatment revealed only a single group effect; the placebo children were superior on the Seashore Rhythm test, a measure of auditory discrimination. These results more firmly substantiate our earlier negative conclusions. But, more importantly, the longitudinal achievement gains observed in both groups of children, irrespective of their original treatment assignment, strongly support the efficacy of less exotic currently available remedial procedures.
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