Parents play a vital role in supporting children with learning disabilities, but little is known about their understanding of this diagnosis. The experiences of parents with the diagnostic process and the services their children receive post-diagnosis vary widely. Parents who participated in this study reported that they understand learning…

Objective: Studies of healthy individuals and those with cerebellar damage have implicated the cerebellum in a variety of cognitive and behavioral processes. Decreased cerebellar volume has been found in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and differentially related to behavioral outcomes. The present study investigated…

Aim: To compare the occurrence of neurological soft signs (NSS) in children with specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills (SDDSS) and normal children. Methods: 36 cases of SDDSS were compared with 30 control children regarding sociodemographic and clinical variables and neurological soft signs. Results: Children with SDDSS had…

This introductory article briefly describes each of the following eight articles in this special issue on the neurology and genetics of learning related disorders. It notes the greater appreciation of learning disability as a set of complex disorders with broad and intricate neurological bases and of the large individual differences in how these…

Simultaneous recordings of auditory brainstem and middle latency responses were obtained in both vertex-ipsilateral and vertex-contralateral derivations in 22 children, ages 8-12. For specific recording conditions, the latencies of middle latency responses differ significantly between children with and without learning disabilities, offering…

The paper examines the nature and remediation of reversal errors in five severely learning disabled boys (9-11 years old). Results of four phases (baseline and incentive conditions) are analyzed for timed and untimed performance of letter recognition. Among results cited are that for all Ss, errors in naming occurred with the letters p, d, b, and…

Available from: Melvin Lewis, M.D., Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06510. The conception of primary childhood aphasia and childhood autism is delineated as two parallel, but related, syndromic clusters, each with pervasive impact on development and affecting…

Research into visual, perceptual, and motor coordination suggests that the kind of physical activity and coordination involved in swimming might prevent some cases of dyslexia and improve the academic performance of many learning disabled children. Early neurological development shows a relationship among the creeping period, later communication…

This study reports clinical characteristics of developmental right-hemisphere syndrome, a nonverbal learning disability, in 20 children (mean age 9.5 years) who also manifested attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, graphomotor problems, and slow performance. Diagnostic criteria included emotional and interpersonal difficulties, paralinguistic…

A study investigated electroencephalographic (EEG) differences between children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with reading disabilities (ADHD + RD) (n=20) or without (n=20), and 20 controls. Results indicate differences found in the ADHD + RD group represent an electrophysiological component associated with the reading disability…

This review presents the most recent research concerning neuroimaging in developmental disabilities. Changes in structure and activation have been found in children with ADHD and learning disabilities, following intervention. For the children with learning disabilities changes in activation have been found following intensive behavioral and…

This paper examines the neurobiology of fluid cognitive functions of the prefrontal cortex and considers learning disability as a specific example of a group of developmental disorders characterized by fluid skills impairment in the presence of crystallized intelligence in the normal range. Research indicating fluid cognitive impairments in…

This article discusses recent findings concerning cognitive outcomes in traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children and adolescents, with a particular focus on age differences with TBI. It suggests a relationship between specific learning disorders and brain dysfunction, addresses differential hemispheric functioning with TBI, and outlines recent…

Recent advances in neuroimaging and genetics technologies have enhanced our understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders in adults. The authors in this volume not only discuss such advances as they apply to adults with learning disorders, but also address their translation into clinical practice. One cluster of chapters addresses developmental…