Use of spelling rules in school-aged children with Williams syndrome

Purpose: Researchers evaluating children’s spelling abilities usually score their spellings dichotomously - as correct or incorrect. This type of scoring is not as informative as procedures that take into consideration the plausibility of children’s spellings (Treiman et al., 2016). We examined the spelling abilities of children and adolescents with Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability, to determine if their spellings were based on English orthographic rules. Method: Sixty-six 9–17-year-olds with WS (M=13.50 years, SD=3.14) completed the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-III (Wechsler, 2009) Spelling subtest. Items 6 to 16 were scored using the Ponto software (Kessler, 2017) to determine the extent to which children’s spelling differed from the correct spelling (the “letter distance ). Letter distance is calculated based on the transformations needed to change the child’s spelling to the correct spelling. Each insertion or deletion is scored 1, and each substitution is scored 1.4. If the word is spelled correctly, its letter distance is 0. Letter distance scores for the child’s spellings were compared to letter distance scores for random spellings, using the Monte Carlo method. Improvement scores were obtained by dividing a child’s sum of letter distances by the sum of random letter distances. Results: Children spelled a median of 10 (MAD=1) of 11 words correctly. Their mean improvement score was 0.89 (SD=0.14), which was significantly better than expected if their spelling had been random, p \u3c .001. Conclusion: Children and adolescents with WS have at least some knowledge of English orthographic spelling rules.https://ir.library.louisville.edu/uars/1054/thumbnail.jp

Processos de inter venção para crianças e adolescentes com Síndrome de Asperger: uma revisão de literatura

Asperger Syndrome (AS) is an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and is characterized, according to DSM-IV, by a severe and persistent impairment in social interaction and by the development of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests and activities. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on the effectiveness of the intervention of social skills training in children or adolescents with AS. We used as databases: MEDLINE, Psyinfo, Psyarticles, Academic Search Premier and Web of Science. Eight articles were selected and the results indicated that the proposed interventions produced positive eff ects on the skills of children with SA compared with the control group, being effective in promoting social development. Thus, possible future studies are suggested with more accurate measures and larger samples for a better understanding of intervention programs in children and adolescents with AS.Key words: Asperger Syndrome, intervention, social skills practice.A Síndrome de Asperger (SA) se enquadra dentro dos Transtornos do Espectro do Autismo (TEA) e é caracterizada, segundo o DSM-IV, por um prejuízo severo e persistente na interação social e pelo desenvolvimento de padrões restritos e repetitivos de comportamento, interesses e atividades. O objetivo desse estudo foi realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura sobre a eficácia da intervenção de treinamento de habilidades sociais em crianças e adolescentes com SA. Foram consultadas as bases de dados: MEDLINE, PsyInfo, Psyarticles, Academic Search Premier e Web of Science. Foram selecionados oito artigos e os resultados indicaram que as intervenções propostas surtiram efeito positivo nas habilidades das crianças portadoras de SA em comparação com o grupo controle, sendo efi cazes na promoção do desenvolvimento social. Desta forma, são sugeridos possíveis estudos futuros com medidas mais acuradas e com amostras maiores para a melhor compreensão dos programas de intervenção em crianças e adolescentes com SA.Palavras-chave: Síndrome de Asperger, intervenção, treino de habilidades sociais

O processamento fonológico e o seu papel nos transtornos da aprendizagem da leitura e da matemática

