1. Child Psychopathology
Learning Disability
Chapter 11

2. Learning Disability
Imagine having important needs and ideas to communicate, but being
unable to express them. Perhaps feeling bombarded by sights and
sounds, unable to focus your attention. Or trying to read or add but
not being able to make sense of the letters or numbers.
You may not need to imagine. You may be the parent or teacher of a
child experiencing academic problems, or have someone in your
family diagnosed as learning disabled. Or possibly as a child you
were told you had a reading problem called dyslexia or some other
learning handicap.

3. Definitional Issues
Broad range of definitions in various regions, provinces, and settings
Common issue: Children do not perform up to their expected level in school
Issues: What is the expectation? What is the level? How do we assess performance? What are the areas we are concerned about?
Multiple aspects of intelligence: Social, musical, kinesthetic intelligences not always figure into consideration: Or are these linked? Music/Math

4. DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria: Learning Disorders
Ability as measured by tests is substantially below expected given age, intelligence, and age-appropriate education
Achievement or activities of daily living is affected
Not due to sensory deficit, medical condition
Kinds: Reading Disorder, Mathematics Disorder, Disorder of Written Expression, Developmental Coordination Disorder, Expressive Language Disorder, Phonological Disorder

5. Assessment issues Detailed assessment of achievement Intelligence
WRAT-III has Reading, Arithmetic, and Spelling subtests
Intelligence
e.g., Average IQ, but inconsistent performance such as “peaks and valleys” in profile or VIQ>PIQ, PIQ<VIQ, or FSIQ>Achievement
Other cognitive processes
Memory (WMS), perceptual processing (Beery), sound/letter correspondance (TOPA), grammar/ spelling in writing
Fig. 10.6

7. What is “reading”? What can go wrong?
Focus attention on the printed marks and
control eye movements across the page
Left to right movement
Recognize the sounds associated with letters
Understand words and grammar
Build ideas and images
Compare new ideas to what you already
know
Store ideas in memory

8. Reading Disorders
Common underlying feature is inability to distinguish or separate the sounds in spoken words or decode words from text
Reading speed, accuracy, and/or comprehension are affected
Reversals (bab = bad), transpositions (was = saw; plane = plaen), inversions (M/W; u/n), omissions (bread = bead; pear = pea).
Give example of each for “nub”

9. Mathematics Disorder
Difficulty in recognizing numbers and symbols, memorizing facts, aligning numbers, and abstract concepts (What is “+”; 3 vs. 8; deleting “0” from 100; $$)
Core deficits in arithmetic calculation (2+2=3) and or mathematics reasoning abilities
Visual perceptual and visual spatial domains (Geometry, sets, maps)

10. Writing Disorder
Problems with writing, drawing, or other visual-motor tasks
Combination of core deficits related to written output including spelling, grammar, punctuation, poor organization, poor handwriting; Specifics similar to reading
Think of how pervasive writing is to testing within the school system
Can computers compensate for everything

11. Etiology
Reading disorders 60% heritable, thus genetic basis highly likely: autosomal dominant
Difficult to detect neurological problem
Anoxia at birth leads to elevated risk, even when IVH or lesion cannot be detected
Integration of skills and information == Metacognitive deficits, strategies
Auditory processing is important
Comorbid attentional and behavioral problems