Learning disabilities is a generic term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders. The aim of the present pilot study was to examine the efficacy of a new web neurocognitive screening tool, the "askisi" that was developed to provide a brief screening measure for learning difficulties. Participants were twenty children who had been initially identified with learning difficulties and a control group of twenty students' age-and sexmatched with the children with learning difficulties. Group members' ages range between 8 and 12 years old. The set of tasks which all children had to undergo included 10 test that examined children's rreading, spelling, arithmetic and cognitive skills. In our effort to enhance the aforementioned procedure we created a client-server web application that implements its core characteristics.The results indicated that children with learning difficulties had significantly less correct responses in eight of the ten tasks, of our web screening test, compared with the control group, suggesting that the difference between the two groups could be practically important. Although time latency of learning disabled children was larger than their typical developing schoolmates (see Table 2), this difference did not reach statistical significance in five of the nine tasks measured. Overall, these results of this pilot study revealed strong convergent and discriminant evidence for the eight tasks of the "askisi" screening measure, suggesting that this web application may provide a useful method to screen for learning difficulties in both research studies and clinical settings.
Abstract-Traditional definitions of Developmental Dyscalculia state that a child must substantially underachieve on mathematical abilities tests relative to the level expected for the given age, education and intelligence. However, current cognitive developmental neuropsychological studies suggest that not only the core numerical but also the cognitive skills of children with developmental dyscalculia present deficits. The main aim of the proposed research protocol was to construct a battery of six tests that can be delivered by computer in order to screen children's arithmetic and cognitive skills. The hypothesis of the study was that children that are already diagnosed by paper and pencil tests as dyscalculic will present lower scores and larger time latencies not only in mathematical but also in cognitive tasks. A total of 134 right handed children (74 male and 60 female, age range 8 -12 years) participated in this study. The students with disorders in mathematics (N= 67, 37 male and 30 female age range 8 -12 years M= 10.15 SD=1.10) had a statement of dyscalculia after assessment at a Centre of Diagnosis, Assessment and Support, as it is required by Greek Law. A comparison group without any learning disabilities was individually matched with the dyscalculic group according to age, sex and grade (N=67, 37 male and 30 female, age range 8 -12 years old, M=10.24 SD=1.12). Statistical analysis revealed that children with dyscalculia had statistically significant lower mean scores of correct answers and larger time latencies in all tasks compared to their average peers that participated in the comparison group. These findings suggest that children with dyscalculia present several deficits on cognitive systems apart from the core numerical ones. The results are discussed in relation to the use of computers as screening tools for children with learning disabilities.
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