Showing papers in "Journal of Learning Disabilities in 1972"

Words and Things

Abstract: Many children have more difficulty processing and remembering words than they do real things, events, experiences. This essay is a plea for professionals to help parents and teachers understand the dramatic difference between words and things; and to help them see that many children are, unexpectedly, quite capable with direct experience, though not with words.

Improving Academic Scoresthrough Sensory Integration

Abstract: A group of learning disabled children, matched with a control group for degree and type of sensory integratiie dysfunction, showed greater gains than the control group on academic tests after an intervention program designed to enhance sensory integration. Children with auditory-language problems but without other evident perceptual-motor involvement made significant gains, as did those with more generalized problems. The remedial program, based on understanding how the brain integrates sensations, stressed controlled vestibular and somatosensory stimulation and normalizing brain-stem sensory and motor mechanlsms. Language ws employed for communication purposes only and not as part of the remedial program.

Training Visual Perceptual Processes

Abstract: In this article, recent research and writing has been organized for the purpose of (1) operationally defining “visual perception,” (2) investigating the relationship between visual perception and reading comprehension, and (3) determining the effects of visual perceptual training on reading and visual perception. Visual perception was defined as those brain operations which involve interpreting the physical elements of the stimulus rather than the symbolic aspects of the stimulus and are usually referred to as visual discriminations and/or spatial relationships. It was concluded that little correlation existed between measures of visual perception and tests of reading comprehension and that training visual perceptual skills, using currently available programs, has no positive effect on reading and possibly none on visual perception.

Field Dependence, Impulsivity, and Learning Disabilities

Abstract: Twenty-seven boys with serious learning and behavioral disorders and 25 boys with moderate learning problems were evaluated in terms of constructs of “field dependence-independence” and “reflection-impulsivity” using a portable rod and frame test, a pattern walking test, and the Matching Familiar Figures Test. Compared to available normative data for normal-achieving children, LD boys were found to be highly field dependent; extreme LD boys were also impulsive. Field dependence associated with rapid response rate appears incompatible with success in most educational tasks. Analysis of children's perceptual and cognitive styles is proposed as a tentative but promising approach to understanding the educational problems of LD children.

Some Issues Facing the Field of Learning Disability

Abstract: The author, who for more than three decades has been associated with the field presently called “learning disabilities,” examines some of the issues coincident to its unprecendented rapid growth. The field is seen as complex and confused both from the point of view of theory and personnel. Among numerous problems relating to an appropriate conceptualization of the field, three are selected for emphasis: (1) failure to adequately operationally define “learning disability”; (2) the lack of qualified college professors, and, in the absence of quality personnel, the lack of quality programs for children and parent involvement; (3) the threat of class action suits reminiscent of those which are current in the education of retarded children. In combination, these three factors constitute significant hurdles to the education essential for children with specific learning disabilities.

Use of a Teacher Rating Scale

Abstract: A study of the Pupil Behavior Rating Scale (PBRS) was made to determine its factor structure and to determine its utility for screening children at the elementary school level to identify potential learning disabilities. An analysis of teacher ratings of 183 boys identified as having learning problems and 176 normal learners indicated that teachers consistently rate the problem learners lower on each area of the scale. The factor structure of the scale, however, resulted in four rather than the designated five independent categories of behavior. The scale's validity was evaluated by comparing two groups of children identified on the basis of the PBRS, together with reading and WISC vocabulary scores. The learning disabled group scored significantly lower than the children on each measure. It was concluded that the PBRS provides an efficient and economical measure for screening purposes. However, further study of the validity and of the basis upon which teachers make such discriminations is necessary.

Short-term Memory and Cross-modal Information Processing in Autistic Children

Abstract: The short-term memory and cross-modal information processing capacities of seven autistic/schizophrenic children were tested with visual-visual and auditory-visual matching and sequencing tasks presented under three conditions: (1) simultaneous, (2) successive, and (3) delayed presentation. Although there were large individual differences in the patterning of intact functions, most of the children showed severe visual-visual short-term memory deficits and several children were unable to make cross-modal associations between auditory and visual stimuli. The results suggest that perceptual disabilities rather than emotional disturbance may underly the delayed intellectual and language development of psychotic children and may contribute to the development of bizarre behavior patterns.

