Executive Functions in Students with Nonverbal Learning Disorders and Students with Dyslexia

The present study investigates executive functions in students with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD) and Students with Dyslexia.

Among 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders referred to learning disorders clinics, 31 students with NLD and 22 students with dyslexia were selected through a multi-stratified random sampling method. Goldstein learning disorders scale (2002) was administered to evaluate NLD. Reading and Dyslexia Test (Koromi Noori et al., 2007) was used to diagnose dyslexia, and to test executive functions (working memory, planning, flexibility, and degree of attention) Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and three subtests of Wechsler's (mathematics, numeral memory, decoding) were administered respectively.

Covariance analysis manifested no significant difference for planning between students with NLD and Dyslexia. In flexibility, students with NLD performed better than dyslexic students. Considering working memory, the number of nonrepeated errors in NLD was more than dyslexic group. In addition, the difference in the degree of attention was not significant between students with NLD and dyslexia.

Performance of students with non-verbal learning Disorders in executive functions is lower than dyslexic students.