OBJECTIVE Our goal was to examine the lifetime prevalence of learning disability by sociodemographic and family-functioning characteristics in US children, with particular attention paid to the children with special health care needs. METHODS By using data from the National Survey of Children's Health, we calculated lifetime prevalence of learning disability using a question that asked whethe...

There is a surprising lack of systematic research evaluating the effects of reading exercises for young deaf children. Therefore, for this article, two computer-based exercises were developed and learning effects were determined by posttests. One (spelling oriented) exercise was to select the correct word among three orthographically similar alternatives that corresponds to a drawing or a sign ...

AIM Basic verbal and academic skills can be adversely affected by early-onset diabetes, although these skills have been studied less than other cognitive functions. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of learning deficits in children with diabetes by assessing basic verbal and academic skills in children with early-onset diabetes and in comparison children. In addition, the incidence of d...

In this article we give an overview of various aspects of a project developing a spelling checker for Afrikaans. We discuss two of the main aims of the project, viz. for researchers to obtain practical experience, and to further learning of both researchers and students. This article, therefore, consists of two relatively independent parts that each describes aspects related to these two aims. ...

Epidemiological issues in ‘special groups’ are dependent on both the source and age of the population. Cohort effects, due to year of birth, are important in defining prevalence in both learning disability1 and epilepsy2. Table 137 shows epidemiological surveys of the prevalence of epilepsy in people with mental and physical handicap. A survey in an institution for people with learning disabil...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to establish a profile of the spelling patterns studied in students from public and private schools and to describe a word spelling task for clinical and educational settings. METHODS Eighty-two fourth grade students belonging to the elementary school of public and private schools in São Paulo, ranging in age from nine to ten years, took part in this stud...

There has been little research on the neural correlates of writing in children and teenagers. The purpose of the present study was to describe brain activation in a group of teenagers with isolated dysorthography vs. teenagers with good spelling skills, during a task involving the assessment of spelling accuracy in words containing an orthographic difficulty. The results will allow for conclusi...

Learning to spell on the computer may lead to functionally useful writing skills. Alan and Suzy, teenagers with developmental disabilities, were already proficient on a variety of naming and matching tasks but had difficulties spelling; Suzy also made errors reading orally. In Experiment 1, computer teaching led to new anagram and written spelling performances. Suzy's reading also improved. On ...