ABSTRACT
Learning disabled (LD) children are distinguished by one feature consistently: a significant incongruence between their academic performance as predicted by their mental ability on the one hand, and their actual performance in a learning situation on the other (Short, Feagans, McKinney, & Appelbaum, 1984). Performance in this context is measured either by achievement on objective tests or in the classroom; achievement in both cases is based on what LD children do on their own (independently). Thus, the crucial issue becomes to determine what interferes between their mental ability and their independent achievement. This IQ-achievement discrepancy has been explained according to various models. One such model is that of a neurological deficit (Rourke, 1985) which selectively interferes with the ability of the LD child to process information presented in visual or auditory modalities. Another explanation, known as the attention deficit hypothesis, assumes that attention deficit disordered (A.D.D.) children are not able to sustain their attention on academic tasks, and their poor academic progress is therefore the net result of an accumulation of missed academic experiences (Krupski, 1986). A third model explains the gap in terms of motivation and learned helplessness. Learning disabled children are characterized as passive learners who accept total responsibility for their failure while accepting little, if any, responsibility for their success (Torgesen, 1977). As a result of this maladaptive attributional profile, LD students simply give up in the learning situation. A fourth explanatory model, focusing on information processing theory, highlights the cognitive processes brought to the learning situation (Swanson, 1988) and argues that the disability experienced by the LD student results from specific difficulties with information processing components (i.e., encoding, storage, and retrieval).
