Summary
Purpose: To assess the impact of childhood‐onset temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) on the attainment of normative developmental tasks and identify predictors of long‐term developmental outcomes.
Methods: In 1992–1993, a prospective longitudinal cohort study of childhood‐onset TLE was commenced in the State of Victoria, Australia. At review in 2004–2006, we assessed developmental tasks, which are age‐specific individual psychosocial achievements tied to particular phases of the lifespan. The cohort comprised 54 individuals (33 female) with a mean age of 20 years (range 12–29), and mean age at TLE onset of 6 years (range 0.2–15).
Key Findings: Individuals were clustered into three groups representing distinct developmental trajectories: (1) a Normal group (52%) who achieved most of their developmental tasks, (2) an Altered group (37%) who achieved some, and (3) a Delayed group (11%) who achieved few. The groups showed significant cognitive differences, with the Normal group outperforming the Altered and Delayed groups on a range of measures (p < 0.05). Multiple discriminant function analysis indicated that membership of the groups was independently predicted by the chronicity of seizures, cognitive functioning, having surgically remediable epilepsy, and gender (p < 0.001). Seizure chronicity and cognition discriminated between all three trajectories, while surgical intervention and gender primarily discriminated between the Altered and Delayed trajectories.
Significance: Childhood‐onset TLE can disrupt achievement of normative developmental tasks that is independently predicted by medical, biologic, and cognitive factors. Assessment of developmental tasks across the lifespan provides a practical framework for guiding prognostic counseling of patients and families.
Learning an academic discipline requires at a fundamental level reading of knowledge that has been recorded, debated and developed in writing over time. Given the essential role of reading in shaping knowledge, there needs to be more emphasis on approaches that nurture an engaged reading practice. This article explores the role of instrumental, critical and aesthetic reading stances in engaging students in academic reading at university and the extent to which connecting these reading stances can enhance student learning through academic reading. Using this dynamic view of reading, the article examines insights and evidence from recent research to investigate the connection between these reading stances and student learning. The studies analysed indicate elements of instrumental, critical and aesthetic reading in approaches that effectively engage learners in academic reading. These ways of reading are linked to enhanced learning in terms of individual reflexivity, disciplinary participation, social perspective and global awareness. An analysis of the studies investigated advocates for using a variety of text types, giving students choice of texts, explicitly teaching dynamic reading skills, providing opportunities for social reading practices and implementing process-based assessments for learning. These practices can lighten the academic reading load by enhancing engagement and learning of disciplinary knowledge.
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