Allergies and Learning Disabilities

Numerous connections between allergies and learning disabilities have been made in the popular press and other media directed to parents of the learning disabled. This article briefly traces the reasons for this association and critically analyzes existing research of such factors as school underachievement and learning problems, listening and hearing problems, absenteeism, and social-emotional disorders. Results of a comparison of group achievement scores, school attendance records, and medical symptoms of allergic and nonallergic students with and without learning disabilities raise serious questions about the purported relationship between allergies and learning problems.