Investigation of distinctive characteristics of children with specific learning disorder and borderline intellectual functioning

Abstract

Background: Borderline intelligence function (BIF) and specific learning disorder (SLD) are common diagnoses in children who are brought up for learning problems and school failure. Objective: The aim of our study was to determine whether there were distinctive aspects of cognitive testing routinely used in evaluating SLD and BIF and investigate emotion regulation skills and minor neurologic symptoms. Method: Sixty children (30 SLD and 30 BIF) who are currently attending primary school are selected for study. Visual Aural Digit Span Test -Form B, Gessel Figure Drawing Test, Bender Gestalt Visual Motor Perception Test, WISC-R, Emotion Regulation Scale (ERS) and Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES) was administered. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between groups in cognitive tests. The emotional regulation ability measured by the emotional regulation subscale was better in the SLD group than the BIF group (p = 0.014). In the NES, sensory integration (p = 0.008), motor coordination (p = 0.047) and other (p < 0.001) subscales showed higher scores in the BIF group. Discussion: It has been shown that cognitive tests don't have distinguishing features in the evaluation of SLD and BIF. Emotion regulation subscale score of ERS and sensory integration, motor coordination, and total scores of NES can be used in both discrimination of groups.

The association between learning disorders, motor function, and primitive reflexes in pre-school children: A systematic review

“…A fourth review study showed fine motor but not gross motor skills significantly and positively predicted improvements in cognitive skills (counting and matching) for a group of children with SLD (Kim et al, 2016). These findings are consistent with research in older age groups that have shown an association between SLD and fine motor skills (Baldi et al, 2016), and SLD and cognitive function (Ozkan et al, 2018).…”

Latent subgroups of cognitive performance in lead- and manganese-exposed Uruguayan children: Examining behavioral signatures

“…Reproduction accuracy was scored using the Koppitz method (Koppitz, 1964). The BGT has been used in clinical settings to evaluate developmental delay in young children, learning disabilities, and traumatic brain injury (Memisevic & Djordjevic, 2018;Ozkan, Kara, Almbaideen, & Congologlu, 2018;Rezaie, Salehi, Kafi, & Rezael, 2014). Test retest reliability for the Koppitz scoring method of the BGT is 0.80 (Hustak, Dinning, & Andert, 1976).…”