ABSTRACT
In 1971, Dykman and his colleagues outlined a theory that proposed that the difficulties experienced by the learning-disabled child in the learning situation are explained by “organically based deficiencies in attention” (Dykman, Ackerman, Clements, & Peters, 1971). A great deal of research supports the notion that learning-disabled children, as a group, do differ from normal controls on a variety of attention measures. Several reviews of the literature (Keogh & Margolis, 1976; Routh, 1979; Samuels & Edwall, 1981; Tarver & Hallahan, 1974) present evidence for LD–control group differences on vigilance, reaction time, distractibility, and arousal, as well as on other factors presumably related to the construct of attention (e.g., overactivity, field dependence/independence, impulsivity, etc.). As clinicians, however, we are more interested in the concomitant symptoms exhibited by the individual learning-disabled child than in the group differences which distinguish LDs from controls. Like most other investigators we find an impressive overlap between the conditions of hyperactivity, learning disability, and attention deficit disorder. However, we are equally impressed by the fact that there seem to be many children with learning disabilities who do not exhibit attention deficits and many children with attention deficit disorder (with or without hyperactivity) who do not show definite learning disabilities. The focus of this chapter is, therefore, an attempt to disentangle the research findings on these two developmental disabilities.
