Psychosocial Dimensions of Learning Disability Subtypes: Neuropsychological Studies in the Windsor Laboratory

Two subtypes of learning disabilities (LD) are presented to illustrate the following conclusions relating to the psychosocial functioning of children with LD. Social skill deficits can be caused by the set of assets and deficits that constitutes one of these subtypes, namely nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD). There has been no systematic demonstration that social skill deficits are caused by the sets of assets and deficits that define other subtypes of learning disabilities. Social deficits, reading deficits, writing deficits, and the like do not have a direct basis in central nervous system dysfunction; rather, these are the dependent variables that are thought to arise from basic neuropsychological deficits, which, in turn result in the specific manifestations of different subtypes of learning disabilities. There are important and predictable developmental changes in the academic, psychosocial and vocational manifestations of different subtypes of learning disabilities. These need to be considered within the context of the developmental demands that the person with learning disabilities in a particular socio-historical context must face.