Do children with mathematics learning disability in Hong Kong perceive word problems differently?

The current study aimed at identifying the difficulties experienced by children with mathematics learning disability (MLD) in the problem representation phase of arithmetic word problem solving using a novel problem types identification task. An MLD group (n = 66) and a typically achieving control group (n = 139) were recruited for an assessment on problem type identification as well as some domain-general and mathematics-related cognitive abilities. Results from ANCOVA showed that the MLD group scored significantly lower than the typically achieving control group on this assessment, after controlling for the effect of cognitive correlates, reading achievement and arithmetic performance. Furthermore, this assessment significantly predicted MLD membership even after taking children's arithmetic competency into account. The current study confirmed the difficulties in problem representation of arithmetic word problems experienced by students with MLD and provided evidence for the need to introduce schema instructions in mathematics classes.     

Development of Working Memory from Grade 3 to 5: Differences between Children With and Without Mathematical Learning Difficulties

Based on the finding that children with mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) have deficits in working memory (WM), the question arises as to whether these children differ from typical learners only in the level or also in the developmental trajectories of WM functioning. To this end, the WM of 80 children with MLD and 71 typical learners was assessed longitudinally from third to fifth grade. Typical learners outperformed children with MLD in the phonological, visuospatial and central executive WM functioning in third grade. Latent change analyses indicated that both phonological and central executive WM functioning developed in a parallel pattern in children with MLD and in typical learners. In contrast, visuospatial WM functioning revealed a different development in children with and without MLD since the gap between both groups decreased over time. Overall, despite starting at a lower level, the WM functioning in children with MLD did not develop more slowly.     

The Human Figure Drawings of Normal Children and Those with Mild Learning Difficulties

The human figure drawings of 18 children with mild learning difficulties (MLD) were compared with those of 18 children with the same chronological age (mean 10 years, 4 months) and those of 18 children with the same mental age (mean 6 years, 0 months). The MLD children's drawings were similar to those of the 6‐year‐olds in terms of the number of developmental items they displayed; both these groups scored significantly lower than the 10‐year‐olds. Teachers could easily distinguish the 10‐year‐olds’ figures, but not those drawn by the MLD children and the 6‐year‐olds; they routinely confused the two. These findings suggest that, although their development is slower, MLD children follow a normal rather than a deviant developmental pattern.     

Early Cognitive Precursors of Children's Mathematics Learning Disability and Persistent Low Achievement: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study

Mathematical difficulties have been distinguished as mathematics learning disability (MLD) and persistent low achievement (LA). Based on 1,880 Finnish children who were followed from kindergarten (age 6) to fourth grade, this study examined the early risk factors for MLD and LA. Distinct groups of MLD (6.0% of the sample) and LA (25.7%) children were identified on the basis of their mathematics performance between first and fourth grades with latent class growth modeling. Impairment in the same set of cognitive skills, including language, spatial, and counting skills, was found to underlie MLD and LA. The finding highlights the importance of monitoring mathematical development across the early grades and identifying early cognitive precursors of MLD and LA for screening and intervention efforts.     

社区健康教育对老年人体质影响研究

为了解社区健康教育对老年人体质的影响,将80位老人随机分成实验组和对照组(各40例),根据老年人的生理、心理及健康需求等特点对实验组开展了12个月的健康教育活动.结果显示:实验组老人12个月后体重、体重指数(BM I)显著下降,实验组收缩压呈下降趋势,但无显著性差异,舒张压变化与对照组存在显著性差异;两组肺活量均出现显著下降;手眼协调性测试、闭眼单腿站立未见显著变化.提示:针对性的社区健康教育可增强老年人体质,提高健康水平,对促进健康老龄化具有积极的作用.     

Computational skills, working memory, and conceptual knowledge in older children with mathematics learning disabilities

Knowledge and skill in multiplication were investigated for late elementary-grade students with mathematics learning disabilities (MLD), typically achieving age-matched peers, low-achieving age-matched peers, and ability-matched peers by examining multiple measures of computational skill, working memory, and conceptual knowledge. Poor multiplication fact mastery and calculation fluency and general working memory discriminated children with MLD from typically achieving age-matched peers. Furthermore, children with MLD were slower in executing backup procedures than typically achieving age-matched peers. The performance of children with MLD on multiple measures of multiplication skill and knowledge was most similar to that of ability-matched younger children. MLD may be due to difficulties in computational skills and working memory. Implications for the diagnosis and remediation of MLD are discussed.     

