Specificity, Co-Occurrence, and Growth: Math and Reading Skill Development in Children With Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Learning disabilities are challenging to characterize because they evolve throughout development, frequently co-occur, and have varying domain specificity. Addressing these challenges, we analyzed longitudinal patterns of growth, co-occurrence, and specificity manifesting in the math and reading skills of children with and without learning disabilities. With a sample of 498 Grade 1 children followed for 5 years, we used linear mixed-effects models to explore group-level differences among children with math disability (MD), reading disability (RD), co-occurring disability, and no disability. Findings revealed: Math and reading trajectories of children with learning disabilities parallel those of children without disabilities. Skill growth slows over time, regardless of skill level, suggesting disability-related impairments will not resolve without intervention. Impairment levels and growth trajectories of children with co-occurring disabilities match the within-domain patterns of children with isolated disabilities, supporting a longitudinally maintained additive model of co-occurrence. MD and RD show varying specificity. MD impairments are domain-specific and become more pronounced over time. RD impairments impact both domains early, become more domain-specific over time, but maintain curriculum-contingent math deficits. Findings suggest early math intervention should balance linguistic and conceptual support, as the source of a child’s math difficulties may not be clear until well into elementary school.