Neurodevelopmental Precursors to Learning Disabilities

Abstract

This study documented the number and type of neurodevelopmental problems reported by parents of children with and without learning disabilities (LD), and examined whether a pattern of problems could be identified. One hundred parents, 50 for each group, responded to a retrospective developmental survey. Their children were between 9 and 13 years of age and had a history of either typical academic achievement or classification of a learning disability. Results indicated that the children with learning disabilities were reported to have significantly more neurodevelopmental problems or delays across domains (e.g., language, motor, attention, social behavior) than normal achievers. The study showed that a sizeable portion, although not all, of the children with LD had a history of neurodevelopmental problems. Despite findings that suggest that some difficulties more commonly co-occurred than others, a pattern of neurodevelopmental difficulties was not observed in these children. However, some specific difficulties, such as with following multistep directions, printing letters of the alphabet, and understanding directions (e.g., up, down, right, left), seemed to most typify the students with learning disabilities.

School neuropsychology consultation in neurodevelopmental disorders

“…This makes sense if one views developmental conditions, like SLD, as a result of faulty learning. However, neuropsychological research has long known that sensory-motor, tactile, and perceptual measures provide the best early detection of a neurodevelopmental disorder (Blumsack, Lewandowski, & Waterman, 1997;Dean et al, 2003;Ellison & Semrud-Clikeman, 2007;Reitan & Wolfson, 2003;Rourke, 1989;Rourke & Strang, 1978). Academic content measures have significant individual variability at earlier age ranges making it almost impossible to determine which child is typical versus atypical.…”

Comorbidity in children with severe developmental language disability

“…", the well-known Swedish psychiatrist Gunnar Klackenberg published his report on the unfavourable social and educational development of children with poor language ability at 3 y of age (1). His ndings have later been veri ed in several reports (2)(3)(4). Later research also demonstrates the co-occurrence of speech/language disorders and concurrent or later identi ed neuropsychiatric disorders (5), e.g.…”

Mothers Experiences of a Child with Learning Disabilities: A Phenomenological Study

“…Problems such as having difficulty learning how to read, poor printing, no interest in learning the alphabet and/or colours, were some areas in which mothers expressed concerns. Blumsack et al (1997) also found that problems were observed in the early years, the most commonly described falling within the categories of academic skill, social behaviour, and difficulty paying attention. In all cases, the early suspicions of the mothers were not confirmed as learning disabilities until later-in some cases many years laterand only after persistent intervention and advocacy efforts.…”

“…Findings with respect to written material suggested that when selecting information, highlighting the most important areas to read was most helpful to parents. Blumsack, Lewandowski and Waterman (1997) conducted research on parents' responses to questions regarding the development of their children with and without learning disabilities from infancy to around eight years of age. The authors reported that children with learning disabilities experienced more neurodevelopmental problems and /or delays in areas such as gross and fine motor skills, language, as well as, attention difficulties than normal achievers.…”