Submitted by Caroline Magalhaes ([email protected]) on 2019-09-30T14:25:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Mestrado Caroline Greiner de Magalhães.pdf: 1629337 bytes, checksum: f788dfbdbdd42417c67b885620012f90 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Eliane Andrade ([email protected]) on 2019-10-10T12:49:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Mestrado Caroline Greiner de Magalhães.pdf: 1629337 bytes, checksum: f788dfbdbdd42417c67b885620012f90 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-10T13:30:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Mestrado Caroline Greiner de Magalhães.pdf: 1629337 bytes, checksum: f788dfbdbdd42417c67b885620012f90 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-15CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoFAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas GeraisCAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorRecentemente, alguns pesquisadores (e.g., De Smedt et al., 2010 e Hecht et al., 2001) têm argumentado que déficits no processamento fonológico estão associados tanto ao transtorno da aprendizagem da leitura como ao transtorno da aprendizagem da matemática. O presente estudo examinou essa hipótese. Em particular, o estudo examinou se e, em que medida, déficits nos componentes do processamento fonológico, a saber, a consciência fonêmica (CF), a nomeação seriada rápida (NSR) e a memória verbal (MV), caracterizam crianças com transtornos isolados de aprendizagem da matemática. Participaram do estudo 114 crianças matriculadas em classes do 4o e 5º anos do ensino fundamental (idade média = 121,89 meses; DP = 8,48), divididas em quatro grupos, em função do seu desempenho em testes padronizados de leitura, escrita e matemática: 22 com dificuldades isoladas de leitura e escrita (DLE), 19 com dificuldades isoladas de matemática (DM), 16 com dificuldades de leitura, escrita e matemática (DLEM) e 57 sem dificuldades de aprendizagem (controles). Além de testes de leitura, escrita e matemática, as crianças completaram testes de inteligência verbal e não verbal, CF, NSR e MV. Os resultados revelaram a presença de déficits na MV tanto entre as crianças com dificuldade de leitura quanto entre aquelas com dificuldades de matemática, independentemente de suas dificuldades de aprendizagem serem ou não isoladas. Por outro lado, déficits na CF e na NSR só foram encontrados entre as crianças com dificuldade de leitura, isto é, nos grupos com DLE e com DLEM. De modo importante, ao contrário do que foi observado para os déficits na CF e na NSR, o déficit na MV no grupo comórbido não foi aditivo, mas equivalente àquele encontrado nos grupos com transtornos isolados da leitura ou da matemática, sugerindo que déficits na MV, mas não na CF ou na NSR, são compartilhados pelos transtornos de aprendizagem da leitura e da matemática. Em consonância com esses resultados, análises de regressão múltipla incluindo toda a amostra revelaram que, juntamente com variações na inteligência verbal, variações na CF e na NSR contribuem significativa e independentemente para variações na habilidade de leitura e escrita, enquanto que variações na matemática são explicadas por variações na inteligência não verbal, na inteligência verbal e na MV. Esses resultados são discutidos à luz do modelo de déficits múltiplos de B. Pennington.Recently, some researchers (e.g., De Smedt et al., 2010 and Hecht et al., 2001) have argued that deficits in phonological processing are associated with both reading and math disabilities. The present study examined this hypothesis. In particular, the study examined whether and, to what extent, deficits in the components of phonological processing, namely, phonemic awareness (CF), rapid serial naming (NSR) and verbal memory (MV), characterize children with isolated math difficulties. The study included 114 children enrolled in 4th and 5th grade classrooms of private schools in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil (mean age = 121.89 months; SD = 8.48), divided in four groups, according to their performance on standardized tests of reading, spelling and mathematics: 22 with isolated reading and spelling difficulties (DLE), 19 with isolated math difficulties (DM), 16 with difficulties in reading, spelling, and mathematics (DLEM), and 57 without learning difficulties (controls). In addition to tests of reading, spelling, and mathematics, the children completed tests of verbal and non-verbal intelligence, CF, NSR, and MV. Results revealed the presence of MV deficits in both the children with reading and spelling difficulties and in those with math difficulties, regardless of whether their learning difficulties were isolated or not. On the other hand, deficits in CF and NSR were found only among the children with reading difficulties, that is, in the children with either DLE or DLEM. Importantly, contrary to what was observed for CF and NSR, the MV deficit in the comorbid group was not additive, but equivalent to that found in the groups with isolated disorders of reading or mathematics, suggesting that deficits in MV, but not in CF or NSR, are shared by reading and math learning disorders. Consistent with these results, multiple regression analyzes with all the children revealed that, along with variations in verbal intelligence, variations in CF and NSR contributed significantly and independently to variations in reading and spelling ability, while variations in mathematics were explained by variations in nonverbal intelligence, verbal intelligence, and MV. These results are discussed in the light of B. Pennington’ multiple deficits framework

Sleep characteristics and problems of 2-year-olds with Williams syndrome: relations with language and behavior

Abstract Background Sleep problems have been shown to have a negative impact on language development and behavior for both typically developing children and children with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders. The relation of sleep characteristics and problems to language and behavior for children with Williams syndrome (WS) is unclear. The goal of this study was to address these relations for 2-year-olds with WS. Associations of nonverbal reasoning ability, nighttime sleep duration, and excessive daytime sleepiness with language ability and behavior problems were considered. Method Ninety-six 2-year-olds with genetically confirmed classic-length WS deletions participated. Parents completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire, which includes a Sleep-Related Breathing Disorder (SRBD) scale with a subscale measuring excessive daytime sleepiness, to assess sleep characteristics and problems. Parents also completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences to assess behavior problems and expressive vocabulary, respectively. Children completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning to measure nonverbal reasoning and language abilities. Results Parents indicated that children slept an average of 10.36 h per night (SD = 1.09, range 7.3–13.3), not differing significantly from the mean reported by Bell and Zimmerman (2010) for typically developing toddlers (p = .787). Sixteen percent of participants screened positive for SRBD and 30% for excessive daytime sleepiness. Children who screened positive for SRBD had significantly more behavior problems on all CBCL scales than children who screened negative. Children with excessive daytime sleepiness had significantly more attention/hyperactivity, stress, and externalizing problems than those who did not have daytime sleepiness. Individual differences in parent-reported nighttime sleep duration and directly measured nonverbal reasoning abilities accounted for unique variance in expressive language, receptive language, and internalizing problems. Individual differences in parent-reported daytime sleepiness accounted for unique variance in externalizing problems. Conclusions The relations of nighttime sleep duration, positive screens for SRBD, and excessive daytime sleepiness to language and behavior in toddlers with WS parallel prior findings for typically developing toddlers. These results highlight the importance of screening young children with WS for sleep problems. Studies investigating the efficacy of behavioral strategies for improving sleep in children with WS are warranted.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/173263/1/11689_2020_Article_9336.pd