Comparative Behavioral Ratings of Parents with Severe Mentally Retarded, Special Learning Disability, and Normal Children

Abstract: This investigation was concerned with similarities and differences in the perceptions of parents with normal children, learning disabled children, and severe mentally retarded children. All three groups of parents were sent the same 30-item behavioral rating scale and the same set of instructions. The rating scale contained three types of items: items indicating behavioral or emotional disturbances, items indicating possible neurological disturbance, and items with little or no diagnostic value. The return was approximately 98 percent. A specific learning disability syndrome emerged from the responses of the parents with learning disabled children. Several variables indicating possible neurological dysfunction and/or emotional disturbance also emerged from the ratings of the learning disabled parents.

Clinical Syndromes in Learning Disabilities: The Case for “Splitting” vs. “Lumping”

Abstract: A neurologist presents the argument that we have passed the stage of assigning the adjectives “organic” or “neurophysiological” to a child's learning disabilities syndrome. The variety of separate syndromes which in fact present themselves to the clinician belies any unitary statement about the child with minimal brain dysfunction. Three of these syndromes are described. Greater precision in syndrome-description, utilizing the combined strengths of neurology and psychology, is seen as a prerequisite for discovering causes, prognosis, and treatment of learning disabilities.

Visual Perception, Integrative Functions and Academic Learning

Abstract: Because intelligent behavior depends on the development of all psychological functions and upon their integration, remedial training, although it may focus upon one area, must take into account all areas. Specific examples are given as to how visual perceptual exercises may also be used to enhance the child's development in language, sensory-motor functions, higher thought processes, integrative abilities, and social and emotional growth. Principles of teaching, such as over-learning, directing attention, individualization, and personalization apply to ability training as well as to teaching of academics. Facilitation of transfer of initial visual perceptual training to academic skills is discussed and illustrated,

Visual Sequential Memory in Reading Disability

Abstract: Relationships between visual sequential memory and reading in 81 normal and 43 disabled readers were investigated. The children had normal intelligence and a mean reading grade of 2.5. The mean chronological age of the normals was 8.5 years, and the mean of the disabled was 10.3. Partial correlations between three tests of visual sequential memory and three tests of reading were computed. Significant, positive associations were identified between visual sequential memory and paragraph comprehension, oral reading and word recognition. The intercorrelations of the visual memory tests were moderate indicating that these tests do not measure identical abilities. The results suggest that reading disability may derive from the lack of coordination among three different visual memory functions which are required for reading.

The Effects of Kindergarten Instruction in Alphabet and Numbers on First Grade Reading

Abstract: The ability to recognize letters and numbers in kindergarten has been demonstrated to be a better predictor of end-of-first-grade reading skills than other accepted“readiness skills” or IQ. It would thus seem logical to hypothesize that instruction in recognizing letters and numbers in kindergarten should produce an increment to reading level attained at the end of first grade. To test this possibility, four classes of kindergarten children were given the Letters and Numbers Subtest of the Gates Reading Readiness Tests in the spring of their kindergarten year. Two classes were then given eight weeks of training in alphabet and numbers names, while the other two classes participated in the regular informal kindergarten program. Retesting at the end of this period showed that the experimental group did respond to training, achieving a level of recognition of numbers and letters higher than that of the control group. Follow-up testing at the beginning of first grade showed that the effects of training persis...

The Effects of Kephart's Perceptual Motor-Training on a Reading Clinic Sample:

Abstract: The present study is concerned with the effects of Kephart's perceptual-motor training procedures upon the reading performance of poor readers in a reading clinic population with average and above average intelligence. The study was conducted during a six-week summer session. This study also compares the effectiveness of training upon the reading performance of children with binocular fusion difficulties and those having no visual defects. Subjects were of average and above average intelligence in school grades 4 to 12. There were 41 subjects in each group, experimental and control, matched for age grade, IQ, and reading performance. All pupils received two hours of reading instruction daily. Experimental pupils received three types of perceptual-motor training for a half hour daily for six weeks: chalkboard training consisting of four tracing exercises in balance, laterality, and directionality. Results showed that perceptual-motor training had no effect upon reading comprehension of poor readers, yet ef...

Concurrent Validity of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test

Abstract: The concurrent validity of the PIAT was investigated using the WRAT and WISC. Pearsonian correlations between the PIAT, WRAT, and selected WISC subtests, along with means and standard deviations for the WISC are presented for 40 children comprising Normal, Reading Disabled, and Mentally Retarded groups. Higher correlations were found between the reading subtests while only moderate correlations were found for the spelling and mathematics subtests. It was concluded that the PIAT may be used with the WRAT and WISC to facilitate differential diagnosis.