Spelling difficulties in Spanish-speaking children with dyslexia / Dificultades de escritura en niños españoles con dislexia

In addition to reading difficulties, a significant proportion of developmental dyslexics have spelling problems, which persist into adulthood. Studies carried out in languages with opaque orthographies have found that dyslexics frequently make phonological substitutions when spelling and have difficulties in developing orthographic representations of irregular words. Those errors seem to derive from an excessive use of phonological codes when writing. Minimal research in Spanish (relatively transparent orthography) about the relationship between dyslexia and spelling difficulties has been carried out to date. In this study, 19 Spanish-speaking developmental dyslexics (from 7 to 11 years old) and 28 controls (from 6 to 11 years old, distributed in two groups, one matched for age and the other for reading level with the dyslexics) performed a dictation task of 80 stimuli with different levels of orthographic consistency, in order to discover the codes they use in the writing process. Results showed that Spanish children with dyslexia made significantly more spelling errors, especially among the ruled and irregular words. These findings are consistent with the idea that these children have difficulties in developing orthographic representations and use phonological codes more frequently than non-dyslexics, resulting in phonologically plausible errors when writing irregular words. These results have important implications for the treatment of spelling difficulties in children with dyslexia, highlighting the need to focus on the correct acquisition of grapheme-phoneme conversion rules as well as the development of appropriate orthographic representations.     

Impact of a computer-based intervention in Chilean children at risk of manifesting reading difficulties / Impacto de una intervención basada en ordenador en niños chilenos con riesgo de manifestar dificultades lectoras

Reading difficulties have reached a prevalence of 3–10% in school-age children. Those who present these difficulties avoid reading and benefit very little from school-based learning opportunities, resulting in maladjustments, dropping out of school and having to repeat grades. Presented here are the results of an intervention based on a computer game intended for explicit phonic training in first-grade school children at risk of possessing reading difficulties. Fifty-six children from a low socioeconomic status (SES) and 31 children from a high socioeconomic status, divided into two groups (control and experimental), participated in the study. After the intervention, participants from the low-SES experimental group had enhanced their skills regarding letter sound recognition, whereas the high-SES experimental group had improved their naming speed. The results are discussed in light of the impact of interventions based on computer games and of the importance of the development of sublexical skills in children at risk of manifesting reading difficulties in transparent orthographies.     

Behind mathematical learning disabilities: What about visual perception and motor skills?

In a sample of 39 children with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) and 106 typically developing controls belonging to three control groups of three different ages, we found that visual perception, motor skills and visual-motor integration explained a substantial proportion of the variance in either number fact retrieval or procedural calculation. Furthermore, children with MLD performed significantly worse on visual perception, motor skills and visual-motor integration in comparison with age-matched control children. A mild developmental delay in visual perception, visual-motor integration and (fine) motor coordination and a severe delay in motor skills were found in children with MLD. However, not all children with MLD have problems on these domains. They seem to be a heterogeneous group, not only with respect to their mathematical profile but also with respect to their visual perceptual, motor and visual-motor integration skills. Diagnostic implications are discussed.     

幼儿体力活动水平:基于幼儿身体活动观察记录系统的评估

中高强度的体力活动与幼儿身体素质相关显著,幼儿园应保障幼儿每天有足够的中高强度体力活动。本研究运用幼儿身体活动观察记录系统,在广东省54所幼儿园开展幼儿体力活动水平调查。结果发现,幼儿的体力活动水平整体较低,久坐行为频率高,中高强度活动频率低。不同活动类型和不同等级幼儿园在体力活动水平上差异显著,具体表现为:在平均体力活动水平方面,自由游戏与早操显著高于体育游戏,省一级、办园级显著高于市一级;在久坐行为频率方面,自由游戏显著低于早操和体育游戏,省一级显著低于市一级;在中高强度活动频率上,自由游戏显著高于体育游戏和早操,省一级显著高于市一级。幼师比偏高,生均活动面积和生均器材数量偏少,教师对户外活动中的运动安全和常规格外关注,专注于游戏情境创设,对运动量和强度关注太少,编制的早操活动结构不合理、基本体操不科学,是幼儿体力活动水平整体不高、幼儿在教师组织实施的体育游戏与早操中的体力活动水平反不如户外自由游戏的重要原因。为提高幼儿在园体力活动水平,幼儿园应合理分配户外活动类型比例,增加户外自由游戏时间;相关部门应提升教师体育素养,加强对幼儿园户外活动的专业评价与监督。     

