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Handbook of Cognitive, Social, and Neuropsychological Aspects of Learning Disabilities: Volume I: 001

Politics Urban Studies U. History Law Linguistics Literature. Music Neuroscience Philosophy Physical Sciences. The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Neuroscience: Where Are We Now? Ochsner and Stephen M. Kosslyn Emotion Salience, State, and Expression: Todd and Adam K. Buhle, and Kevin N. Kelley, and Todd F. Eisenberger and Keely A. Shankar and Samuel M. McClure Categorization Bradley C. Love Expectancies and Beliefs: Insights from Cognitive Neuroscience Lauren Y.

Atlas and Tor D. Vogel Psychopharmacology of Cognition T. Chamberlain and Naomi A. Where Are We Going? Sex hormones secreted during adolescence affect human behavior both directly and indirectly, and studies have shown testosterone to be linked to violent expression, which explains the increase in violence amongst teenage boys, to some extent. Emotional problems have also been shown to be due to the physical and sexual changes during puberty. Studies have shown that during early adolescence which, incidentally, is concurrent to the transition to junior high , teenagers tend to show displeasure with their appearance, leading to a distorted self-image.

During adolescence, significant changes are also occurring socially. Adolescents tend to spend more time with friends or alone, as opposed to children, who spend more time with family.

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Studies have shown that some LD students with distinct patterns of neuro-cognitive learning impairment also show distinctly different patterns of psychosocial functioning. LD students have difficulty adjusting to social frameworks, functioning in various social situations, dealing with feelings of failure, and delaying gratification. A significant number of LD students exhibit low self-esteem, feelings of isolation, and a tendency toward mood swings Heath, ; Margalit, LD individuals often suffer from low self-esteem and are therefore more likely than others to confer control of their failure or success on a third party.


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Their low self-image may also be affected by the attitude of those around them, who may perceive and approach them in a way that is more forgiving along with being less challenging and supportive. For example, a study by Clark showed that teachers tend to exhibit less anger and more sympathy for LD children because they did not expect these children to perform as well in school as the non-LD students. Many studies have examined the difficulties that LD students have in developing social skills.

As a result, LD children tend to avoid social interaction, leading to fewer opportunities for social contact. This sets up a vicious cycle that prevents them from acquiring appropriate skills and behavior patterns Bandura, Pragmatic communication embraces a broad area that includes knowing when to speak, with whom, for what purpose, and in what manner. Of all the verbal skills, the pragmatic one is the one that has the greatest impact on social skills, and therefore pragmatic skills are paramount to social function. Investigators studying learning disabilities have reported that LD adolescents also have difficulty with pragmatic communication Modlinger, LD adolescents struggle to take verbal initiative, such as joining a conversation, greeting peers, or introducing themselves; they also have difficulty describing situations and objects, or providing instructions.

LD adolescents tend to ask few questions, especially open questions, and they are less responsive to requests for help or clarification from those around them. The LD adolescent also does not know how to adapt his manner of speaking to suitable his conversation partner and addresses everyone the same way.

While a uniform manner of communication might be acceptable when speaking to friends, it comes across as rude and contemptuous when directed to an educator. Because LD adolescents tend to exhibit negativism or antagonism in their conversations insults, refusals, orders, complaints, etc. The difficulties that LD adolescents have in developing social skills can be divided into three key areas Pearl, Interpersonal communication is a basic, vital component in cognitive development and friendship.

Interaction with peer groups requires selective attention, high levels of memory organization and cognition, social initiative, and active involvement in diverse interpersonal situations Shores, LD students, in contrast to other students, exhibit a lower quality of interaction. They exhibit passive communication patterns, low initiative when it comes to suggesting interaction and co-op- eration with their peers, and a tendency to avoid social interaction out of fear of failure Asher, Social cognition refers to the knowledge and cognitive processes that an individual uses to interact and relate to others.

LD students do not process and interpret information correctly. They have difficulty in properly interpreting social signals such as tone of voice, facial expression and body language, and in comprehending their place in relation to others. Their planning strategies are faulty and therefore forming interpersonal relationships becomes problematic Markoski, It affects behavior and the acquisition of social skills.

LD adolescents tend to exhibit emotional issues that include extreme mood swings, difficulty expressing feelings, anxiety, and anger. They also have difficulty empathizing with others and often misjudge the mood and emotions of others Derr, Bruck described the emotional and motivational difficulties from two different perspectives: Fear of failure leads to avoiding communication, which generates feelings of helplessness arising from the inability or lack of confidence to influence social conditions.

Children with learning disabilities often hear words and phrases such as lazy, spoiled, stubborn, distracted, capitulates too easily, too dependent, irresponsible, not interested in anything, and the like. Often, their surroundings punish and rage at them, which increases the cycle of frustration, rage and helplessness Levin, As a result, the LD adolescent struggles to find useful models for solving problems or directing his negative feelings, and his frustration may be expressed by avoiding or resisting interactions or events, and through sadness and angry outbursts.

