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Students with learning disabilities in Canadian colleges and universities: a primer for service provision.

The authors, both of whom are involved in providing support services to university students with learning disabilities, describe some of the current issues and challenges faced by students, staff, and faculty. Programs and initiatives in some Canadian institutions that have proven to be successful are described, such as a sequential five-step procedure model that directed the delivery of services at the university. Resource and reference lists are also provided.

Canada↗

Intervention-based assessment: rates of evaluation and eligibility for specific learning disability classification.

Intervention-based assessment, a systematic form of prereferral intervention, represents a viable alternative to "test and place" models for identifying and teaching children with a variety of learning-related problems in schools. Data obtained from 13 schools participating for a third year in a pilot study of statewide implementation of intervention-based assessment suggested that, in comparison to a prior prereferral intervention model, fewer children are evaluated and found eligible for special education. Of those children receiving intervention-based assessment, a slight decrease occurs in the percentage classified as specifically learning disabled.

Adolescent↗

Exner's Four Square: useful index in appraisal of learning disability?

Rorschach protocols, focusing on Exner's Four Square, were obtained for 14 boys who had been referred for a second opinion following an initial diagnosis as learning disabled. The findings indicated wide diversity, suggesting that a significant proportion of students manifest fundamental problems which are not essentially cognitive in nature. For these students, traditional psychoeducational decisions may be inappropriate and unproductive.

Adolescent↗

The experiences of families of children with learning disabilities: parental stress, family functioning, and sibling self-concept.

Quantitative and qualitative measures of 19 parents and 19 siblings of school-age children with learning disabilities (a parent-sibling pair for each child) showed that the functioning of the families and the self-concept of the siblings were comparable to that in families of nondisabled children, but the parents in the former group experienced greater stress than did parents of nondisabled children. Furthermore, despite few problems in sibling relationships, the families experienced adaptational difficulties, especially with regard to the school. Family intervention and future research are suggested.

Adolescent↗

Transition from school to adulthood: case studies of adults with learning disabilities who dropped out of school.

In-depth, structured interviews were conducted over a 2-year period with four young adults previously identified as having learning disabilities during their school years. All four had dropped out of high school; but overall, they reported that their early withdrawal was an important and affirming choice in their transition from youth to young adulthood. Themes emerging as noteworthy include their lack of involvement in formal vocational assessment, their own individualized education programs, and adult services. The personal stories and experiences cast doubt on the prevailing opinion that school dropouts are "losers" and "failures." In contrast, their stories reveal a serious shortfall in their secondary special education programming and in the overall transition planning process.

Adolescent↗

The effects of an interactive instructional strategy for enhancing reading comprehension and content area learning for students with learning disabilities.

This study investigated the effectiveness of an interactive vocabulary instructional strategy, semantic-feature analysis (SFA), on the content area text comprehension of adolescents with learning disabilities. Prior to reading a social studies text, students in resource classes either completed a relationship chart as part of the SFA condition or used the dictionary to write definitions and sentences as part of the contrast condition. Passage comprehension was measured on a multiple-choice test consisting of two types of items, vocabulary and conceptual. Comprehension was measured immediately following teaching and again 6 months after teaching. Prior knowledge for the content of the passage served as a covariate. Results indicated that students in the SFA instructional condition had significantly greater measured comprehension immediately following and 6 months after initial teaching. These results are discussed in relation to concept-driven, interactive strategies for teaching content and facilitating text comprehension.

Adolescent↗

Effects of the vestibular system on human development, part 2: Effects of vestibular stimulation on mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, and learning-disabled individuals.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, studies concerned with the effects of vestibular stimulation on human development and function were reviewed and some implications for therapy were suggested. In Part 2, three categories of dysfunction with possible links to the vestibular system are discussed. Studies in the category of mental retardation evaluate motor development and sensory preference. Possible vestibular associations with emotional disturbance are examined by review of studies concerned with etiology, motor activity, speech, and clinical observations. A brief review of studies concerned with early identification and speech and language factors of learning-disabled children constitutes the third category. Interpretations are drawn and some implications for therapy are made.

Affective Symptoms↗

A four-year longitudinal investigation of the social skills and behavior problems of students with learning disabilities.

