Referential Communication Abilities of Learning Disabled Children

1980 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 70-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Noel

Disorders of spoken language have long been associated with learning disabilities. Recent research has focused less on linguistic characteristics and more on general communication effectiveness. This study investigated the referential communication ability of LD and non-LD elementary students. Developmental research has indicated that this language function tends to be well developed by early childhood and is a major precursor of later communication competence. Results of the present study indicated that LD students were less effective in providing descriptive information about objects than non-LD peers. Further analysis of LD communication revealed that such a lack of effectiveness was due to the LD students' limited use of labeling in their verbal descriptions.

1979 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara G. Tarver ◽  
Barbara R. Buss ◽  
Ronald P. Maggiore

Historically, most programming and research efforts in the field of learning disabilities have focused on the disabilities evidenced by LD children and youth. By representing an attempt to consider the positive attributes of LD individuals, the study of creativity in the learning disabled population takes on special significance. The results of this investigation support the relationship between selective attention and creativity in LD boys. However, it was found that the relationship changed as a function of age and the type of creativity measured. The issues raised by this line of inquiry should provide impetus for other investigations designed to explore such attributes as creativity in learning disabled children and youth.


1987 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie U. deBettencourt

On the basis of research in the field of learning disabilities it has been concluded that many learning disabled students can be characterized as strategy-deficient, inactive learners. However, a precise understanding of strategy training procedures is frequently obscured by researchers. The term “strategy training” needs to be defined more clearly so that the approaches are understood more universally. In this article I discuss the rationale for strategy training interventions with learning disabled children, describe three approaches that are currently being studied in the field, and discuss the issues that arise.


1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mavis Donahue ◽  
Ruth Pearl ◽  
Tanis Bryan

ABSTRACTThis study examined learning disabled children's understanding of conversational rules for initiating the repair of a communicative breakdown. Learning disabled and normal children in grades 1 through 8 played the listener role in a referential communication task requiring them to select referents based on messages varying in informational adequacy. Learning disabled children were less likely to request clarification of inadequate messages and, consequently, made fewer correct referent choices than normal children. Only young learning disabled girls were less able than their normal age-mates to appraise message adequacy. Analyses of response latencies and request type also suggest that the failure to request clarification cannot be attributed solely to linguistic deficits. Results are discussed in terms of the relative contributions of syntactic-semantic ability and social knowledge to conversational competence.


1978 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Horen Freund ◽  
Richard Elardo

The extent to which the social relationship deficits exhibited by some learning disabled children might be associated with parental behavior is largely undetermined. This study is an attempt to analyze a variety of factors related to maternal behavior and family constellations in a learning disabled population. While the study suffers from a small number of subjects, the results provide preliminary data in a research area largely neglected in learning disabilities.


1973 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth H. Wiig ◽  
Eleanor M. Semel

The comprehension of linguistic concepts requiring logical operations was compared in 32 learning-disabled and 16 achieving children. The results indicated that the learning-disabled children made significantly more errors than their controls. Comparison of the performances of learning-disabled males and females indicated no significant differences. It was concluded that children with specific learning disabilities exhibit significant deficits in their ability to comprehend linguistic concepts requiring logical operations. These deficits were interpreted to reflect impairments of abstraction and generalization and simultaneous analysis and synthesis as well as delays in logical development. Subsequently, the effect of remedial intervention was assessed in six learning-disabled, first-grade, transition-class males. The results showed no significant performance changes during a six-week control period before training. In contrast, there was a significant improvement in sentence comprehension after six weeks of remedial intervention. The preliminary finding that remedial intervention effectively improved logicogrammatical sentence comprehension indicates a favorable prognosis for the remediation of these deficits in children with learning disabilities.


1978 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phyllis L. Newcomer

A major role of any professional organization is to establish standards by which professionals and practices in the field can be evaluated. DCLD has taken a major step in this direction by developing a set of competencies for teachers of learning disabled children and youth. This article presents the rationale behind the development of these competencies as well as potential uses of the competency statements. The development of this set of competency statements underscores the Division's commitment to upgrading current practices. Readers are strongly encouraged to provide feedback to Dr. Newcomer's Committee on the scope, format, and content of the competency statements. Meaningful standards can best be derived from these statements through a broad base of input from professionals in the field.


1978 ◽  
Vol 47 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1291-1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen S. Strichart

This investigation established the reliability of the Jordan Left-Right Reversal Test for learning disabled children. Test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from .89 to .92 for a sample of 91 children, 5 through 12 yr., attending private schools for children with learning disabilities. Reversal errors decreased with age for boys and girls, although girls 9 through 12 made significantly fewer errors than did boys in the same age range. Learning disabled children made more errors at all ages than normal children. This test instrument was determined to be a measure of the global tendency to make visual reversal errors and was viewed as an appropriate part of the learning disabilities diagnostic procedure.


1975 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 660-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia H. Gillespie ◽  
Ted L. Miller ◽  
Virginia Dodge Fielder

Current state legislation reflects professional differences of opinion about the identification, assessment, and placement of learning disabled children. The authors suggest that services for the learning disabled will be improved if legislation decreases its emphasis on categories and concentrates instead on providing mechanisms for meeting the specific educational needs of individual children.


1980 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Leigh

This article discusses the DCLD Code of Ethics and Competencies for Teachers of Learning Disabled Children and Youth and reviews each of its stated purposes related to: teacher training programs, certification standards, employment criteria, and monitoring of ongoing professional practices. Recommendations are made for practical implementation of the competency statements. While some of the recommendations pertain to applications in the future, the discussion emphasizes the need to implement the DCLD competencies as soon as possible. Even though the philosophical and theoretical debates regarding learning disabilities will not be resolved by the DCLD document, implementation of the competency standards will lead to significant improvement of services to children with learning disabilities.


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