Mental Representation of Spatial Information in Children with Non-Verbal and Reading Disabilities: Two Case Studies

Abstract

Non-verbal learning disability (NLD) is a specific difficulty related to the processing of visuo-spatial material. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the profile of NLD as regards ability to process and comprehend spatial descriptions, through the analysis of individual cases. Our study examined one child with NLD (M.N.), plus a second child (G.B.) with reading disability (RD) for comparison. The two children had similar reading comprehension ability. They listened to two spatial descriptions, in both survey (i.e., bird's-eye view) and route (i.e., person's point of view) perspective, plus one non-spatial description. They then answered questions about the descriptions and relocated landmarks from the spatial descriptions on a map. Performance of the child with NLD was poor in spatial descriptions but good in the non-spatial description. In particular, task performance was poorer after survey description learning. Instead, G.B. performed well in both non-spatial and spatial (i.e., survey and route) descriptions. The NLD child was shown to be specifically impaired in ability to mentally represent spatial information in survey perspective.