This longitudinal, prospective study investigated the social skills and behavior problems of three groups of students (10 students per group) from kindergarten through third grade: learning disabilities (LD), low achievement (LA), and average/high achievement (A/HA). Social skills and behavior problem rating scales were completed by teachers on all students during kindergarten through third grade. Students in the LD and LA group exhibited significantly lower social skills and higher levels of behavior problems than their A/HA peers, but no significant differences for either measure were found between the LD and LA groups. Scores on the cooperating/responding factor of the social skills rating scale increased over time, but scores on the outgoing/initiating factor of the social skills rating scale did not change significantly over time. Discussion focused on the finding that students in the LD and LA groups did not differ significantly on social skills or behavior problems over time, though both groups demonstrated more behavior problems and lower social skills than the A/HA students.

Child↗

Toward a procedure for minimizing and detecting false positive diagnoses of learning disability.

Assessment procedures that can significantly enhance motivation to perform are needed so that poor performance due to low or avoidance motivation is not misdiagnosed as indicating ability deficits or as symptomatic of learning disabilities (LD). In this connection, research is under way to investigate the degree to which a highly motivating computer game learning task can improve differential diagnoses of LD. Findings from the initial investigation indicate that a large proportion of students diagnosed as LD were able to learn effectively when pursuing such a task. The results illustrate the key role motivation plays in determining the validity of diagnostic assessment and demonstrate the potential value of similar tasks for use in differentiating, from among individuals diagnosed as LD, those who do not have impaired learning processes.

Adolescent↗

[Neuropsychological characteristics of selective attention in children with nonverbal learning disabilities].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the neuropsychological characteristics of selective attention such as attention control, working memory and attention persistence of frontal lobe in children with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD). METHODS: With Auditory Detection Test (ADT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and C-WISC, 14 children with NLD and 23 controls were tested and the results of sub-tests of C-WISC were analyzed with factor analysis. ADT was mainly applied to test the ability of auditory discernment and the function of dominance lateralization in the cerebra; WCST was employed to test the function of working memory which was based on the frontal lobe, and, C-WISC, to test the intelligent structure and characteristics. RESULTS: Compared with control group, the correct response rate of ADT in NLD group was much lower (P < 0.01), and the number of incorrect response was much larger (P < 0.01). Children with NLD had deficits of auditory selective attention. Moreover, the number of categories achieved (CA) and perseverative error (PE) of WCST were much lower (P < 0.05), which indicated that children with NLD had the disorders of selective attention and performance function. Factor analysis showed that perceptual organization (PO) related to visual space and freedom from distractibility (FD) related to attention persistence in NLD group were obviously lower than those in control group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). These findings further supported the above-mentioned results. CONCLUSIONS: Children with NLD had attention control disorder and working memory disorder mainly in frontal lobe; we suppose that the disorder in right frontal lobe was distinctive.

Attention↗

Reality perceptions of television: a comparison of emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, and nonhandicapped children.

The Stony Brook Videotest (SBV), a measure of reality perceptions of television programs and commercials, was administered to 38 emotionally disturbed (ED), 35 learning disabled (LD), and 159 nonhandicapped elementary school children. The ED and LD children scored significantly lower than the comparison group, indicating that ED and LD children are less able to distinguish between reality and fantasy on television. The clinical implications of these findings and possible remedial actions are discussed.

Affective Symptoms↗

Comprehension of idioms in adolescents with language-based learning disabilities compared to their typically developing peers.

