Mind-reading difficulties in the siblings of people with Asperger's syndrome: evidence for a genetic influence in the abnormal development of a specific cognitive domain

Background: Previous research suggests that the phenotype associated with Asperger's syndrome (AS) includes difficulties in understanding the mental states of others, leading to difficulties in social communication and social relationships. It has also been suggested that the first-degree relatives of those with AS can demonstrate similar difficulties, albeit to a lesser extent. This study examined 'theory of mind' (ToM) abilities in the siblings of children with AS relative to a matched control group. Method: 2 7 children who had a sibling with AS were administered the children's version of the 'Eyes Test'(Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Stone, & Rutherford, 1999). The control group consisted of 27 children matched for age, sex, and a measure of verbal comprehension, and who did not have a family history of AS/autism. Results: A significant difference was found between the groups on the Eyes Test, the 'siblings' group showing a poorer performance on this measure of social cognition. The difference was more pronounced among female siblings. Discussion: These results are discussed in terms of the familial distribution of a neuro-cognitive profile associated with AS, which confers varying degrees of social handicap amongst first-degree relatives. The implication of this finding with regard to the autism/AS phenotype is explored, with some discussion of why this neuro-cognitive profile (in combination with corresponding strengths) may have an evolutionary imperative.

Accuracy in dictation after improvement of reading and copying skills in a student with learning difficulties

The aim of this study was to use systematic teaching in a clinical setting using software to teach reading and writing in one boy with learning difficulties and obtain accurate performance in dictation. In the pre-test, the student showed good performance in matching-to-sample tasks (96% in matching printed words to dictated words; 88% in matching pictures to dictated words), although he obtained a low percentage of correct answers in the dictation of constructed responses (52%) and manuscripts (24%). The teaching strengthened the selection of printed words matched to dictated words and copying words. The student obtained 100% correct answers in the teaching tasks. In post-tests of dictation, he obtained 100% correct answers in constructed response and 96% correct answers in manuscripts. The results indicate that carefully teaching copying may promote accuracy in the performance of responding to minimal units in dictation tasks.

Difficulties in the Learning of Statistics by the Students of the Primary Education

The present study, covering students from public schools and a private school on the island of São Miguel (Azores, Portugal), aims to meet the difficulties of the students of the 3rd and 4th years of the primary education in solving tasks involving construction, reading and interpreting tables and statistical graphs, in the context of Organization and Data Handling (ODH). We present the main results obtained from statistical methods, among which we highlight some non-parametric hypothesis tests and the Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CatPCA), given the nature of the variables included in the questionnaire (mostly nominal and ordinal variables).

Language-specific aspects of reading acquisition: the case of Russian

We have investigated Russian children’s reading acquisition during an intermediate period in their development: after literacy onset, but before they have acquired well-developed decoding skills. The results of our study suggest that Russian first graders rely primarily on phonemes and syllables as reading grain-size units. Phonemic awareness seems to have reached the metalinguistic level more rapidly than syllabic awareness after the onset of reading instruction, the reversal which is typical for the initial stages of formal reading instruction creating external demand for phonemic awareness. Another reason might be the inherent instability of syllabic boundaries in Russian. We have shown that body-coda is a more natural representation of subsyllabic structure in Russian than onset-rime. We also found that Russian children displayed variability of syllable onset and offset decisions which can be attributed to the lack of congruence between syllabic and morphemic word division in Russian. We suggest that fuzziness of syllable boundary decisions is a sign of the transitional nature of this stage in the reading development and it indicates progress towards an awareness of morphologically determined closed syllables. Our study also showed that orthographic complexity exerts an influence on reading in Russian from the very start of reading acquisition. Besides, we found that Russian first graders experience fluency difficulties in reading orthographically simple words and nonwords of two and more syllables. The transition from monosyllabic to bisyllabic lexical items constitutes a certain threshold, for which the syllabic structure seemed to be of no difference. When we compared the outcomes of the Russian children with the ones produced by speakers of other languages, we discovered that in the tasks which could be performed with the help of alphabetic recoding Russian children’s accuracy was comparable to that of children learning to read in relatively shallow orthographies. In tasks where this approach works only partially, Russian children demonstrated accuracy results similar to those in deeper orthographies. This pattern of moderate results in accuracy and excellent performance in terms of reaction times is an indication that children apply phonological recoding as their dominant strategy to various reading tasks and are only beginning to develop suitable multiple strategies in dealing with orthographically complex material. The development of these strategies is not completed during Grade 1 and the shift towards diversification of strategies apparently continues in Grade 2.

