Psycholinguistic Evaluation of Children Referred For Private Consultation to a Child Psychiatrist

Abstract

A child psychiatrist had 446 children referred to him for a combination of behavioral and school performance problems. A uniformity of disorder persisted in the basic motor patterns of these children at rest and in activity.As a part of the complete psychiatric consultation, the children were tested for achievement and reading levels. From the total of 446 children a random sample of 33 children were then studied by psycholinguistic techniques to determine whether such an evaluation should be a routine part of the child's work up.Children are often referred for psychiatric evaluation for a combination of behavioral and school performance problems. Of the several profiles that could describe them, a uniformity of disorder persists in their basic motor patterns at rest and in activity. These children show a restlessness, often to the point of difficulty in sitting long enough to watch a T.V. program. Their attention span is short and they daydream at length. They leave school work unfinished and they usually do not perform well academically.

Group counseling with reading disabled children.

“…Most special education programs for learning disabled children stress the treatment of the neurological-maturational symptoms manifested by reading disabilities, gross coordination difficulties, and visual motor coordination problems; however, little emphasis has been placed on the treatment of maladaptive behavior patterns which are frequently a main feature of the presenting symptomatology. Emotional problems have been identified in most children with reading disabilities (Battin & Kraft, 1968;Kline, Kline, Ashbrenner, & Calkins, 1968;Park & Linden, 1968;Quadfasel & Goodglass, 1968;Rice, 1970). Several investigators have reported that per-sonality adjustment increased in a positive direction as a result of exposure to traditional pedagogical methods (Gates, 1941;Monroe & Backus, 1937;Quadfasal & Goodglass, 1968;Wilking, 1941).…”