UNLABELLED: Adolescents with language-based learning disabilities (LBLD) often interpret idioms literally. When idioms are provided in an enriched context, comprehension is compromised further because of the LBLD student's inability to assign multiple meanings to words, assemble and integrate information, and go beyond a local referent to derive a global, coherent meaning. This study tested the effects of context and familiarity on comprehension of 24 idioms in 22 adolescents with LBLD. The students completed the Idiom Comprehension Test (ICT) [Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 30 (1999) 141; LSHSS 34 (2003) 69] in one of two conditions: in a story or during a verification task. Within each condition were three familiarity levels: high, moderate, and low. The LBLD adolescents' data were then compared to previously collected data from 21 age-, gender-, and reading ability-matched typically developing (TD) peers. The relations between reading and language literacy and idiom comprehension were also examined in the LBLD adolescents. Results showed that: (a) the LBLD adolescents generally performed poorly relative to their TD counterparts; however, the groups performed comparably on the high and moderate familiarity idioms in the verification condition; (b) the LBLD adolescents performed significantly better in the verification condition than in the story condition; and (c) reading ability was associated with comprehension of the low familiarity idioms in the story condition only. Findings are discussed relative to implications for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and educators working with adolescents with LBLD. LEARNING OUTCOMES: As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to (1) describe the importance of metalinguistic maturity for comprehension of idioms and other figures of speech; (2) understand the roles of context and familiarity when assessing idiom comprehension in adolescents with LBLD; and (3) critically evaluate assessments of idiom comprehension and determine their appropriateness for use with adolescents with LBLD.

Adolescent↗

The person with a learning disability as a minority group member.

Last semester, while concluding an autobiography for a class assignment, the author came to the realization that being a person with a learning disability constitutes a strong connection to people of other minority groups. This article will develop that theme, searching relevant issues through applied sociological principles and utilizing personal commentaries by members of those groups.

Achievement↗

Callosal size in children with learning disabilities.

The corpus callosum (CC), the main structure subserving hemispheric collaboration, that is necessary for efficient cognitive functioning, undergoes developmental processes such as axonal retraction and myelination. Callosal growth therefore is vulnerable for adverse events such as perinatal asphyxia, but there are also genetic and epigenetic factors that determine form and thickness. MRI scans of 110 children, either with specific learning disabilities (LD), i.e. dysphasia/dyslexia, or with several degrees of general LD, showed callosa that were highly variable in size. The callosal size corrected for brain size did not vary significantly according to the severity of the LD, although it tended to be smaller in severe LD, i.e. mental retardation. Callosal size varied however, due to the likely presence of genetic influences or of adverse perinatal events. Children with familial dysphasia/dyslexia, had a thicker CC, possibly reflecting a poorly understood neurodevelopmental mechanism that inhibits the establishment of cerebral dominance. LD children (all subgroups together) with perinatal adverse events had a smaller CC than the familial cases, suggesting CC damage. Despite a multitude of developmental factors influencing the final size, this study suggests that total callosal size, supposedly linked to interhemispheric function, may contribute to the pathophysiological mechanisms that give rise to LD.

Adolescent↗

Autosomal dominant inheritance of abnormalities of the hands and feet with short palpebral fissures, variable microcephaly with learning disability, and oesophageal/duodenal atresia.

We report two families with an autosomal dominant syndrome of abnormalities of the hands and feet, short palpebral fissures, and variable microcephaly with learning disability. Between a third and a quarter of cases are born with oesophageal atresia, duodenal atresia, or both. Individual patients have hypoplastic thumbs or congenital heart disease. The phenotype of the syndrome reported here is similar to that observed in 13q22-qter deletion patients. However, chromosome analysis has not detected any structural abnormality in our patients.

Duodenal Obstruction↗

Sulthiame in adults with refractory epilepsy and learning disability: an open trial.

This prospective uncontrolled open study explored the efficacy and long-term tolerability of sulthiame (STM) in 52 patients with refractory epilepsy and learning disability. Thirty-six patients completed a 14-weeks trial period with STM and 22 patients achieved a seizure reduction>50% of which three became seizure-free. Twenty-six patients continued taking STM for now up to 120 weeks, one continued to be seizure-free, whilst five patients stopped STM during this period. These promising observations require further evaluation in a controlled trial.

Adult↗

Adolescents with learning disabilities at risk? Emotional well-being, depression, suicide.

As recently as 5 years ago, very little information on the emotional well-being of adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) was available. However, a great deal of research has been conducted recently and some of the implications are unnerving. Research on self-concept, attributions, anxiety, depression, and suicide among adolescents with LD is examined for the purpose of detecting consistency of indicators concerning these emotional and developmental variables. The research indicates that the emotional development of many adolescents with LD is not notably positive, and these students appear to be at increased risk for severe depression and suicide. The discussion highlights methodological pitfalls and developmental issues. Practical implications are suggested.

Adolescent↗