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Principal Identifying Features of the Syndrome of Nonverbal Learning Disabilities in Children

Michael C. S. Harnadek completed his PhD at the University of Windsor and is now with the Department of Psychological Services at University Hospital, London, Ontario.

Byron P. Rourke, PhD

Byron P. Rourke, PhD, is professor of psychology at the University of Windsor. Past president of the International Neuropsychological Society and of the Division of Clinical Neuropsychology of the American Psychological Association, he is currently president of the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology. He is cofounder and co-editor of the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, The Clinical Neuropsychologist, and The Journal of Child Neuropsychology. Address: Byron P. Rourke, Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4.

The identifying features of the syndrome of nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) were examined with a view to determining their relative discriminant validity. A stepwise linear discriminant function analysis of children with NLD (n = 29), children with reading and spelling disabilities (Group R-S; n = 27), and a group of nonclinical children (NC; n = 27) on 15 neuropsychological variables yielded a subset of scores on four tests (Target Test; Trail Making Test, Part B; Tactual Performance Test; and Grooved Pegboard Test) that accurately (>95%) discriminated the NLD group from the R-S and NC subjects. Of the neuropsychological features of NLD described by Rourke (1987, 1988b, 1989), deficits in visual-perceptual-organizational psychomotor coordination and complex tactile-perceptual skills appeared to be most representative (in the sense of most discriminative) of the NLD syndrome in the children examined. These are also the dimensions that are considered to be "primary" in the NLD model (Rourke, 1989). Replication of these results, employing children with other clinical disorders, is necessary.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol. 27, No. 3, 144-154 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/002221949402700303


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