A Cluster Analysis of Learning Disabled Children

Abstract

Cluster analysis was employed with the intent of describing more homogeneous subgroups of learning disabled (LD) children. The parents and teachers of 29 children placed in special education as learning disabled completed questionnaires concerning demographic information regarding the families; birth, medical, and developmental histories regarding the children were also included. Variables for the analysis were those found, by means of discriminant analysis in an earlier study, to be significantly related to LD as opposed to regular education children. The presence of developmental delays (speaking or walking later than expected), birth order, and sex of the children were influential in the definition of the clusters.

Key Words:

• learning disabled