His self-image is damaged, and to overcome the confusion, anxiety, rage, and helplessness he feels, he develops defensive patterns of behavior Levin, Social problems can, as stated, lead to loneliness and depression. In conclusion, lack of social skills has a profound influence on the functioning of the LD student because they are missing the abilities and skills required for adaptive behavior and appropriate social interaction. The cognitive struggle affects the collection of behaviors appropriate for understanding the social situation. Any failing in any one of the components affects adaptation, especially during adolescence, when developing social ties is crucial and significant.

Transferring into a new learning framework is a common transition during which any student may experience intensified stress or reaction in response to those changes to which he must adapt.

Learning Disabilities, What Are the Different Types?

However, the move from one class to another, from elementary school to junior high, or from junior high to high school may have a specially profound impact on the LD adolescent and may be accompanied by behavioral problems, a decline in academic achievement, and an increase in anxiety, especially with respect to social issues acceptance in a peer group and the need to meet new academic expectations.

Such problems may lead the individual to a decrease in self-esteem and an increase in psychological distress MOEC, Several factors may have an impact on the transition itself and how students cope with it, and they can determine how students adapt to their new academic situation. The transition from elementary school to junior high is actually a twofold transition: From an emotional standpoint, adolescence is very complex. Research has shown that the transition to junior high affects the psychosocial attitude of students and may lead to undesirable feelings, such as stress, helplessness, and lack of satisfaction, along with increased symptoms of ADHD, such as lack of concentration, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and decreased self-esteem Langberg et al.

All this occurs alongside the transition to junior high, which begs the opposite: The Ministry of Education and Culture recognizes the challenges that are inherent in the transfer from elementary school to junior high and high schools with their significantly different systems. Students must cope psychologically, socially, and emotionally with a myriad of changes: In addition, junior high is usually more achievement-oriented than primary school and requires coping with a curriculum that is higher in standard and broader in content. To exacerbate the trauma, students moving from elementary to junior high are often forced to leave old friends and are faced with having to form new relationships in a heterogeneous classroom.

All the changes described above present even more of a challenge for LD adolescents, who, as stipulated above, are deficient in social skills, have difficulty developing and acquiring skills, find it hard to adjust, and who also may find that, in relation to that of their peers, their puberty is delayed Spector, These gaps may embarrass the LD adolescent and accentuate problems Margalit, Also, such youth experience the world differently from their non-LD peers, and events that occur around them are perceived as less predictable.

LD adolescents may invent erroneous stories to explain their reality, and these will dictate how they interpret present events and how they respond to future ones Levin, The result of the above may mean that any dialogue between LD adolescents and guidance counselors or other contact person who may try to communicate with the student may go awry.

The contact person may have difficulty understanding them and will not supply the acceptance and emotional support needed to produce a safe base for the student. It challenges every adolescent at an age when he or she is vulnerable to begin with, and presents even more of a challenge to LD teenagers, who are even more sensitive to such challenge. While many studies have addressed the issues and difficulties that LD students experience during the transitional period from primary to junior high, there have not been many studies that have turned to the students themselves as a source of data regarding feelings and adjustment issues from their own subjective standpoint.

The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the socio-emotional adjustment of LD students who attend integrated junior high classes from the subjective perspective of the students themselves. The study consisted of face-to-face, in-depth interviews of approximately 45 minutes each that were conducted with each student individually. The interview was semi-structured, and included 7 open questions see Appendix 1. The content was recorded for later transcription.

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After receiving approval from the school, a meeting was arranged with the school counselor, who located LD students to participate in the study and then coordinated the time and venue for the interviews. Each student received an explanation of the purpose and procedure of the study; and they were informed that data collection was for research purposes only, that their anonymity would be maintained to ensure maximum privacy and confidentiality, and that they could withdraw from the study at any time.

The students were asked to confirm their agreement to participate in writing. Interviews were conducted in Arabic. For the purpose of data analysis, all the statements and descriptions that were deemed pertinent to the topic of the study were extracted from the interviews and given an initial coding whereby all statements pertaining to one topic were gathered together into one category.

This initial classification suggested three main categories that pertained to LD students that had transferred from primary school to junior high: A substantial portion of those interviewed reported feelings of loneliness as a result of their transition into junior high. They described feelings of not fitting in, socio-emotional detachment and rejection from their counterparts, and difficulty meeting and bonding with their peers. There are all kinds of students in the class… and I find it hard to make friends with them. The transition messed up my social life.

I spend most of my time all by myself. In my class, everyone hangs around with the pals he had in grade school. And then I think, why should I bother making new friends? I get the feeling that they are avoiding me… everyone sits together in pairs throughout the year. No one suggests sitting beside me. The students stated that they spend most of their time by themselves, without friends.

Some have one friend from elementary school, but it seems that they are spending their time in school without adequate social relations. Most of the students expressed feelings of despair, helplessness, and even hatred toward their class and the school: The second category that was discerned through the analysis of the interviews was the issue of LD-student social skills. The quality of social skills dictates the behavior that will be expressed in social situations, and having appropriate skills is very important for the individual.

