Learning Disabilities and Psychosocial Functioning: A Neuropsychological Perspective

The result of an exhaustive analysis and synthesis of published research, LEARNING DISABILITIES and PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING provides a coherent account of what currently is known about the psychosocial functioning of children--and, to some extent, adults--with learning disabilities. The book addresses questions central to the assessment and treatment of children with learning disabilities: Are learning disabled children at greater risk for socioemotional disturbances than are normal learners? Are the learning disabled more prone to externalized psychopathology than are normal learners? Is there a distinct psychosocial profile of disabled learners?

The literature review reflects the three major hypotheses regarding the relationship between learning disabilities and psychosocial dysfunction that have alternately prevailed over the past 20 years. These are: socioemotional disturbance causes learning disabilities; learning disabilities cause socioemotional disturbance; specific patterns of central processing defects cause specific subtypes of learning disabilities and specific forms of socioemotional disturbance. Accompanying the data supporting these hypotheses are critical commentaries on the general and specific conclusions reached on the basis of the evidence provided, in addition to clinical observations and generalizations extrapolated from the empirical evidence gathered to date.

Nine case studies illustrate the clinical applications of the models and hypotheses considered. Included among these are two adult cases that demonstrate some of the long-term developmental dimensions of learning disabilities. These case studies further illuminate the relationship between the patterns of neuropsychological assets and deficits that define the different learning disabilities and the various manifestations of psychosocial dysfunction and psychopathology that may be present.

For all learning disabilities specialists in school and clinic settings, LEARNING DISABILITIES AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING is both timely and essential reading. Practitioners and researchers in the areas of child clinical psychology and neuropsychology, child psychiatry, and speech/language pathology will also find this work highly informative.

Byron P. Rourke is Professor of Psychology and University Professor at the University of Windsor and a member of the faculty of the Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University. Past President of the International Neuropsychological Society and of the Division of Clinical Neuropsychology of the American Psychological Association, he is cofounder and coeditor of the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, The Clinical Neuropsychologist, and Child Neuropsychology and serves on the editorial boards of a number of scientific and professional journals. He was the 1994 recipient of the Canadian Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Practice of Psychology. His authored, coauthored, and edited books include Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, Child Neuropsychology, Learning Disabilities and Psychosocial Functioning, Neuropsychological Validation of Learning Disability Subtypes, Neuropsychological Assessment of Children, and Neuropsychology of Learning Disabilities.