Specificity of treatment effects for learning disabilities in a boy prenatally exposed to dilantin

Abstract

The present case study provides evidence that a specific deficit can be improved by a treatment specific intervention in a boy who was prenatally exposed to Dilantin and presented with a learning disability. After implementation of a focused intervention for reading, standardized test scores revealed that the child demonstrated a dramatic improvement in reading performance, but remained consistent in other academic areas. This indicated that his reading improvement was the direct effect of specific training in reading, but did not generalize to other content areas. This finding is significant because it provides support for treatment specificity in contrast to treatment generalizability.

Key Words:

• learning disability
• dilantin
• neuropsychology
• applied behavioural analysis