Typography for children with reading difficulties: preferences for type in reading books

For children with developmental dyslexia the already challenging task of learning to read is made harder by difficulties with phonological processing and perceptual distortions. As a result, these children may be less motivated to practise their literacy skills. This is problematic in that literacy can only be gained through constant and continued exposure to reading scenarios, and children who are unmotivated to practise are unlikely to develop into fluent readers. Children are active in choosing the books they read and it is therefore important to understand how the typography in those books influences their choice. Research with typically developing children has shown that they have clear opinions about the typography in their reading materials and that these opinions are likely to influence their motivation to read particular books. However, it cannot be assumed that children with reading difficulties read and respond to texts in the same way as children who do not struggle. Through case-studies of three children with reading difficulties, preferences for the typography in their reading books is examined. Looking at elements of typesetting such as spacing and size shows that this group of children is aware of differences in typography and that they have preferences for how their reading books are typeset. These children showed a preference for books that resembled those that their peers are reading rather than those that would, by typographic convention, be considered easier to read. This study is part of ongoing research into the development of alternative materials for teaching literacy skills to children with dyslexia.

A genome wide association study of mathematical ability reveals an association at chromosome 3q29, a locus associated with autism and learning difficulties: a preliminary study

Mathematical ability is heritable, but few studies have directly investigated its molecular genetic basis. Here we aimed to identify specific genetic contributions to variation in mathematical ability. We carried out a genome wide association scan using pooled DNA in two groups of U.K. samples, based on end of secondary/high school national academic exam achievement: high (n = 419) versus low (n = 183) mathematical ability while controlling for their verbal ability. Significant differences in allele frequencies between these groups were searched for in 906,600 SNPs using the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Mapping version 6.0 array. After meeting a threshold of p<1.5×10-5, 12 SNPs from the pooled association analysis were individually genotyped in 542 of the participants and analyzed to validate the initial associations (lowest p-value 1.14 ×10-6). In this analysis, one of the SNPs (rs789859) showed significant association after Bonferroni correction, and four (rs10873824, rs4144887, rs12130910 rs2809115) were nominally significant (lowest p-value 3.278 × 10-4). Three of the SNPs of interest are located within, or near to, known genes (FAM43A, SFT2D1, C14orf64). The SNP that showed the strongest association, rs789859, is located in a region on chromosome 3q29 that has been previously linked to learning difficulties and autism. rs789859 lies 1.3 kbp downstream of LSG1, and 700 bp upstream of FAM43A, mapping within the potential promoter/regulatory region of the latter. To our knowledge, this is only the second study to investigate the association of genetic variants with mathematical ability, and it highlights a number of interesting markers for future study.

Awareness of number in children with severe and profound learning difficulties: three exploratory case studies

This paper reports on exploratory work investigating how children with severe and profound learning difficulties register an awareness of small quantities and how they might use this information to inform their understanding. It draws on studies of typically developing children and investigates their application to pupils whose response to conventional mathematical tasks are often limited because they lack relevance and interest. The responses of the three pupils to individualized learning contexts mirror the progression suggested in the literature, namely from awareness of number to simple actions using number cues to problem-solving behaviour

ICT as a tool in English teaching : A literature review on the use of ICT for Swedish students with learning difficulties and their literacy learning in grades 7-9

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a subject that is being discussed as a tool that is used within education around the world. Furthermore it can be seen as a tool for teachers to individualize students´ education. Students with literacy difficulties, such as dyslexia, are in constant need of new ways to learn, and new ways to be motivated to learn. The aim of this study is to see what research says in regard to how ICT can be used as a tool to help students with literacy difficulties. Literacy difficulties can be due to a number of things, such as the student has not been taught how to read, trouble within the family which can cause distress, or a neurological disorder such as dyslexia. Furthermore, the main research questions will focus on how ICT can be compared to traditional education forms, such as books and a more teacher centered education within the classroom, and whether ICT can be preferred. The results of this literature review indicates that ICT can be seen as a way for teachers to help students with literacy difficulties gain more self-esteem – something the literature tells us students with learning difficulties lack. The results also show how ICT can lead to a more individualized education. This is due to tools that increase reading comprehension and tools that give direct response when working with ICT, which helps students work more independently.