Reaching the hard to reach: quantitative and qualitative evaluation of school-based arts therapies with young people with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties

The arts therapies are becoming more commonplace as psychotherapeutic interventions for young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and associated mental health conditions in educational settings and are now used in many educational provisions. The justification for their use would seem to be largely based on the subjective experience of education managers and anecdotal evidence as empirical evidence for their effectiveness with this client group is scarce. This research article is an attempt to fill that gap. A sample of 52 young people receiving an arts therapy and a control sample of 29 young people on a waiting list for an arts therapy were assessed over a year-long period in two SEBD schools in London using staff-rated Goodman’s Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ) and a self-rated scoring system. SDQ results showed a significant difference in improvement of levels of SEBD compared to the control group across all measures with emotional and conduct difficulties showing a large effect. Three out of four self-rated score categories also showed significant difference in improvement compared to the control group. The quantitative data were supplemented with qualitative data obtained via interviews with six young people who had received an arts therapy. The data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Themes emerging from this data suggested that young people felt that the arts brought various benefits to their therapy that augmented the verbal side and helped them to engage in therapy.     

Integration of children with specific language impairments

Abstract

Current knowledge of the integration of children with specific language impairment (SLI) is examined. The paper begins by defining this group of children and the nature of their difficulties. The heterogeneous characteristics of SLI children are discussed. It then addresses the educational provisions made for SLI children and the opportunities for integration present in different models of provision. Research on the integration of SLI children is evaluated with particular emphasis on the difficulties encountered by this group of children. The paper concludes with some thoughts for future research.     

Mathematical learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes

This study examined the relationships between mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) and the planning, attention, simultaneous, successive (PASS) theory of cognitive processing. The Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) was used to measure the PASS processes for a group of 267 Dutch students with MLD who attended either general or special education. The results showed that students with MLD performed lower than their peers on all CAS scales and that the MLD group contained many students with cognitive weaknesses in planning or successive processing. Moreover, students who had specific difficulties with the acquisition of basic math facts, the automatization of such facts, or word-problem solving were found to have distinct PASS cognitive profiles. In order to investigate the relationships between cognitive abilities and improvement in the mastery of basic math facts and problem solving, 165 of the students with MLD were given a special multiplication intervention. It appeared that the effectiveness of this particular intervention did not differ across the groups of students with specific cognitive weaknesses.     

A Four Year Follow‐up Study of Low Socioeconomic Status,Latin American Children with Reading Difficulties

This paper presents the results of a follow‐up study of reading difficulties among Spanish‐speaking Latin American children of low socioeconomic background (SES) over four school years. The research started with a group of 93 children with reading difficulties (RD) by 2nd and 3rd grade teachers in four schools and a control group of 63 children without reading difficulties (ND), belonging to the same schools. Both groups were equivalent in age, grade, gender and SES. All children were tested on reading decoding and comprehension, reading and writing pseudo‐words, verbal abilities, visual perception, phonological processing, and the WISC‐R. Neither SES nor IQ accounted significantly for the reading difficulties in the RD group. The most predictive variables of the final reading level in the RD group were phonological processing, verbal abilities, and the initial level of decoding. After four years, 17% of the initial RD children had reached an average level of reading, but 11% of this group remained with severe reading difficulties and may be considered as dyslexic children. The RD children who became average readers were not significantly different from the control group in verbal abilities, nor in phonological processing. Nevertheless, they were significantly different in terms of IQ scores. The neuropsychological characteristics of the children with severe reading difficulties appear similar to those found in children with dyslexia in more developed countries.     

