NCJ Number
54233
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 29 Issue: 4 Dated: (NOVEMBER 1978) Pages: 13-16
Date Published
1977
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A SAMPLE OF 183 MALE AND 67 FEMALE JUVENILES DETAINED AT A DETENTION FACILITY BETWEEN AUGUST 1976 AND MAY 1977 WERE STUDIED TO DETERMINE THE INCIDENCE OF LEARNING DISABILITIES AMONG JUVENILE DELINQUENTS.
Abstract
AGED 11 TO 18 YEARS AND WITH A MEDIAN AGE OF 16 YEARS, THE SUBJECTS WERE ADMINISTERED A BATTERY OF TESTS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING: (1) PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST; (2) WIDE RANGE ACHIEVEMENT TEST, READING; (3) WIDE RANGE ACHIEVEMENT TEST, SPELLING; (4) GATES-MACGINITIE READING TEST, COMPREHENSION; (5) BABCOCK STORY RECALL TEST; (6) BENDER VISUAL MOTOR GESTALT; (7) WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN (WISC) DIGIT SPAN; (8) WECHSLER ADULT INTELLIGENCE SCALE (WAIS) BLOCK DESIGN; AND (9) WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN (WISC-R) REVISED BLOCK DESIGN. THE 233 CASES WERE DIAGNOSED ON THE BASIS OF A SEVERE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPECTATION THAT WAS NOT DUE TO A DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY (MENTAL RETARDATION), SEVERE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTURBANCE, OR PHYSICAL DISABILITY. MULTIPLE INDICATORS WERE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IF A YOUTH WAS FOUND TO HAVE AT LEAST NORMAL INTELLIGENCE. OF THE SAMPLE, 52.6 PERCENT OF THE BOYS AND 38.7 PERCENT OF THE GIRLS WERE FOUND TO BE LEARNING DISABLED. THIS FINDING IS COMPARED TO THE 15 PERCENT (7.5 PERCENT OBVIOUS AND 7.5 PERCENT BORDERLINE) OF A SAMPLE OF 3,000 ELEMENTARY STUDENTS DETERMINED TO BE LEARNING DISABLED IN A 4-YEAR STUDY. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (KBL)