Cognitive impulsivity in specific learning disabilities.

Many studies on cognitive impulsivity in learning disabled children have been criticized for their methodological limitations, and they have not dealt with the different types of learning disability. The aim of this study was to overcome these limitations and to assess if there was a significant cognitive impulsivity in reading disorder and/or spelling disorder by using the 20-item Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF20). A total of 110 children (second through eighth grades) were recruited from a cohort of children assessed for the first time in a National Health clinic specialized in the study of specific learning disabilities. In all, 30 dyslexic children and 25 children with spelling disorder (all children without an ADHD comorbidity) were compared with 55 children of a control group on the MMF20 (accuracy and time latency). Results showed that the children with reading disorder were less accurate than the children with spelling disability (p<0.05). Both these groups performed less accurately than the control group. Subjects with dyslexia were faster than both the other groups in response time (p<0.05), clearly showing a significantly higher cognitive impulsivity than the other groups. Hence, data seem to confirm the idea that, similar to ADHD children, dyslexic children have impaired frontal/prefrontal functions. Clinical and treatment implications are discussed.