Mathematical and Reading Difficulties as Predictors of School Achievement and Transition to Secondary Education

This study investigated whether mathematical and reading difficulties and self-reported learning problems predicted school achievement in the ninth grade, at the age of 16, and how these difficulties further explained the transition either to upper secondary academic education or to vocational education. The sample of the present study comprised one age group of ninth-grade adolescents (n?=?592; 300 girls, 292 boys) in a middle-sized Finnish city. These students completed tests of mathematics, reading comprehension and decoding. Participants were also asked to assess their learning problems in school work. Results demonstrated that mathematical and reading difficulties strongly predicted school achievement in the ninth grade and, through school achievement, also predicted the transition to different tracks in secondary education. The role of self-reported learning difficulties in this prediction was significant, but less significant than that of mathematical and reading difficulties. Parents' education did not play a major role in this prediction.     

CHARACTERISTICS OF FATHERS AND DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY IN THEIR SONS

Biographical surveys of 65 inventors employed in the mining industry were contrasted with those of a control group of men of similar age, education and period of employment who had failed to display inventiveness in their work. The following variables were taken into account: health and physical fitness; family life; financial status; educational status; origin and development of interests; work history. Among family variables certain characteristics of both parents were found to be decisive such as age, education, practising a profession, parental relationship and attitudes, atmosphere in the home created by parents as well as child rearing strategies. The empirical data showed that certain features of fathers who were inventors stimulated development of their sons' creativity, while some features of fathers of the control group children inhibited such trends in their children.     

体力活动、静坐行为与学前儿童体质健康的关系

体力活动和静坐行为是影响儿童早期体质健康的重要因素。本研究以152名学前儿童为被试,使用三轴加速度计测量体力活动和静坐行为,使用儿童型人体成分分析仪测量身体成分,使用《国民体质测定标准(幼儿部分)》测评身体素质,使用相关分析、多元回归分析和等时替代回归分析对它们之间的关系进行探究,结果发现在控制了性别、年龄、城乡、佩戴时间和静坐行为等因素后,中高强度体力活动尤其是高强度体力活动对去脂体重指数和身体素质(十米折返跑、立定跳远、双脚连续跳、走平衡木)依然具有显著影响;高强度体力活动替代其他强度体力活动或不同强度体力活动替代静坐行为后,去脂体重指数均有所提升;身体素质变化仅在高强度体力活动替代其他强度体力活动和静坐行为时具有方向一致性和显著性。家长和教师应充分重视中高强度体力活动尤其是高强度体力活动与学前儿童体质健康的紧密联系,促进学前儿童静坐行为和低强度体力活动向中高强度体力活动适度转化,以提升学前儿童下肢肌肉力量素质和灵敏素质等方面的体质健康水平。     

Local education authorities’ approaches to provision for children with specific speech and language difficulties in England and Wales

Children with specific speech and language difficulties (SSLD) pose a challenge to the education system as a result of their language needs and associated educational and social‐behavioural difficulties. Local education authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales have developed language units to meet their needs but previous research has indicated this provision was inadequate. The development of inclusion raises questions regarding this type of provision, compared with full inclusion into mainstream schools. The present study reports on a national survey of LEAs in England and Wales (97 respondents, 49.5% response rate) and interviews with 37 LEA special educational needs managers. Provision varied by age group with designated specialist provision more prevalent at key stages 1 and 2 (age 5–11 years), and relatively little at key stages 3 and 4 (11–16). LEAs’ decision‐making regarding provision varied, influenced by the lack of common criteria, which was highlighted by the difficulties in distinguishing children with SSLD from those with autistic spectrum disorder. There were also difficulties translating policies into practice, including the shortage of speech and language therapists. The implications of the study are discussed with reference to inclusion.     

Learning disabilities in children with very low birthweight: prevalence, neuropsychological correlates, and educational interventions

This study examined achievement, neuropsychological, and intervention outcomes at a mean age of 11 years in children with very low birthweight (VLBW, <1500 g) compared with a term-born control group. To assess the prevalence and correlates of specific learning disabilities (LD), the sample was limited to children without neurosensory disorders who had at least low average IQ. Participants included 31 children with <750 g birthweight, 41 with 750-1499 g birthweight, and 52 controls. The <750 g group obtained lower scores in math, IQ, and perceptual-organizational skills than the term-born group. The < 750 g group also had higher rates of past and present LD than the controls. Despite these differences, the groups did not differ significantly in rates of special education or tutorial/remedial assistance. These findings suggest that children with extremely low birthweight without gross physical or intellectual impairments are at higher risk for LD and cognitive deficiencies than their term-born peers and that further efforts are needed to improve identification and treatment of these learning problems.