chapter 5: Communication disorders Flashcards
: learning problems that occur in
the absence of other obvious conditions
– The term has been replaced in the DSM-5 by more
specific terms, communication disorders and
learning disorders
– Affects how individuals of at least normal
intelligence take in, retain, or express information
Learning disability
• Co-occurring problems in:
– Reading
– Math
– Written expression
• Determined by achievement test results that are
lower than would be expected for one’s age,
schooling, and intellectual ability
Specific Learning Disorder
by age ___ a child can recognize several words as well
as say a few words to express needs and emotions
1
– Deficits in _____ are a chief reason that
individuals develop communication and learning
disorders
– About 80% of children can use phonemes properly by
the age of 7
•Phonology
– Broad construct that includes recognition of the
relationship that exists between sounds and
letters
– Detection of rhyme and alliteration
– Awareness that sounds can be manipulated within
syllables
Phonological awareness
• Characterized by deficits in expression despite
normal comprehension of speech
– ___ occurs when a child’s language matures at least
12 months behind his or her chronological age
• Children with ___ often have:
– Delayed/slowed speech development; limited
vocabulary; and speech marked by short
sentences and simple grammatical structure
Language Disorder
– difficulty with articulation
or sound production
Speech sound disorder
• Language disorder affects 7% of younger school-age
children
• Communication disorders are identified twice as
often in boys than girls
• Most children acquire normal language by
adolescence
• 50% fully outgrow the problems
• LD is associated with higher-than-normal rates of
negative behaviors
Prevalence
Causes of LD
Genetics
– Temporal processing deficits
• Brain
– Circular feedback loop in the left temporal lobe
– Problems in connections between brain areas and
less brain activity in left temporal region
• Recurrent middle ear infections (otitis media) in first
year of life may lead to speech and language delays
• Home environment
– It is unlikely that communication disorders are
caused by parents
• Except in cases of extreme neglect and abuse
• The repeated and prolonged pronunciation of certain
syllables that interferes with communication
• Prevalence and course
– Gradual onset between ages 2 and 7; peaks at age
5
– About 3% of children are affected
– Affects males about three times more often than
females
– 80% of those who stutter before age 5 stop after a
year in school
Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder
Causes of COFD
• Genetic factors account for 70% of variance in causes
• Environmental factors account for remaining
influences
• Possible treatments
– Parental changes - speak to the child slowly in
short sentences
– Contingency management procedures
– Habit reversal procedures
• Persistent difficulties in pragmatics (social use of
language and communication)
Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder
• A discrepancy of more than two standard deviations
between the IQ findings and the actual achievement
test findings in a child
• Learning disorders include reading, mathematics,
and writing
• The different learning disorders overlap and build on
the same brain functions
– A person can have more than one form of learning
disorder
Specific Learning Disorder
• Most common underlying feature is the inability to
distinguish or separate sounds in spoken words
• Involves difficulty learning basic sight words, such as:
the, who, what, laugh, said
• Errors in reversals (b/d, p/q), transpositions
(was/saw, scared/sacred.), inversions (m/w, u/n), and
omissions (place for palace, section for selection)
– These errors are common in young children
• Core deficits in reading disorders are in decoding
rapidly enough to read the whole word – coupled
with problems reading single, small words
SLD With Impairment in Reading
• Writing disorders are often associated with problems
with eye/hand coordination
– Leads to poor handwriting
• Children with writing disorders:
– Produce shorter, less interesting, and poorly
organized essays
– Are less likely to review spelling, punctuation, and
grammar to increase clarity
SLD with Impairment in Written Expression
• Difficulty in recognizing numbers and symbols,
memorizing facts, aligning numbers, and
understanding abstract concepts
• May include problems in comprehending abstract
concepts or in visual-spatial ability
• Involves core deficits in arithmetic calculation and/or
mathematics reasoning abilities
SLD With Impairment in Mathematics
• Estimates: 2-10% of the population
• SLD with reading impairment
– 5-17% of school-aged children
– Reading difficulties may be part of reading abilities
continuum, rather than a discrete phenomenon
P
Prevalence and Course of SLDs
– 20% of children with learning disorders (1% of
school-age children)
SLD with impairment in mathematics
– Rare by itself
– Overlap with reading and math disorders
– May affect 10% of school-age children
SLD with impairment in written expression
• SLDs are more common in
Males
Students with reading disorders _________
from parents, teachers, and peers
feel less support
Women with learning disorders have more
adjustment problems and face greater risk of sexual
assault and related forms of abuse
adult outcomes of SLD
Causes of SLDs
• Difficulties bringing information from various brain
regions together to integrate and understand
information
• Recent findings suggest two distinguishable types of
reading disorder
– Children who are persistently poor readers
– Children who are accuracy-improved
• Heritability accounts for 60% of variance in reading
disorders
_____is best for children with LDs
Direct instruction
focuses on:
– Phonemic awareness and phonemic decoding
skills, fluency in word recognition, construction of
meaning, vocabulary, spelling, and writing
Effective reading instruction