How Adequate Is The Concept of Perceptual Deficit for Education

Abstract: This study was prompted by concern as to the validity of current procedures for identifying the perceptually deficient child, for providing him training in perceptual skills and for understanding the concept of perceptual deficiency Seventy children (41 boys, 29 girls) of kindergarten age from the lower socioeconomic classes were studied Thirty-five children were administered the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test and were then required to perform a discrimination task using these same forms For the other 35 subjects, these tasks were performed in reverse order Results showed that performance on one task was not related to performance on the other It was possible for a child to discriminate forms well and still obtain a score on the Bender which indicated “perceptual” difficulties and vice versa It would be highly questionable to subject a child, labeled as having perceptual problems, to remedial tasks requiring visual discrimination in the service of perceptual training if, in fact, he can perform th

Perceptual-Motor Abilities and Reversal Errors in Children's Handwriting

Abstract: A group of 7½-to-8½-year-old children who made persistent reversal errors in handwriting were identified in the course of a previous survey. The performance of this group of children on a variety of perceptual-motor measures was compared with that of a matched control group of children who made no reversal errors. The children in the “reverser” group were found to have a significantly poorer performance than those in the “nonreverser” group on only a few of the measures. The ways in which levels of perceptual-motor skill may affect handwriting achievement are discussed in the light of these findings.

Electrodermol and Cardiovascular Responses in Nonreaders

Abstract: Autonomic response patterns of 20 male nonreaders, ranging in age from 7 years 11 months to 11 years 4 months, were compared with those of 20 matched controls. Analyses were made of the onset orienting response, the offset orienting response and anticipatory response as measured for heart rate, finger pulse and electrodermal pheonomena (skin potential and skin resistance). Nonreaders had lower mean skin conductance levels across trials, greater amplitude of skin resistance response to a novel stimulus (75 decibel tone), fewer electrodermal offset responses, fewer negative and diphasic skin potential responses, fewer electrodermal and heart rate anticipatory responses, slower motor reaction times, and a higher degree of sinus arrhythmia. All these differences between the groups were statistically significant. Habituation of the electrodermal, finger pulse, and heart rate onset responses did not differ, and no difference was found between groups as to the magnitude or shape of the heart rate onset response....

Analysis of the Figurative and Operative Processes of Thought of 40 Dyslexic Children

Abstract: This study shows the existence of quantitative retardations and qualitative perturbations in the cognitive processes of a group of dyslexic children. Eighty percent of them present serious delays in the developmental level of the figurative aspects of thought. This was particularly observed among the older children in the group. We also noted a delay among the dyslexics concerning the acquisition of operative mechanisms. Qualitative disturbances specific to certain items and certain tests occurred. These characteristics are essendally modes of approach that seem related to disturbances in the figurative aspect of thought: all the subjects who were very disturbed from a figurative point of view also showed a delay in operativity; none of the eight figuratively undisturbed children showed this operative delay. Thus, in this group of dyslexic children, the “abusive preponderance” of perception hinders the arrival of their thought processes at the more evolved and more operative intellectual stages of develop...

Some Cautions on the Use of the Frostig Test A Factor Analytic Study

Abstract: Evidence to date suggests that the Frostig test may measure fewer than five discrete aspects of perception, and its use as a diagnostic instrument for planning educational remediation and as a predictor of reading achievement has been questioned. Yet it is still widely used for these purposes in school and clinical settings. The Frostig, WISC, and a reading achievement measure were administered to a sample of 43 elementary school children referred for educational assessment, and the results were factor analyzed. The findings suggest that the Frostig test measures a single general factor of perceptual organization which is weakly related to IQ and unrelated to reading ability. The nature of the test norms above age eight and a negative relationship between age and test scores also affect certain uses of the test.

The Early Detection of Minimal Brain Dysfunction

Abstract: To avoid emotional and learning difficulties in children with minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) early detection is desirable, and a battery of tests has been devised to achieve this. The battery was administered to 228 children at the start of their kindergarten year. Of 49 children who failed the battery, 25 were matched with 25 controls and were examined in detail neurologically and psychologically. The battery distinguished normal children (who passed) from those who failed. In the latten group, two types of children were found: (1) children clinically diagnosed as having MBD, (2) children thought to be immature, some of whom improved on readministration of the test battery eight months later and who are expected to show continued improvement but will likely have difficulty in Grade I. However, three false positives and one false negative were found. On 11 of the 12 tests the mean scores of the immature were better than those of the MBD.

