Case Study on Learning Disabilities

¶ … learning disability dyslexia. It discusses the subject groups, the methods of investigation and the importance of the study. DYSLEXIA Dyslexia is the most common disability and is the most widely studied learning disorder (Bigler 87). "Dyslexia is a language learning disorder that results in deficits in reading, spelling, and, often, written language" (Balise 135). Classic dyslexia is associated with a phonological deficit (Das & Mishra 235). Dyslexics have difficulty with phonics, thus interfering with reading comprehension and making spelling less accurate and automatic (Balise 135).

But children with dyslexia do not typically test low on IQ tests, except when test items require reading (Das & Mishra 235). A study by J.P. Das and Rama Mishra published in the Journal of Learning Disabilities (Vol. 27 April 01, 1994) compared average IQ and high IQ children with dyslexia and normal readers. Tasks that demanded both phonological coding and articulation correctly classified children with dyslexia and nondyslexic children up to 80%, irrespective of IQ (Das&Mishra 235).

The study included 112 children (60 boys and 52 girls) between the ages of 8 and 10 years from four schools in one school district. The 112 children were divided into four groups as follows: 53 children classified as of average IQ with dyslexia, 26 children were normally achieving with average IQ, 15 children were dyslexic with high IQ, and 18 normally achieving children with high IQ. Children with reading difficulties due to behavioral, emotional, and/or medical conditions were excluded from the study (Das&Mishra 235).

The study measured four categories of cognitive processes -- Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive. The tests used to measure successive processing, Word Series, Naming Time, and Speech Rate, all involve articulation. The two attention tests, Expressive Attention and Receptive Attention, require phonological coding (Das&Mishra 235). The results of the study were successful in distinguishing between children with dyslexia and nondisabled readers. Successive processing and articulation are the core cognitive difficulties underlying dyslexia.

Results show that articulation is no less important than phonological coding in defining this learning disability (Das&Mishra 235). Linking phonological coding and articulation to successive processing accounts for the association between reading and short-term memory span. And there was no evidence that the average IQ and the high IQ dyslexic groups differed on any of these measures (Das&Mishra.