Screening and diagnosis of learning disabilities/disorders - outcomes of interdisciplinary assessments

Abstract

Objective: to determine the occurrence of children with poor school performance and to investigate which intrinsic influences are most prevalent among them. Methods: a total of 104 children from the 1st grade to the 5th of elementary school participated in phase 1 (selection of children with poor school performance by a standardized test and based on average grade) and 56 of them (54%) were classified as having poor school performance. In phase 2 (differential diagnosis), 35 of these 56 children underwent multidisciplinary assessments and the results were submitted to a descriptive analysis. Results: out of the 35 children who completed phase 2, 18 (51%) were diagnosed with mood disorder (2 - 6% depression; 16 - 45% anxiety disorder/signs), 14 (40%) showed attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity, 1 (3%) showed specific language disorder and 1 (3%) showed specific learning disorder. Among the most prevalent changes in reading/writing/arithmetic dysortography (19 children - 54%) and the presence of non-literate children (10 - 29%) were observed. Conclusions: more than a half of the school-age children studied had learning deficits in written language and/or arithmetic, and the most prevalent intrinsic variables were internalizing disorders and the attention deficit/hyperactivity one.

A influência do Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade (TDAH) no aprendizado de crianças: Uma Revisão Integrativa da Literatura

“…O Quadro 2 apresenta as características metodológicas dos estudos selecionados, evidenciando a utilização de Testes validados para a avaliação de habilidades linguísticas, perceptivo-motoras, cognitivas e de desempenho escolar. Esses estudos mostraram que os escolares com TDAH apresentam desempenho inferior aos escolares com bom desempenho acadêmico em relação às funções motoras fina, sensorial e perceptiva (Okuda et al, 2011), mostraram vocabulário mais restrito e mais dificuldades de compreensão verbal (Barini & Hage, 2015), demonstram maior número de erros nas habilidades de identificação e manipulação de fonemas, de repetição de não palavras de maior extensão e de leitura de palavras e de não palavras (Uvo, Germano & Capellini, 2016), sendo a disortografia a alteração de leitura e escrita mais prevalente, seguido por crianças classificadas como não alfabetizadas (Paterlini et al, 2019).…”

“…Dessa forma, torna-se um desafio ao estudante os processos que demandam atenção exclusiva, fatores cognitivos relacionados à memória de trabalho, monitoramento e a capacidade de estabelecer inferências, ainda, fatores sociais e de ambiência tornam-se cruciais neste processo de obtenção do conhecimento (Andrade, 2006). Corroborando com a pesquisa anterior, o estudo de Paterlini et al (2019), visando verificar os motivos do baixo rendimento escolar de crianças e as influências predominantes, evidenciou que 40% dos estudantes que possuíam baixo rendimento escolar apresentavam esse transtorno, determinando déficits em importantes domínios cognitivos necessários para o processo de alfabetização.…”

Development of language and arithmetic skills: risk and protective factors. Comparative cross-sectional study

“…However, the purpose of the present study was not to verify the differential diagnoses of the causes underlying language alteration, but to ascertain the risks in a sample with language alterations, regardless of their degree and cause. Therefore, and also based on the literature regarding the percentage of children with primary language alterations, 5,6,26 it can be suggested that the risk factor for language that relates to being female depends on other factors not investigated here, such as mood alterations, which females more often present, along with other factors. 26 A history of otitis in early childhood is related to difficulties in phonological development, 27 which in turn is related to the metalinguistic skill of phonological awareness.…”

“…These data are similar to those from other studies conducted in Brazil and are also in agreement with data published by federal government agencies, through the Primary Education Assessment System (SAEB). 5,17 According to data from the SAEB, the number of children with adequate reading and arithmetic performance by the end of fifth grade is lower than 20%. A positive coefficient is a protective factor, i.e.…”

“…complaints of reading, writing and/or arithmetic difficulty: the conditions most present were attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and mood disorders. 5,6 Despite variability from country to country regarding the prevalence rates of low school performance, researchers share the unanimous opinion that early intervention should be implemented among these children in order to promote adequate social and cognitive development. 5,6 To this end, the risk and protective factors concerning language and arithmetic development need to be identified.…”