A Comparsion of Figure Drawings and WISC IQ's Among Disabled Readers

Abstract: Children's figure drawings have been used as a measure of intellectual development since at least the 1920's. This study assesses the relationship between IQ scores from two systems for scoring figure drawings as compared to performance on the WISC in a population of disabled readers. The two figure drawing scoring systems yield very similar results in spite of the fact that one was more recently standardized and is more complex. Scores derived from figure drawings show significant correlations with scores from the Performance, but not the Verbal, section of the WISC. Scores on several of the Performance subtests were also significantly related to figure drawing scores. The results of the study also pointed out the need to differentiate subgroups among disabled readers.

Alphabet Discrimination and Distinctive Features Research Review and Educational Implications

Abstract: The experimental literature relating to alphabet letter discrimination is reviewed. An analysis in terms of the critical distinctive features of the letter forms and problems in attending to the dimensions of difference are explored in detail. It ws suggested that in order to best facilitate discrimination of letters, pretraining on the critical distinctive features should be provided. Specific techniques for programming the distinctive feature discriminations are presented

Helping Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract: This article attempts to spell out a three dimensional approach to helping parents of children with learning disabilities: (1) educative counseling, (2) interpretive counseling, and (3) habilitatiw involvement of parents. Such an approach has been effectiw with parents regardless of the nature and degree of their neurotic problems, or their lewl of psychological sophistication. The method is adaptable to individual casewrk or group parent counseling. Family therapy counselors can also use much of the content as elaborated on in the article.

Task Analysis and Effective Teaching

Abstract: With increasing frequency, educator-practitioners are realizing that the keystone to effective teaching is the teacher's ability to select relevant, well-defined, discrete aims and to translate each aim into its sequential components. Some examples of task analysis are presented and criteria for designing other sequences are outlined.

Auditory and Visual Inadequacies in Maturation at the First Grade Level

Abstract: This paper reports a series of studies of the neurological maturational status of six-year-old, first grade children in the areas of visual and auditory learning modalities. Three studies in visual perception published by the authors are reviewed; the prevalence of maturational unreadiness in “normal” samples is emphasized, and evidence is presented to show how testing techniques can obscure capability. A new study of 204 first graders is reported in full in which the emphasis is on auditory learning modalities. A correlation matrix is offered showing correlations among any combination of auditory memory, auditory discrimination, visual perception, and visual memory. The highest order correclation is -.27. The point is made that at the six-year, beginning school level, variability in intercorrelations of ability among children is so great as to be the rule rather than exception. Within the child, capability within one modality does not imply capability in any other. Implications for the concept of specifi...

Genetics of Learning Disabilities

Abstract: A large group of children suffering from difficulties in learning appear to do so on the basis of a constitutional genetic neurochemical dysfunction. Every emotionally disturbed or behavior problem children or slow learner should be examined for the soft neurological signs that reflect a developmental lag of the cerebellar-ARAS pathways. In my clinical experience 80 percent of such children have dysdiadochokinesis, which on continuation, augments seizure activity of the Purkinje cells of the cerebellar cortex. This activity is caused by a deficiency of GABA (an inhibitory chemical transducer) which is genetically endowed. Remedial programming and special education efforts can indeed be rewarding if this chemical deficiency is repaired via chemotherapy. Aside from those children with a biochemical basis for learning disability, there is a small group of children with intact neurological equipment who present a picture of psychogenic learning impediment. The importance of psychological factors in learning o...

The Adoescents with Learning Probems How Long Must They Wait

Abstract: In a sense, adolescents with learning problems are at the end of the learning disability gauntlet. Often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and ineffectually treated, they are already battered and bruised by the time they enter the stormy adolescent years. After years of frustrating underachievement and failure, it is hardly surprising that they end up with serious personality problems or psychiatric symptoms, often becoming dropouts or frequent attcnders in juvenile courts. An attempt is made here to understand the manifestations of learning disabilities in this age group. A developmental approach is advocated, with special emphasis upon the child in the total society. Learning disabilities are seen as being basically societal problems, fostered by the society which has created an educational system which often fails to educate. Some practical suggestions are made for helping adolescents with learning problems, and possible approaches to meaningful prevention are discussed.

Is your Child Ready for School

Abstract: Presented here a list of questions and suggestions for all those concerned with young children, pertaining to the child's preparedness to function in his school situation. These questions deal with factors other than the “3 Rs”: specifically, comfort, nutrition, clothing, sense of time, etc.