Simultaneous and Successive Cognitive Processing in Children with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities

This study compared the performance of 19 children with nonverbal learning disabilities to a comparison group of 16 children with language learning disabilities on measures of simultaneous and successive/sequential processing on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). (The terms 'sequential' and 'successive' are used by different authors, so are applied interchangeably here). As hypothesized, children with nonverbal learning disabilities were found to have significantly higher Successive than Simultaneous Processing scores on the K-ABC, while children with language learning disabilities were found to have an inverse pattern of significantly higher Simultaneous than Successive Processing scores. The results suggest that different subtypes of learning disabilities can be defined through differences in cognitive processing. Further, the simultaneous-sequential/successive processing model may offer a valuable basis for conceptualizing learning disabilities in general, and nonverbal learning disabilities in particular. These findings have implications for the assessment and remediation of such learning disabilities.