The purpose of this analysis was to describe cognitive processes associated with comorbid difficulty between word reading (WR) and mathematics computation (MC) at the start of first grade among children selected for WR and MC delays. A sample of 234 U.S. children (mean age 6.50 years, SD = 0.31) was assessed on WR, MC, core cognitive processes…

Developmental language disorder (DLD) and developmental dyslexia (DD) are two prevalent subtypes of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs; "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" [5th ed.; DSM-5]). Yet, little information is available regarding the distinct challenges faced by adults with DLD and/or DD in college. The…

Competent reading requires various skills beyond those for basic word reading (i.e., core language skills, rapid naming, phonological processing). Contributing "higher-level" or domain-general processes include information processing speed and executive functions (working memory, strategic problem solving, attentional switching).…

Substantial evidence has established that individual differences in executive function (EF) in early childhood are uniquely predictive of children's academic readiness at school entry. The current study tested whether growth trajectories of EF across the early childhood period could be used to identify a subset of children who were at pronounced…

It has been argued that children with learning disabilities (LD) encounter severe problems in working memory (WM) tasks, especially when they need to update information stored in their WM. It is not clear, however, to what extent this is due to a generally poor updating ability or to a difficulty specific to the domain to be processed. To examine…

Sequential regression was used to evaluate whether language-related working memory components uniquely predict reading and writing achievement beyond cognitive-linguistic translation for students in Grades 4 through 9 (N = 103) with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in subword handwriting (dysgraphia, n = 25), word reading and spelling…

Test anxiety and its correlates were examined with college students with and without specific reading disability (RD; n = 50 in each group). Results indicated that college students with RD reported higher test anxiety than did those without RD, and the magnitude of these differences was in the medium range on two test anxiety scales. Relative to…

To better understand the nature of impairment resulting from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for students in a post-secondary education (PSE) setting, the authors analyzed the symptoms and associated impairment of 135 students with a diagnosis of ADHD who were recruited via Student Disability Services in Canadian post-secondary…

This exploratory study identified underlying skill and ability differences among subgroups of adolescent and young adult struggling readers (N = 290) overall and in relation to a fluency-based instructional grouping method. We used principal axis factoring of participants' scores on 18 measures of reading-related skills and abilities identified in…

This study investigated the relationship among working memory, processing speed, math performance, and reactivity to stress in 83 Grade 1 children. Specifically, 39 children with math disability (MD) were compared to 44 children who are typically achieving (TA) in mathematics. It is the first study to use a physiological index of stress (salivary…

This study examined the relationship between cognitive abilities and math achievement within a sample of college students with learning disabilities (LD). The cognitive abilities were seven areas identified by Stratum II of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities, in addition to the eighth area of Working Memory. Math…

Children with specific learning disabilities (SLD) have deficits in the basic psychological processes that interfere with learning and academic achievement, and for some SLD subtypes, these deficits can also lead to emotional and/or behavior problems. This study examined psychosocial functioning in 123 students, aged 6 to 11, who underwent…

Using a non-speech-specific measure of prosody, rise time perception, Goswami and her colleagues have found that individuals with dyslexia perform significantly worse than nonimpaired readers. Studies have also found that children and adults with specific language impairment were impaired on these tasks. Despite the high comorbidity of these…

The role of student attention for predicting kindergarten word reading was investigated among 432 students. Using "Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal Behavior Rating Scale" behavior rating scores, the authors conducted an exploratory factor analysis, which yielded three distinct factors that reflected selective…

The present study evaluated the stability of math learning difficulties over a 2-year period and investigated several factors that might influence this stability (categorical vs. continuous change, liberal vs. conservative cut point, broad vs. specific math assessment); the prediction of math performance over time and by performance level was also…