Review of "To Laugh: To Play: To Learn."

Reviews the film, To Laugh: To Play: To Learn produced by the Canadian Educational and Psychological Consultants Ltd. To Laugh: To Play: To Learn is a series of two 30 minute color films on the diagnosis and treatment of Learning Disabilities. The first film in the series, "An Introduction to Learning Disabilities" is well organized, interesting and has a certain charm. The film contains a substantial body of knowledge which could provide the basis for several hours of lecture or discussion. The film is a useful and charming approach to learning disabilities, but to gain the greatest value from it, the commentator should have some first-hand experience of clinical neuropsychology and learning disabled children. The second film in the series, "There is a Way," attempts to examine a number of common problems of children with learning disabilities. It begins with a demonstration of a learning machine for teaching arithmetic and moves on to perceptual discrimination, a demonstration of several remedial procedures, the use of medication for hyperactivity, the emotional and social development of the child, learning games, and interviews with two teenagers who had been successfully helped to circumvent or resolve their learning problems. While all of these topics are important, their discussion in a 30 minute film is necessarily brief and sometimes superficial. In spite of this, the film should be useful in presenting the ideas and problems for group or class discussion. Like the first film, it is given considerable diversity by a large number of short interviews and demonstrations with a variety of people and children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychological testing: Relevance for assessing children's learning disabilities.

The traditional concept of learning disabilities makes two presumptions of direct relevance to neuropsychological assessment. The first is that deficits in psychological processes are responsible for learning problems in children who should otherwise be able to learn. The second is that these processing deficits are a reflection of biological-genetic factors. A review of the literature on neuropsychological test batteries suggests that both presumptions are credible. Although the neurological validity of these batteries is uncertain, there is at least indirect evidence for biological influences on performance. The psychological significance of test deficits has been more clearly established. Cognitive dimensions tapped by neuropsychological batteries discriminate disabled from nondisabled learners, appraise different sources of learning failure, help to identify the children most likely to develop these disabilities, and are useful in making treatment recommendations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential inhibition of cyclooxygenases-1 and -2 by meloxicam and its 4''-isomer

Our objective was to delineate the educational and behavioral differences between learning disabled children with and without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A restrospective (TROHOC) multimeasure comparative design was employed. Parents' and teachers' questionnaires (ANSER system) pertaining to attention-activity, associated behaviors, and scholastic achievements were compared. Parents' questionnaires failed to distinguish between the two groups. Teachers' questionnaires were significantly more sensitive. Significant correlations between educational achievements and attention-activity and associated behaviors scores among children with learning disabilities were evident, no such correlations were found in the group with learning disability with ADHD. The factor analysis identified different educational and behavioral aggregates with language related difficulties and externalizing behaviors more typically aggregated in the learning disabled group with ADHD and recall deficit and internalizing/neurotic behaviors in the group with learning disability only. ADHD appears to be an associated comorbidity and not necessarily a specific learning deficit. However, children with learning disability with ADHD possibly have a different underlying neurocognitive pattern than their peers with learning disabilities only.     

The effects of aerobic exercise on psychological and behavioral variables of individuals with developmental disabilities: a critical review

Physical fitness of persons who are developmentally disabled has received relatively little attention in the special education literature when compared to intellectual functioning (e.g., learning, memory, and language) and to acquisition of functional skills (e.g., self-care, community, and vocational). Despite an increased interest in recreational programming stimulated by the concept of functional curricula, teachers may still be reluctant to include physical fitness activities in their students' schedules. Perhaps physical fitness programming for those with developmental disabilities would have wider appeal and application if it were embedded in the broader context of psychological and behavioral change (i.e., engagement in exercise produces generalized changes beyond direct improvement in physical well-being). This article is a review and critique of literature that focuses on the effects of participation in aerobic exercise on three classes of psychological/behavioral variables for persons with mental retardation and associated disabilities. The methodology that characterizes this literature is analyzed, and recommendations for future research are proposed.     

