[Performance of students with dyslexia, learning disabilities and learning difficulties in metaphonological abilities tests (PROHFON)]

Handwriting fluency, latency, and kinematic in Portuguese writing system: Pilot study with school children from 3rd to 5th grade

Studies have referred to the interaction between orthographic and motor aspects during the production of handwriting. However, studies with Brazilian Portuguese are still lacking. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare orthographic regularity, based on the Portuguese writing system, in high (HF) and low (LF) frequency words, in relation to latency and kinematic variables in students from the 3rd to the 5th grade of elementary school. This is a cross-sectional pilot study, with a convenience sample of 95 children participated in this study, from 3rd to 5th grade level attending a state elementary school. All were submitted to the following procedures of computerized evaluation of handwriting and submitted to the task of writing 15 HF and 15 LF words, selected according to the frequency criteria and classified according writing coding rule. Results indicated that for HF words, there was a decrease in writing and disfluencies production time, for all coding rules, from 3rd to 5th grade. However, for LF words, the more unpredictable orthographic affect production duration time, movement fluency, and students became more dependent on the use of gaze to check spelling aspects. This study revealed that lexical and sub-lexical activation affected motor production. For HF and LF words, lexical and sublexical process favored motor programming. However, for LF words, despite the maturation and school progression for the motor planes, there was an increase in latency time and in the need to search for word information, measured by the gaze variable for words with greater irregularity. This study has provided some evidence that linguistic variables such as orthographic regularity and word familiarity affect handwriting performance in Brazilian Portuguese written language.

How Word/Non-Word Length Influence Reading Acquisition in a Transparent Language: Implications for Children's Literacy and Development

Decoding skills are crucial for literacy development and they tend to be acquired early in transparent languages, such as Brazilian Portuguese. It is essential to better understand which variables may affect the decoding process. In this study, we investigated the processes of decoding as a function of age of children who are exposed to a transparent language. To this end, we examined the effects of grade, stimulus type and stimulus extension on the decoding accuracy of children between the ages of six and 10 years who are monolingual speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. The study included 250 children, enrolled from the first to the fifth grade. A list of words and pseudowords of variable length was created, based on Brazilian Portuguese structure. Children assessment was conducted using the computer program E-prime® which was used to present the stimuli. The stimuli were programmed to appear on the screen in a random order and children were instructed to read them. The results indicate two important moments for decoding: the acquisition and the mastery of decoding skills. Additionally, the results highlight an important effect of the extent and type of stimuli and how it interacts with the school progress. Moreover, data indicate the multifactorial nature of decoding acquisition and the different interactions between variables that can influence this process. We discuss medium- and long-term implications of it, and possible individual and collective actions which can improve this process.

Relações entre idade linguística e consciência fonológica de crianças com transtorno do desenvolvimento da linguagem

RESUMO Objetivo: verificar se há relações entre a idade linguística e consciência fonológica em crianças com transtorno do desenvolvimento de linguagem. Métodos: estudo retrospectivo. Foram sujeitos 53 crianças com transtorno do desenvolvimento da linguagem com idade entre 4 e 7 anos. O diagnóstico seguiu critérios de inclusão descritos internacionalmente. Todas as crianças passaram por avaliação da consciência fonológica e avaliação de linguagem por meio de testes específicos. Os dados passaram por análise estatística. A análise de correlação foi realizada utilizando o teste de correlação de Pearson. Na análise de regressão, os modelos tiveram a idade linguística expressiva e receptiva como variáveis independentes e o desempenho em consciência fonológica como variável dependente. O valor de significância estatística adotado foi igual a 5% (p ≤ 0,05). Resultados: os dados indicaram forte relação entre idade linguística e habilidades de consciência fonológica. Observou-se, ainda, forte correlação entre consciência silábica e idade linguística. Além disso, a consciência fonêmica mostrou-se correlacionada com a idade cronológica. Todas as correlações foram confirmadas por meio de uma análise de regressão. Conclusão: os dados indicaram forte correlação entre a idade linguística e as habilidades de consciência fonológica em crianças com transtorno do desenvolvimento da linguagem. Ademais, mostraram evidências de que essa correlação existe tanto para idade linguística expressiva quanto receptiva apenas quanto às habilidades silábicas.

