Learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity of important issues should be considered in elementary school students. The aim of this study was comparison learning disorders, reading, spelling, math and achievement among students in elementary school grades in Bandar Abbas. For this purpose, 384 students were randomly selected. Instruments for gathering data were:

– k-Math test;

– test spelling disorder (Fallahchai test);

– reading test (Baezat test);

– CSI-4.

Factor analysis of variance test was used to analyze of data. The results showed that in the scale of dyslexia, there were more disorders in the children with attention deficit disorder in reading errors, comprehension and reading speed than normal group. In mathematical disorder scale, there were significant difference between the two groups of children with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity and normal children. Then, the children with attention deficit disorder had higher disorders in operations math, mathematical concepts, mathematical applications, and general score math. The scale of the problem dictates there were significant difference between the two groups of children with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity and normal children. Then, the children with attention deficit disorder had higher disorders in problem dictates. In academic achievement, the children with attention deficit disorder had lower mean in academic achievement. Finally, the results showed that age, gender, and their interaction had no significant impact on learning disorders, based on attention deficit disorder and normal groups.

Children from language minority (LM) environments speak a language at home that differs from that at school, are often from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, and are at risk for reading impairment. We evaluated the main effects and interaction of language status and phonological memory and awareness on reading disorder in 352 children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. A significant phonological memory by language status interaction indicated that phonological memory problems were magnified in predicting reading impairment in children from LM versus English dominant (ED) homes. Among children without reading disorder, language minority status was unrelated to phonological processing.

Data from two twin studies are examined to assess genetic and environmental influences on literacy, and the etiological relationship between language and literacy. Study 1 used children from 86 families previously recruited for a study of the genetics of specific language impairment (see Bishop, North, & Donlan, 1995), who completed tests of single-word reading and spelling. Literacy problems in this sample were common, were strongly heritable, and showed a close genetic relationship with poor nonword repetition. Study 2 included two subsets of children: 37 twin pairs who had taken part in study 1, 3 to 4 years earlier, and 100 twin pairs recruited from the general population by Bishop et al. (1999). All children were given a standardised test of nonword reading. There was no genetic influence on nonword reading ability, either across the normal range, or at the lower extreme, though there were significant associations with some social variables. However, bivariate DeFries–Fulker analysis suggested that in this study, as in study 1, there was shared genetic variance between poor nonword repetition and literacy deficits. It is concluded that poor nonword repetition, which is known to be highly heritable, puts the child at risk for literacy problems. However, in a general population sample, such as that included in study 2, poor nonword repetition is a relatively rare correlate of literacy problems, which are more likely to have an environmental origin. Thus the different pattern of results in the two studies can be explained if one assumes that genetic influences are substantial only when literacy problems are severe and/or accompanied by oral language difficulties.

This study investigated the association between reading disability (RD) and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in a large community sample of twins with (N = 209) and without RD (N = 192). The primary goals were to clarify the relation between RD and comorbid psychopathology, to test for gender differences in the behavioral correlates of RD, and to test if common familial influences contributed to the association between RD and other disorders. Results indicated that individuals with RD exhibited significantly higher rates of all internalizing and externalizing disorders than individuals without RD. However, logistic regression analyses indicated that RD was not significantly associated with symptoms of aggression, delinquency, oppositional defiant disorder, or conduct disorder after controlling for the significant relation between RD and ADHD. In contrast, relations between RD and symptoms of anxiety and depression remained significant even after controlling for comorbid ADHD, suggesting that internalizing difficulties may be specifically associated with RD. Analyses of gender differences indicated that the significant relation between RD and internalizing symptoms was largely restricted to girls, whereas the association between RD and externalizing psychopathology was stronger for boys. Finally, preliminary etiological analyses suggested that common familial factors predispose both probands with RD and their non-RD siblings to exhibit externalizing behaviors, whereas elevations of internalizing symptomatology are restricted to individuals with RD.

Children with language impairment (LI) have been shown to be at risk for reading disability (RD) and behavior disorder (BD). Previous research has not determined the specific pattern of these conditions associated with LI. This study sought to determine if the behavior disorder and reading problems represented different outcomes or if these conditions occurred together when found with LI. A group of 581 second-grade children, including 164 children with LI, were examined for spoken language, reading, and behavior disorder. The data for each of these areas were examined as dimensional traits and as clinical categorical traits.

Reading and spoken language were found to be strongly correlated (r = .68); RD was found in 52% of the children with LI and in only 9% of the controls. Scores of parent ratings for BD were also significantly correlated with spoken language scores (r = .29). Clinical levels of BD were found in 29% of the children with LI and 19% of the controls. An examination of the co-occurrence of clinical levels of BD, RD, and LI showed BD in children with LI to be conditioned by the child's reading status. The data indicated that whereas RD was directly associated with BD, the association of LI with BD required the mediation of RD.

In a case-control study of cognitive performance, tests of intelligence, reading, spelling, and pragmatic language were administered to the parents and siblings of 90 community-ascertained probands with autism (AU group) and to the parents and siblings of 40 similarly ascertained probands with trisomy 21 Down syndrome (DS group). The two samples were comparable for age and parents' education; both groups were well-educated and had above-average intelligence. AU parents scored slightly but significantly lower on the WAIS-R Full Scale and Performance IQ, on two subtests (Picture Arrangement and Picture Completion), and on the Word Attack Test (reading nonsense words) from the Woodcock-Johnson battery. There were no differences between AU and DS siblings. As in earlier studies, AU parents, more often than DS parents, reported a history of early language-related cognitive difficulties; we were not able to replicate this in siblings. AU parents who reported such difficulties scored significantly lower on Verbal IQ, spelling, and the nonsense reading test. AU parents without a history of early language-related cognitive difficulties often had a Verbal IQ that exceeded Performance IQ by more than one standard deviation. AU siblings with early language-related difficulties had similar findings: lower Verbal IQ, poorer spelling, and poorer reading scores, compared to AU siblings without such a history. Parents with a positive history also scored worse on a measure of pragmatic language,the Pragmatic Rating Scale, but not on measures of social-related components of the broader autism phenotype. We propose that cognitive differences in a subset of autism family members are manifestations of the language-related component of the broader autism phenotype, and separate from the social-related component. This is consistent with the hypothesis that there are several genes that may interact to cause autism which segregate independently and have distinguishable manifestations in family members. The hypothesis would be further supported by finding different patterns of genetic loci linked to autism in families where one or both parents has language difficulties.

This study examined the language, achievement, and cognitive characteristics of 380 children, aged 7 to 14 years, consecutively referred to child psychiatric services. Among those children referred solely for psychiatric problems, 40% had a language impairment that had never been suspected. Children with previously identified and unsuspected language impairments were similar with respect to receptive and expressive language and on measures of cognitive processing. Although both groups of children with language impairments exhibited poorer academic achievement than children with normal language, children with previously identified language impairments had the lowest achievement. The milder achievement problems of children with unsuspected language impairment may explain why their problems had not been suspected. Both the clinical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed. Heightened awareness concerning the high frequency of language impairment and other cognitive processing problems in children referred for psychiatric assessment and treatment should lead to more systematic examination of language functioning and evaluation of the impact of language and communication functioning on therapeutic outcomes.