Language problems in children with learning disabilities: do they interfere with maternal communication?

In this study, parent-child interaction in two carefully matched subgroups-school-age boys with learning disabilities (LD) who showed a discrepancy between their verbal IQ and performance IQ and had more extensive difficulties in higher-level language abilities (VIQ < PIQ, n = 8) and boys with LD who did not manifest a discrepancy between verbal IQ and performance IQ (VIQ = PIQ, n = 8), were investigated. The effects of the child's language problems on child task performance and on the quality of maternal communication were analyzed in a mother-child problem solving task. Children in the VIQ < PIQ group were found to be less successful on the task than children in the VIQ = PIQ group, and their mothers exhibited lower communication clarity in their instructions than the mothers of the children in the VIQ = PIQ group. An interesting interaction effect was found for communication deviances. For mothers in the VIQ < PIQ group the extent of deficient communication increased from the monologue to the dialogue situation, whereas communication deviances decreased for mothers in the VIQ = PIQ group. Three possible models are discussed in light of the differences between the subgroups.

Communication deviances and clarity among the mothers of normally achieving and learning-disabled boys.

The main purpose of the study was to reexamine the association between maternal communication deviances and learning disabilities in children. In this study, we adapted and extended the procedure used by Ditton, Green, and Singer (1987). A two-part experimental task was used: one in which the child could not request any clarification of mother's instructions, and another in which the mother and child could communicate. Both communication deviances and the clarity of mothers' communication were analyzed. The subjects were 60 mother-child pairs in which half of the children had learning disabilities and the other half were normally achieving children matched for age and parents' SES. The dyads were videotaped in a laboratory setting. The mothers of learning-disabled (LD) children were found to give less exact instructions and to present more ambiguous messages to the child than the mothers of non-LD children. Despite the more inaccurate input from their mother, the LD boys did not request clarification for ambiguous statements any more than did the NLD boys.

Mother-child teaching strategies and learning disabilities.

The teaching strategies used by mothers of sons with learning disabilities (LD) (n = 30) and normally achieving sons (NLD) (n = 30) were examined. The children were matched for age (8- to 11-year-olds) and for parents' socioeconomic status. The behavior of mother-child pairs was videotaped in a teaching task that was constructed to resemble a homework assignment. The results showed that the mothers of children with LD used fewer high-level strategies, and their total time used in teaching was less than that of the mothers of NLD children. The mothers of children with LD exhibited more dominance and less emotionality and cooperation than did the mothers of NLD children; however, the mothers did not differ in task motivation. The children with LD seemed to have more inactive learning strategies, evident in their weaker initiative and greater dependence on their mothers. Analyses concerning the variation of maternal strategies within the LD group revealed that the mothers' motivation, combined with their emotionality and proportion of high-level strategies, had a strong positive association with their children's success in learning.