Rich media content adaptation in e-learning systems

The wide use of e-technologies represents a great opportunity for underserved segments of the population, especially with the aim of reintegrating excluded individuals back into society through education. This is particularly true for people with different types of disabilities who may have difficulties while attending traditional on-site learning programs that are typically based on printed learning resources. The creation and provision of accessible e-learning contents may therefore become a key factor in enabling people with different access needs to enjoy quality learning experiences and services. Another e-learning challenge is represented by m-learning (which stands for mobile learning), which is emerging as a consequence of mobile terminals diffusion and provides the opportunity to browse didactical materials everywhere, outside places that are traditionally devoted to education. Both such situations share the need to access materials in limited conditions and collide with the growing use of rich media in didactical contents, which are designed to be enjoyed without any restriction. Nowadays, Web-based teaching makes great use of multimedia technologies, ranging from Flash animations to prerecorded video-lectures. Rich media in e-learning can offer significant potential in enhancing the learning environment, through helping to increase access to education, enhance the learning experience and support multiple learning styles. Moreover, they can often be used to improve the structure of Web-based courses. These highly variegated and structured contents may significantly improve the quality and the effectiveness of educational activities for learners. For example, rich media contents allow us to describe complex concepts and process flows. Audio and video elements may be utilized to add a “human touch” to distance-learning courses. Finally, real lectures may be recorded and distributed to integrate or enrich on line materials. A confirmation of the advantages of these approaches can be seen in the exponential growth of video-lecture availability on the net, due to the ease of recording and delivering activities which take place in a traditional classroom. Furthermore, the wide use of assistive technologies for learners with disabilities injects new life into e-learning systems. E-learning allows distance and flexible educational activities, thus helping disabled learners to access resources which would otherwise present significant barriers for them. For instance, students with visual impairments have difficulties in reading traditional visual materials, deaf learners have trouble in following traditional (spoken) lectures, people with motion disabilities have problems in attending on-site programs. As already mentioned, the use of wireless technologies and pervasive computing may really enhance the educational learner experience by offering mobile e-learning services that can be accessed by handheld devices. This new paradigm of educational content distribution maximizes the benefits for learners since it enables users to overcome constraints imposed by the surrounding environment. While certainly helpful for users without disabilities, we believe that the use of newmobile technologies may also become a fundamental tool for impaired learners, since it frees them from sitting in front of a PC. In this way, educational activities can be enjoyed by all the users, without hindrance, thus increasing the social inclusion of non-typical learners. While the provision of fully accessible and portable video-lectures may be extremely useful for students, it is widely recognized that structuring and managing rich media contents for mobile learning services are complex and expensive tasks. Indeed, major difficulties originate from the basic need to provide a textual equivalent for each media resource composing a rich media Learning Object (LO). Moreover, tests need to be carried out to establish whether a given LO is fully accessible to all kinds of learners. Unfortunately, both these tasks are truly time-consuming processes, depending on the type of contents the teacher is writing and on the authoring tool he/she is using. Due to these difficulties, online LOs are often distributed as partially accessible or totally inaccessible content. Bearing this in mind, this thesis aims to discuss the key issues of a system we have developed to deliver accessible, customized or nomadic learning experiences to learners with different access needs and skills. To reduce the risk of excluding users with particular access capabilities, our system exploits Learning Objects (LOs) which are dynamically adapted and transcoded based on the specific needs of non-typical users and on the barriers that they can encounter in the environment. The basic idea is to dynamically adapt contents, by selecting them from a set of media resources packaged in SCORM-compliant LOs and stored in a self-adapting format. The system schedules and orchestrates a set of transcoding processes based on specific learner needs, so as to produce a customized LO that can be fully enjoyed by any (impaired or mobile) student.

Effects of repeated readings on reading abilities of English language learners with specific learning disabilities

This study investigated the effects of repeated readings on the reading abilities of 4, third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade English language learners (ELLs) with specific learning disabilities (SLD). A multiple baseline probe design across subjects was used to explore the effects of repeated readings on four dependent variables: reading fluency (words read correctly per minute; wpm), number of errors per minute (epm), types of errors per minute, and answer to literal comprehension questions. Data were collected and analyzed during baseline, intervention, generalization probes, and maintenance probes. Throughout the baseline and intervention phases, participants read a passage aloud and received error correction feedback. During baseline, this was followed by fluency and literal comprehension question assessments. During intervention, this was followed by two oral repeated readings of the passage. Then the fluency and literal comprehension question assessments were administered. Generalization probes followed approximately 25% of all sessions and consisted of a single reading of a new passage at the same readability level. Maintenance sessions occurred 2-, 4-, and 6-weeks after the intervention ended. The results of this study indicated that repeated readings had a positive effect on the reading abilities of ELLs with SLD. Participants read more wpm, made fewer epm, and answered more literal comprehension questions correctly. Additionally, on average, generalization scores were higher in intervention than in baseline. Maintenance scores were varied when compared to the last day of intervention, however, with the exception of the number of hesitations committed per minute maintenance scores were higher than baseline means. This study demonstrated that repeated readings improved the reading abilities of ELLs with SLD and that gains were generalized to untaught passages. Maintenance probes 2-, 4-, and 6- weeks following intervention indicated that mean reading fluency, errors per minute, and correct answers to literal comprehensive questions remained above baseline levels. Future research should investigate the use of repeated readings in ELLs with SLD at various stages of reading acquisition. Further, future investigations may examine how repeated readings can be integrated into classroom instruction and assessments.