Profiles of college students demonstrating learning disabilities with and without giftedness

The purpose of this study was to analyze the assessment profiles of two groups of adults with learning disabilities. The first group comprised 48 adults (34 men and 14 women) demonstrating giftedness and a learning disability profile (G/LD). The second group of 46 adults (31 men and 15 women) demonstrated a learning disabled profile without giftedness (NG/LD). Both groups of participants were either attending or planning to attend college and sought testing at a university-affiliated learning disabilities center. Participants' mean age was 20 years, and all were White and from middle to upper-middle class backgrounds. Findings indicate that, as a group, the adults demonstrating a G/LD profile tended to be identified later and have more discrepancy among cognitive assessment profile scores than the NG/LD group. Cognitive subtest scores showed significant differences between the groups, but also several areas of weakness evident in both groups regardless of the presence of giftedness. These findings emphasize the importance of identifying the presence of learning disabilities among gifted populations.     

Personality factors associated with severe traumatic disability.

Investigated whether persons with traumatic injuries are more extraverted than nontraumatically disabled persons. 111 rehabilitation patients with either traumatic or nontraumatic disabilities associated with either chronic pain or motor loss completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the SCL-90. Results show that the traumatically disabled Ss with motor loss (paraplegia or quadriplegia) were more extraverted and less distressed than Ss with nontraumatic disabilities or with traumatically induced pain. It is contended that the external orientation characteristic of extraversion and the style of learning through actively and repeatedly challenging the environment may account for the prominence of extraversion within the traumatically disabled group with motor loss and for the relative absence of distress for this group in the highly structured medical/rehabilitation environment. It is suggested that the psychological adjustment of more extraverted personalities to disability involving motor loss may be better facilitated by interventions that encourage experiential learning and challenging environmental limits than by introspective psychotherapy or counseling. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent outcome of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and social disability: Results from a 4-year longitudinal follow-up study.

IQ-achievement discrepancy methodology similar to that used in defining learning disabilities has recently been used to identify a subset of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) evidencing marked impairment in social functioning. In this study, 2 issues were examined: (a) What is the longitudinal outcome of boys with ADHD identified at baseline as "socially disabled?" (b) Is social disability at baseline a significant predictor of severe long-term outcomes (such as substance use disorders) in boys with ADHD? If so, are its predictive relationships accounted for by conditions that are comorbid with ADHD? Results showed that, at follow-up, ADHD boys with ADHD who also had social disability evidenced significantly higher rates of mood, anxiety, disruptive, and substance use disorders, compared with nonsocially disabled boys with ADHD and comparison boys without ADHD. Findings also showed that social disability at baseline in boys with ADHD was a significant predictor of later conduct disorder and most substance use disorders after baseline mood and conduct disorders and behavior checklist ratings of aggressive behavior and attention problems were controlled. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Separability of metacognition and cognition: Problem solving in learning disabled and regular students.

Investigated whether metacognition is a separate factor from cognition by measuring the effects of metacognitive factors in problem solving while attempting to hold relevant cognitive factors constant. 24 2nd–6th graders who were disabled in mathematics were matched to 24 regular students on the basis of both Ss' performance on the same set of 10 mathematics problems and their achievement test scores in mathematics. The 2 groups also did not significantly differ on IQ scores. Results show that the learning disabled Ss were less skilled in 2 forms of metacognition with respect to the set of problems: (a) knowledge about cognition, or in this case knowledge about their problem-solving skills; and (b) regulation of cognition, or in this case the ability to monitor their problem-solving performance. Implications of the results and the adequacy of the matching methodology are discussed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of causal attributions in public misconceptions about brain injury.

