Simultaneous and successive cognitive processing in children with nonverbal learning disabilities

This study compared the performance of 19 children with nonverbal learning disabilities to a comparison group of 16 children with language learning di sabilities on measures of simultaneous and successive/sequential processing on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). (The terms 'sequen tial' and 'successive' are used by different authors, so are applied interc hangeably here). As hypothesized, children with nonverbal learning disabili ties were found to have significantly higher Successive than Simultaneous P rocessing scores on the K-ABC, while children with language learning disabi lities were found to have an inverse pattern of significantly higher Simult aneous than Successive Processing scores. The results suggest that differen t subtypes of learning disabilities can be defined through differences in c ognitive processing. Further, the simultaneous-sequential/successive proces sing model may offer a valuable basis for conceptualizing learning disabili ties in general, and nonverbal learning disabilities in particular. These f indings have implications for the assessment and remediation of such learni ng disabilities.