Relationships between chronological and linguistic age and phonological awareness in children with developmental language disorder

ABSTRACT Purpose: to verify whether there is a relation between linguistic age and performance in phonological awareness of children presented with developmental language disorder. Methods: a retrospective study comprising 53 children with developmental language disorder aged between 4 and 7 years old. Their language disorder diagnosis followed the inclusion criteria internationally described and Brazilian standardized tests for language assessment were used. All children underwent phonological awareness and linguistic skills assessment via standardized tests and all data went through statistical analysis. For correlation analysis, the p-value was performed through the Pearson’s test. In the regression analysis the models used expressive and receptive linguistic age as independent variables and the performance in phonological awareness as a dependent variable (p=0,036* and p= 0,048*). Results: the data indicated a strong correlation between language age and phonological awareness skills in children with language developmental disorder. A strong correlation between syllabic awareness and linguistic age was found as well. In addition, phonemic awareness was correlated to their chronological age. All correlation tests were confirmed by regression analysis. Conclusion: the data indicated a strong correlation between linguistic age and phonological awareness in children with developmental language disorders. These findings raise discussion regarding phonemic skills in children under this condition and their literacy process.

Screening Protocol for Early Identification of Brazilian Children at Risk for Dyslexia

Early identification of students at risk of dyslexia has been an educational challenge in the past years. This research had two main goals. First, we aimed to develop a screening protocol for early identification of Brazilian children at risk for dyslexia; second, we aimed to identify the predictive variables of this protocol using Principal Component Analysis. The major step involved in developing this protocol was the selection of variables, which were chosen based on the literature review and linguistic criteria. The screening protocol was composed of seven cognitive-linguistic skills: Letter naming; Phonological Awareness (which comprises the following subtests: Rhyme production, Rhyme identification, Syllabic segmentation, Production of words from a given phoneme, Phonemic Synthesis, and Phonemic analysis); Phonological Working memory, Rapid naming Speed; Silent reading; Reading of words and non-words; and Auditory Comprehension of sentences from pictures. A total of 149 children, aged from 6 years to 6 and 11, of both genders who were enrolled in the 1st grade of elementary public schools were submitted to the screening protocol. Principal Component Analysis revealed four factors, accounting for 64.45% of the variance of the Protocol variables: first factor ("pre-reading"), second factor ("decoding"), third factor ("Reading"), and fourth factor "Auditory processing." The factors found corroborate those reported in the National and International literature and have been described as early signs of dyslexia and reading problems.

Desempenho ortográfico de escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento e com dislexia do desenvolvimento associado ao transtorno do déficit de atenção e hiperatividade

RESUMO Objetivo Analisar e classificar o desempenho ortográfico, de acordo com a semiologia dos erros, de crianças com dislexia do desenvolvimento e com dislexia do desenvolvimento e transtorno do déficit de atenção e hiperatividade em relação a um grupo de crianças sem queixas de aprendizagem escolar. Métodos Participaram da pesquisa 70 crianças, estudantes do 3º ao 5º distribuídas em três grupos: 32 escolares sem queixa de dificuldade de aprendizagem (GI), média de idade de 9,5 anos; 22 escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento (GII), média de idade de 10 anos; e 16 escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento e transtorno do déficit de atenção e hiperatividade (GIII), média de idade de 9,9. A habilidade de ortografia das crianças foi avaliada por meio de um ditado de palavras padronizado. Resultados Os dados indicaram que os escolares do GII e do GIII apresentaram um pior desempenho quando comparados ao GI. Não houve diferença estatística entre o desempenho dos escolares do GII e do GIII quanto ao número de acertos na ortografia, embora o desempenho do GIII tenha sido pior. Os escolares do GII e do GIII diferiram apenas quanto ao tipo de erro ortográfico produzido por cada grupo. Conclusão Os dados da presente pesquisa contribuem para o delineamento de melhores programas interventivos para a população estudada.

Predicting Reading and Spelling Disorders: A 4-Year Prospective Cohort Study

In this 4-year prospective cohort study, children with a reading and spelling disorder, children with a spelling impairment, and children without a reading and/or spelling disorder (control group) in a transparent orthography were identified in third grade, and their emergent literacy performances in kindergarten compared retrospectively. Six hundred and forty-two Italian children participated. This cohort was followed from the last year of kindergarten to third grade. In kindergarten, the children were assessed in phonological awareness, conceptual knowledge of writing systems and textual competence. In third grade, 18 children with a reading and spelling impairment and 13 children with a spelling impairment were identified. Overall, conceptual knowledge of the writing system was the only statistically significant predictor of the clinical samples. No differences were found between the two clinical samples.