Objective: Social psychological theories such as attribution theory have been applied to conditions such as depression and physical disability, but not to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The goal of this paper is to show that that attribution theory and related concepts help to explain the public's misconceptions about TBI and other challenges faced by clinicians and families of persons with TBI. Results: Research shows that misconceptions about brain injury occur because people misattribute the actions of persons with brain injury. These misattributions reflect two features: (a) the absence of visible markers of the injury, and (b) the tendency to compare persons with TBI with their peers rather than their own preinjury performance. These two processes lead to the opposite pattern to the stigma that occurs with visible disabilities: specifically, a failure among members of the public to recognize that problematic behaviors may result from the injury. This analysis suggests several therapeutic strategies for managing public misconceptions in ways that enhance coping and recovery. Conclusion: Clarifying the attribution processes that underpin misconceptions about brain injury provides a framework for enhancing rehabilitation and addressing these misconceptions effectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Right hemisphere, white-matter learning disabilities associated with depression in an adolescent and young adult psychiatric population

Four hundred and eighty-four adolescents and young adults at an inpatient psychiatric facility were diagnosed as nonverbal learning disabled, verbal learning disabled, general learning disabled, or normal psychiatric controls. The nonverbal learning disabled group had the highest incidence of depression and was clearly different from the reading disabled group (66.3% vs. 33.3%). Nondisabled subjects were significantly more likely than the other subjects to be diagnosed with adjustment problems. Depressed subjects were significantly younger and more likely to be female. This study supports the contention that right-hemisphere, white-matter, arithmetic-disabled adolescents and young adults in a psychiatric population are at greater risk for depression than are psychiatric patients not showing this pattern.     

Is there a relationship between child abuse and learning disability?

Reviews 7 studies on the possible relationship between child abuse and learning disability. It is concluded that despite case reports linking child abuse with learning disability in some cases, there is no evidence either that abused children are more likely than nonabused children to have a learning disability or that learning disabled children are more likely than children without learning disabilities to be abused. The studies that have been done included diverse definitions, a variety of small and unrepresented samples, an absence group, and a lack of information about the children's pre-abuse characteristics. It is suggested that case studies may be the most useful method. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The science of learning disabilities.

Reviews the book, The science of learning disabilities, by K. A. Kavale and S. R. Forness (1985). Kavale and Forness assert that the field of learning disabilities has become a pseudoscience. They state that the purpose of their book is to demonstrate how the field of learning disabilities strayed from its scientific course and suggest how it can regain its scientific status. To accomplish their goals, the authors emphasize the importance of scientific inquiry, the history of the learning disabilities field, and possible solutions to the problems they depict as currently being characteristic of the field. The field of learning disabilities, they assert, strayed from the scientific method by emphasizing empirical associations per se without the proper formulation of theories regarding learning disabilities. The authors fulfill their stated goals of describing how many in the learning disabilities field drifted away from the scientific method and by outlining how the field can regain its scientific status. The review of the history of the learning disabilities field is comprehensive and informative. This book is written in a scholarly, unemotional style. Although its exploration of the scientific method, that forms the basis of the authors' arguments, is simple and consistent with that provided in most introductory texts in the sciences, the authors' discussions of research findings are, at times, complex. Readers who are not familiar with meta-analytical techniques are encouraged to obtain some familiarity with these before reading this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socioemotional disturbances of learning disabled children.

A review of research on the relation between socioemotional functioning/disturbance and learning disabilities in children suggests that (a) although some learning disabled (LD) children suffer from socioemotional disturbance (SED), most do not; (b) there is no single, unitary pattern of emotional disturbance or social incompetence displayed by LD children; (c) the types of SED exhibited by LD children may be more frequent in such children than in their normally achieving age mates; (d) one pattern of central processing abilities and deficits appears to lead both to a particular configuration of academic achievement and to a particular form of SED, whereas other patterns do not; (e) psychopathology worsens in children with nonverbal learning disabilities; and (f) the methodologies and model developments designed to illuminate the relation between learning disabilities and SED must encompass the heterogeneity of the subtypal presentations evident in each. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instrument for locating students with suspected learning disabilities: a quantitative approach

