Syndrome of Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: Neurodevelopmental Manifestations [Hardcover]

Byron P. Rourke (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0898621550 | ISBN-13: 978-0898621556 | Publication Date: June 23, 1995 | Edition: 1

The syndrome of nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) is now widely regarded as a subtype of learning disabilities whose neuropsychological assets and deficits have predictable academic and psychosocial outcomes. This volume is the first systematic attempt to bring together evidence that bears upon the "white matter" model, which was designed to encompass its complex manifestations, and the neuropsychological underpinnings of the NLD syndrome. Covering a range of pediatric neurological diseases and disorders relevant to the applicability of the model, chapters also illuminate the neuropsychophysiological elements of the model. Dimensions relevant to both assessment and treatment are raised in many sections of the work, as are suggestions for future research. This book will be of value to neuropsychologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and pediatricians treating children with learning disabilities. It also serves as a text for graduate courses in neuropsychology and learning disabilities.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This work provides the most current and compelling information about nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD). Dr Rourke has succeeded in bringing together international authorities to explicate issues relevant to the etiology, diagnosis, manifestation, developmental course, and treatment of the NLD syndrome across a number of pediatric neurological diseases and disorders. The comprehensive discussions of the white matter model are state-of-the-art and provide the first definitive classification of the cognitive, linguistic, perceptual, motor, and sensory system sequelae of the NLD syndrome. This book is a major contribution to the literature and should be required reading for researchers and clinicians." --G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D., National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

"A unique volume presenting up-to-date reviews of a variety of genetic and acquired neurodevelopmental syndromes. Each chapter is organized around the central theme of Rourke's current model of nonverbal learning disabilities. Ranging from rare developmental to more common childhood disorders, anatomical, developmental, neuropsychological and neurological are presented. Each disorder is then addressed as to its relevance to the Rourke model. This volume is an excellent resource for readers interested in a developmental approach to understanding the behavioral manifestations of the nonverbal learning disabilities." --Eileen B. Fennell, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology and Neurology, University of Florida.

"Byron Rourke has been a pioneer in developing the concept of a syndrome of nonverbal disabilities and foremost in study of its manifestations. His ideas on how to integrate findings on brain abnormalities and on associated cognitive and behavioral malfunction are constructively provocative and controversial. This edited volume takes on the ambitious task of bringing together such apparently diverse disorders such as Asperger syndrome, Williams syndrome, hydrocephalus, fetal alcohol syndrome and traumatic brain injury within a model of which brain matter dysfunction, with the manifestations modified by amount of tissue damage and developmental timing. Not everyone will agree with the propositions put forward but all readers will find this impressively scholarly, but readable, review of the evidence and conceptual inferences usefully thought-provoking." --Michael Rutter, MD, FRS, Medical Research Council Child Psychiatry Unit, London

About the Author

Byron P. Rourke is Professor of Psychology and University Professor at the University of Windsor and a member of the faculty of the Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University. Past President of the International Neuropsychological Society and of the Division of Clinical Neuropsychology of the American Psychological Association, he is cofounder and coeditor of the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, The Clinical Neuropsychologist and Child Neuropsychology and serves on the editorial boards of a number of scientific and professional journals. He was the 1994 recipient of the Canadian Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Practice of Psychology. His authored, coauthored, and edited books include Nonverbal Learning Disabilities,Child Neuropsychology, Learning Disabilities and Psychosocial Functioning, Neuropsychological Validation of Learning Disability Subtypes, Neuropsychological Assessment of Children, and Neuropsychology of Learning Disabilities.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 518 pages
• Publisher: Guilford Press; 1 edition (June 23, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898621550
• ISBN-13: 978-0898621556
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #385,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking Summary of Nonverbal LD, December 14, 2000

By 

Ernest J. Bordini, Ph.D. (Gainesville, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Syndrome of Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: Neurodevelopmental Manifestations (Hardcover)

Must reading for parents of children with this often missed diagnosis, practitioners working with these children or psychologists involved in the assessment of children. Deals with cognitive as well as social issues. Learn why this disorder is often neglected despite the significant impact on educational and social adjustment.