Criatividade em indivíduos com transtornos e dificuldades de aprendizagem: revisão de pesquisas

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar as produções científicas nacionais e internacionais que tiveram como foco a investigação da relação entre criatividade e dificuldades/transtornos de aprendizagem. Em nível nacional foram consultadas as bases de dados SCIELO, PEPSIC, CAPES e BDTD e no internacional, as bases APA, ERIC, PubMed e Scopus, sem delimitação de tempo. Como resultado, constatou-se a existência de 57 produções internacionais e cinco nacionais. As análises identificaram que não houve diferenças estatísticas significativas entre as médias das produções das últimas três décadas e que as investigações focalizaram principalmente o transtorno específico de leitura/Dislexia, o uso da metodologia quantitativa e o emprego do Teste de Torrance. Alguns nomes dados aos grupos investigados na maioria dos trabalhos não denotaram com clareza as origens das dificuldades de aprendizagem - se seriam ou não decorrentes de transtorno de aprendizagem. Concluiu-se que são necessários novos estudos sobre a temática, nos quais se caracterizem melhor os grupos investigados e a nomenclatura utilizada.

The phonological and visual basis of developmental dyslexia in Brazilian Portuguese reading children

Evidence from opaque languages suggests that visual attention processing abilities in addition to phonological skills may act as cognitive underpinnings of developmental dyslexia. We explored the role of these two cognitive abilities on reading fluency in Brazilian Portuguese, a more transparent orthography than French or English. Sixty-six children with developmental dyslexia and normal Brazilian Portuguese children participated. They were administered three tasks of phonological skills (phoneme identification, phoneme, and syllable blending) and three visual tasks (a letter global report task and two non-verbal tasks of visual closure and visual constancy). Results show that Brazilian Portuguese children with developmental dyslexia are impaired not only in phonological processing but further in visual processing. The phonological and visual processing abilities significantly and independently contribute to reading fluency in the whole population. Last, different cognitively homogeneous subtypes can be identified in the Brazilian Portuguese population of children with developmental dyslexia. Two subsets of children with developmental dyslexia were identified as having a single cognitive disorder, phonological or visual; another group exhibited a double deficit and a few children showed no visual or phonological disorder. Thus the current findings extend previous data from more opaque orthographies as French and English, in showing the importance of investigating visual processing skills in addition to phonological skills in children with developmental dyslexia whatever their language orthography transparency.

Tutoria em leitura e escrita baseado no modelo de RTI – resposta à intervenção em crianças com dislexia do desenvolvimento

Objetivo analisar e comparar o desempenho em tarefas de leitura e escrita em crianças com dislexia do desenvolvimento após tutoria baseado no modelo de resposta à intervenção. Métodos participaram deste estudo 15 crianças com o diagnóstico interdisciplinar de dislexia do desenvolvimento de 2º ao 6º ano do ensino fundamental da rede pública municipal da cidade de Marília-SP, com faixa etária de oito a 12 anos de idade, de ambos os sexos, sendo 75% do sexo masculino, divididos em Grupo I – grupo experimental (sete crianças que receberam intervenção) e Grupo II – grupo controle (oito crianças não receberam a intervenção, os mesmos foram pareados segundo sexo e faixa etária com o Grupo I). As crianças foram submetidas ao levantamento diagnóstico de Leitura e Escrita e ao programa de intervenção em tutoria baseado no Modelo de Resposta à Intervenção . Os resultados foram analisados estatisticamente por meio do teste de Wilcoxon e Teste de Kruskal-Wallis para verificar possíveis diferenças de desempenho nas tarefas entre os grupos estudados. Resultados os resultados revelaram diferença estatisticamente significante entre o Grupo I e o Grupo II, onde as crianças com dislexia do Grupo I apresentaram desempenho superior na tarefade leitura de palavras e leitura do livro I em relação às crianças do Grupo II. Conclusão grupo I apresentou avanços significantes comparados à Grupo II, que não recebeu intervenção de tutoria.