The instrument to locate students with learning disabilities was developed to create equality and uniformity, so that such difficulties could be spotted independently of socialization factors, teachers and parents to whom the student had been exposed. The instrument was developed on the basis of research that defines the reading rate of students with reading disabilities in words per minute, the minimum number of errors for locating writing disabilities, and the number of answers and lines a student uses to reconstruct the content of a passage adapted to his or her age level. The research carried out in order to construct the instrument is the first to attempt to quantify disability, and on this basis to construct an instrument to locate students with disabilities in reading, writing and visual recall. The procedure can be carried out for a whole class in a single lesson period. One indirect conclusion from the research is that disability indicators remain with the learning disabled regardless of time since diagnosis or remedial help. Other implications related to combining the quantity component in diagnoses of degrees of difference in the disability identified, and in extra examination time for the learning disabled. The instrument should solve the problem of locating students with difficulty reading, writing or in visual recall, due to disability. Students thus identified will be directed to individual diagnosis to find out whether their difficulties are primary or secondary (e.g. a new immigrant who still has trouble with Hebrew). A personal corrective programme can then be constructed.     

A critique of the application of sensory integration therapy to children with learning disabilities

Sensory integration (SI) therapy is a controversial--though popular--treatment for the remediation of motor and academic problems. It has been applied primarily to children with learning disabilities, under the assumption that such children (or at least a subgroup of them) have problems in sensory integration to which some or all of their learning difficulties can be ascribed. The present article critically examines the related issues of whether children with learning disabilities differentially exhibit concomitant problems in sensory integration, and whether such children are helped in any way by means specific to SI therapy. An overview of theoretical contentions and empirical findings pertaining to the first issue is presented, followed by a detailed review of recent studies in the SI therapy research literature, in an effort to resolve the second issue. Results of this critique raise serious doubts as to the validity or utility of SI therapy as an appropriate, indicated treatment for the clinical population in question--and, by extension, for any other groups diagnosed as having "sensory integrative dysfunction." It is concluded that the current fund of research findings may well be sufficient to declare SI therapy not merely an unproven, but a demonstrably ineffective, primary or adjunctive remedial treatment for learning disabilities and other disorders.     

Children's values in regard to disabilities: A reply to Yuker.

Responds to H. Yuker's (1983) comments on a series of studies conducted by the present author and colleagues between 1961 and 1977 concerning children's values in regard to disabilities. Some of the issues examined included whether children have a preference for nondisabled over disabled children, whether certain disabilities are preferred over others, and whether disabled children differ from nondisabled children in their attitudes toward disabilities. The present author emphasizes the different conceptual lines of thought underlying the work and responds to the issues raised by Yuker. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning disabilities: Policy issues and promising approaches.

The current status of knowledge concerning learning disabilities is reviewed with respect to areas of consensus and areas of disagreement about this phenomenon. The adequacy of the knowledge base is evaluated, and implications for social policies regarding the definition, diagnosis, treatment, and education of learning disabled children are drawn. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-concept and peer acceptance in students with learning disabilities: A four- to five-year prospective study.

Examined the peer relations and self-concepts of students prior to and following their identification by the school district as learning disabled (LD) in a 4- to 5-yr prospective study. Self-concept ratings (kindergarten–4th grade) and peer acceptance ratings (kindergarten–3rd grade), as well as academic achievement scores, were compared across 3 groups: LD students who were placed in resource special education programs during 2nd grade, low-achieving (LA) students, and average-achieving/high-achieving (AA/HA) students. For peer acceptance, AA/HA students' scores were higher than LA students' scores only. No between-groups differences were obtained during any school year on the self-concept measure. Findings suggest that LD students' self-perceptions are not negatively affected by academic and social difficulties in the early grades or by the identification and labeling process. Though generalization is limited by the small sample size, few studies have examined students with learning disabilities longitudinally or prior to and following their identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)