The Effects of Repeated Readings on Reading Abilities of English Language Learners with Specific Learning Disabilities

This study evaluates the effects of repeated readings on the reading fluency and comprehension of 4 third through fifth grade English Language Learners (ELLs) with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). The results indicate gains in fluency, a decrease in errors, and an increase in correct answers to literal comprehension questions.

Effects of Repeated Readings on Reading Abilities of English Language Learners with Specific Learning Disabilities

This study investigated the effects of repeated readings on the reading abilities of 4, third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade English language learners (ELLs) with specific learning disabilities (SLD). A multiple baseline probe design across subjects was used to explore the effects of repeated readings on four dependent variables: reading fluency (words read correctly per minute; wpm), number of errors per minute (epm), types of errors per minute, and answer to literal comprehension questions. Data were collected and analyzed during baseline, intervention, generalization probes, and maintenance probes. Throughout the baseline and intervention phases, participants read a passage aloud and received error correction feedback. During baseline, this was followed by fluency and literal comprehension question assessments. During intervention, this was followed by two oral repeated readings of the passage. Then the fluency and literal comprehension question assessments were administered. Generalization probes followed approximately 25% of all sessions and consisted of a single reading of a new passage at the same readability level. Maintenance sessions occurred 2-, 4-, and 6-weeks after the intervention ended. The results of this study indicated that repeated readings had a positive effect on the reading abilities of ELLs with SLD. Participants read more wpm, made fewer epm, and answered more literal comprehension questions correctly. Additionally, on average, generalization scores were higher in intervention than in baseline. Maintenance scores were varied when compared to the last day of intervention, however, with the exception of the number of hesitations committed per minute maintenance scores were higher than baseline means. This study demonstrated that repeated readings improved the reading abilities of ELLs with SLD and that gains were generalized to untaught passages. Maintenance probes 2-, 4-, and 6- weeks following intervention indicated that mean reading fluency, errors per minute, and correct answers to literal comprehensive questions remained above baseline levels. Future research should investigate the use of repeated readings in ELLs with SLD at various stages of reading acquisition. Further, future investigations may examine how repeated readings can be integrated into classroom instruction and assessments.

Dyslexia, problem solving and text processing : a conceptual framework describing reading difficulties in dyslexia as an information-processing problem

Résumé : Une définition opérationnelle de la dyslexie qui est adéquate et pertinente à l'éducation n'a pu être identifiée suite à une recension des écrits. Les études sur la dyslexie se retrouvent principalement dans trois champs: la neurologie, la neurolinguistique et la génétique. Les résultats de ces recherches cependant, se limitent au domaine médical et ont peu d'utilité pour une enseignante ou un enseignant. La classification de la dyslexie de surface et la dyslexie profonde est la plus appropriée lorsque la dyslexie est définie comme trouble de lecture dans le contexte de l'éducation. L'objectif de ce mémoire était de développer un cadre conceptuel théorique dans lequel les troubles de lecture chez les enfants dyslexiques sont dû à une difficulté en résolution de problèmes dans le traitement de l'information. La validation du cadre conceptuel a été exécutée à l'aide d'un expert en psychologie cognitive, un expert en dyslexie et une enseignante. La perspective de la résolution de problèmes provient du traitement de l'information en psychologie cognitive. Le cadre conceptuel s'adresse uniquement aux troubles de lectures qui sont manifestés par les enfants dyslexiques.||Abstract : An extensive literature review failed to uncover an adequate operational definition of dyslexia applicable to education. The predominant fields of research that have produced most of the studies on dyslexia are neurology, neurolinguistics and genetics. Their perspectives were shown to be more pertinent to medical experts than to teachers. The categorization of surface and deep dyslexia was shown to be the best description of dyslexia in an educational context. The purpose of the present thesis was to develop a theoretical conceptual framework which describes a link between dyslexia, a text-processing model and problem solving. This conceptual framework was validated by three experts specializing in a specific field (either cognitive psychology, dyslexia or teaching). The concept of problem solving was based on information-processing theories in cognitive psychology. This framework applies specifically to reading difficulties which are manifested by dyslexic children.