Academic ability and self-image are also directly correlated to the level of his social acceptance. All the students described going through a long, difficult period of adjustment following the move to the new school. This was accompanied by feelings of anxiety. They expressed the need to have some person to rely on, such as a friend from grade school or a caring relative who could act as an anchor during this period.

Some of the students stated that, after a period of adjustment, they now have a good relationship with their peers and feel accepted socially. Nevertheless, it is evident from their statements that their current social ties are mostly based on friendships formed earlier in elementary school, with only a few new friends in junior high.


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A friend from elementary school, a relative, or someone from the same neighborhood. Students also reported feelings of low efficacy in creating social bonds, such as not knowing how to connect socially and a tendency toward passivity: All students seemed to feel that their teachers ignored them and did not treat them as they treated students who performed better academically: Some students described difficulty in connecting with their teachers. Statements indicate tangible feelings of alienation toward teachers, and it seems that the students feel that they are misunderstood at school and have no one to talk to.

Thus, students reported that teachers tend to explain the material in a manner that LD students find too difficult and too rapid, and that the students, on their part, refrain from asking questions or expressing their difficulties during the lessons: But there is no need to ask, I have a home tutor, and I ask her. In summary, an analysis of the interviews points to three main concerns that LD adolescents have concerning their transition to junior high, with emphasis on the social-emotional adjustment.

Most of the respondents seemed to experience similar negative feelings of loneliness, being misunderstood and not accepted in their new environment, alienation, and feelings of helplessness, all of which influenced them emotionally and socially. It is apparent that LD students have an especially difficult time adjusting to a new school.

One consequence of these difficulties was that it induced them to keep quiet in class: During adolescence, teenagers finds themselves in a constant quest to discover themselves, to define themselves in relation to others, and to construct for themselves an identity which includes not only familial elements but also new and original components Gotlib, During junior high, adolescents are taking their first steps toward maturity.

At puberty, students undergo two major transitions within the educational framework: Coping with transition also involves socio-emotional coping. These transitions can be considered crisis transitions for any student Sadeh, , but they prove especially challenging and difficult for those with learning disabilities. In the current study, we examined the socio-emotional adjustment of LD students who had undergone the transition from primary to junior high school, from the subjective perspective of the students themselves.

The participants, LD adolescents in heterogeneous classrooms, stressed how difficult it is for them to find their place in their new school. Their statements clearly revealed feelings of solitude and social isolation. The respondents described the transition as a stressful and daunting process that disrupted any order they had already created in their lives.

A large proportion of them noted that the new school environment was neither welcoming nor supportive.

The Cognitive and Academic Profiles of Reading and Mathematics Learning Disabilities

The findings of the current study also point to the effect that the social skills of LD adolescents of junior-high age have on their emotional and social adjustment. Studies in the field of socio-emotional functioning have found that students who report feeling lonely also tend to report shyness, low social skills, a lack of mental stability, and a lack of self-confidence.

In contrast, those who have some close relationship and thus feel a sense of intimacy, or are part of a coherent social group are less likely to feel lonely Rokach, The findings of the current study show that LD students do indeed have difficulty making new friends in junior high, and their few social ties are based on socialization schemas more appropriate for children, such as those based on location neighbors , family relationship, or on friendships that were already established in the past.

The students also reported that it took them a long time to understand their classmates and their teachers, and to understand what is expected from them. Some clearly expressed that they did not know how to approach classmates to initiate friendship with them; others did not state this directly, but expressed a desire for their fellow classmates to initiate contact. This information is consistent with the findings of Pearl , who found that the social skills of LD students are less than what is expected at their age, and are expressed through poor interpersonal communication, difficulty in initiating social interaction, interaction characterized by passive communication patterns, a lack of initiative to develop connections, and difficulty understanding social situations and the moods, thoughts, and feelings of others.

All the LD students in the study reported having significant academic difficulty. Our findings also support the conjecture that students who lack social skills will tend to avoid social interactions, resulting in fewer opportunities to form friendships or to improve social skills Bandura, Another important and interesting finding was that all the participants indicated experiencing negative attention from their teachers. It is possible that this difference lies in the differences between the studies: The findings of each study may, in fact, be independent of each other.

In other words, students might feel a negative attitude on the part of the teachers and a feeling of rejection compared to other, more successful students, while teachers, for their part, may feel that they tend to ease their expectations of LD students and be more forgiving toward them. If the school is perceived as a hostile, critical place, and the adolescent fears that he is not being listened to or understood, the result is that he finds no outlet for the deep frustration stemming from his learning disability.

This further intensifies the feelings of isolation that the student must deal with, and because they find it hard to share their sense of loneliness, they are brought to a point of anxiety that can produce paralyzing feelings of helplessness. These factors further affect the social and emotional adjustment of LD adolescents in their new educational framework. This relationship is even more important in the case of LD students, who may vent their feelings of frustration through behaviors that are unacceptable in school.

This study has a number of methodological limitations, mainly due to the sample set.


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This study involved a very small number of respondents 12 LD students who live in the same area, go to the same school, come from the same ethnic sector, and have a similar socio-economic status.