The Psychiatric Morbidity Hypothesis: A Response to San Miguel, Forness, and Kavale

Abstract

In the Fall 1996 issue of Learning Disability Quarterly, San Miguel, Forness, and Kavale argued that the social skills deficits typically found in studies of children with learning disabilities (LD) are largely due to comorbidity of learning disabilities with psychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depressive disorder. In my response I review literature which suggests that while children with LD and comorbid ADHD are especially at risk for social skill deficits, there is no evidence supporting increased risk for children with both LD and depression. Furthermore, there is considerable evidence that some children who have LD without psychiatric disorders also have social skill deficits.