Gabriel is a 6-year-old recently enrolled in a general education classroom. He has difficulty with social interaction and understanding directions. Which dual diagnosis best explains these behaviors?

Gabriel is a 6-year-old recently enrolled in a general education classroom. He has difficulty with social interaction and understanding directions. Which dual diagnosis best explains these behaviors?

• A. Traumatic brain injury and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• B. Emotional disturbance disorder and a specific learning disability
• C. Autism spectrum disorder and a hearing impairment
• D. Visual impairment and intellectual disability

Answer: (C)

Autism spectrum disorder commonly presents with persistent difficulties in social interaction and communication, including trouble interpreting social cues, taking others’ perspectives, and forming peer relationships. When a child also has a hearing impairment, understanding spoken directions in a classroom becomes more challenging because auditory information is less accessible. Together, these two conditions best explain both the social interaction struggles and the difficulty following directions that Gabriel is exhibiting in a general education setting. Other pairs don’t align as directly with both the social-communication profile and the real-world classroom challenge of hearing and processing instructions.

Autism spectrum disorder commonly presents with persistent difficulties in social interaction and communication, including trouble interpreting social cues, taking others’ perspectives, and forming peer relationships. When a child also has a hearing impairment, understanding spoken directions in a classroom becomes more challenging because auditory information is less accessible. Together, these two conditions best explain both the social interaction struggles and the difficulty following directions that Gabriel is exhibiting in a general education setting. Other pairs don’t align as directly with both the social-communication profile and the real-world classroom challenge of hearing and processing instructions.