How “Specific” Are Specific Learning Disabilities After All?

Abstract

Learning-related NDDs, such as Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), appear in childhood, and due to their high connectivity with children's schooling, they attract the intense interest of scientists. Successive questions arise about when and what is the most appropriate intervention, what are the benefits, what is the method of implementation, where should the intervention take place, and other related questions that arise always with the aim of optimizing support. But the question that precedes all the above is which exactly is the disorder? Is it only one? How are its symptoms distinguished and how could anybody be sure of its distinctiveness from others with a high rate of overlap? The introduction of the term ‘spectrum of NDDs' could pave the way for a re-approach of the clinical continuum of NDDs. This chapter aims to open a discussion and raise concerns about overlapping symptoms in learning-related NDDs, with the aim of achieving better intervention through a clearer system of diagnosis.

The High Rates of Comorbidity among Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Reconsidering the Clinical Utility of Distinct Diagnostic Categories

“…In future research, the progress of these innovative methods and other fourth-generation sequencing and neuroimaging methods will hopefully manage to fill in the knowledge gaps between genomics, molecular pathways, cellular communication, neuronal cognition, and brain function. The ultimate goal is to manage to translate these valuable measures, as well as better assessment and intervention techniques and tools [ 91 , 184 , 185 ] to improve the diagnostic approaches to neurodevelopmental disorders.…”

Special Issue “Neurogenetics in Neurology”

“…Hence, long-range interaction maps, in combination with DNA changes noticed in association with NDD, can be used as "pointers" to detect novel candidate disease-applicable genes. The functional handling of the long-range communication network, including enhancers and promoters via CRISPR-Cas9-based approaches, is beginning to be probed for the functional meaning of recognized interactions and the enhancers and the genes involved, enlightening our understanding of neural growth and its pathology [11].…”