Sônia das Dores Rodrigues

Relação entre indícios de disgrafia funcional e desempenho acadêmico

OBJETIVO: avaliar a relacao entre sinais indicativos de disgrafia e desempenho academico. METODOS: foram incluidas no estudo 25 criancas, matriculadas na 3a. serie do ensino fundamental de uma escola publica da Regiao Metropolitana de Campinas/SP, sem historico de lesao cerebral e/ou deficit intelectual. Quanto a idade, 21 tinham nove anos e quatro tinham dez anos; 12 eram do sexo masculino. A avaliacao foi realizada por meio da Escala de Disgrafia (Lorenzini, 1993) e do Teste de Desempenho Escolar (TDE) (Stein, 2003). RESULTADOS: seis criancas apresentaram sinais indicativos de disgrafia. A maioria dos alunos teve desempenho academico classificado como inferior em escrita (15/25) e em aritmetica (10/25). As criancas com indicios de disgrafia (6/25) tiveram pior desempenho em escrita e aritmetica no TDE, quando comparado as demais criancas, porem essa diferenca nao foi estatisticamente significativa. CONCLUSAO: conclui-se que, neste grupo, nao foi possivel estabelecer a relacao entre baixo desempenho academico com escrita disgrafica, uma vez que tal dificuldade tambem foi identificada tambem entre as criancas consideradas nao disgraficas.

Does stroke impair learning in children

Objective. To assess cognitive development and learning in children who have had strokes. Method. Twenty-nine stroke patients and 18 children with no brain lesions and no learning impairments were evaluated. For the cognitive assessment, Piagets clinical method was used. Writing, arithmetic, and reading abilities were assessed by the school performance test. Results. The mean age at evaluation was 9.6 years. Among the 29 children, 20 had early lesions (mean of 2.4 years old). The stroke was ischemic in 18 subjects; there were 7 cases of recurrence. Six children could not answer the tests. A high index of cognitive delay and low performance in writing, arithmetic, and reading were verified. Comparison with the control group revealed that the children who have had strokes had significantly lower performances. Conclusion. In this sample, strokes impaired cognitive development and learning. It is important that children have access to educational support and cognitive rehabilitation after injury. These approaches may minimise the effects of strokes on learning in children.

Ischemic cerebrovascular disease in childhood: cognitive assessment of 15 patients

The aim of this study was to evaluate and to compare the cognitive function of children with ischemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD). Fifteen children, 7 girls and 8 boys, aged 7.9 to 16.1 years, were evaluated by Piagets clinical method. The control group was composed by fifteen children whose ages, sex and socioeconomic conditions were similar to those of the ICVD group. The cognitive function evaluation of the ICVD group showed that most of the children (10/15) were under their age group. The SPECT was performed on 14 children with ICVD and the results showed that 8/9 children with hypoperfusion presented a poor cognitive estimation and 3/5 children with normal perfusion demonstrated an adequate performance. We conclude that ICVD in childhood may compromise cognition; therefore, it needs a follow up of acquisitions during alI the stages of development.

Central auditory processing outcome after stroke in children

OBJECTIVE To investigate central auditory processing in children with unilateral stroke and to verify whether the hemisphere affected by the lesion influenced auditory competence. METHOD 23 children (13 male) between 7 and 16 years old were evaluated through speech-in-noise tests (auditory closure); dichotic digit test and staggered spondaic word test (selective attention); pitch pattern and duration pattern sequence tests (temporal processing) and their results were compared with control children. Auditory competence was established according to the performance in auditory analysis ability. RESULTS Was verified similar performance between groups in auditory closure ability and pronounced deficits in selective attention and temporal processing abilities. Most children with stroke showed an impaired auditory ability in a moderate degree. CONCLUSION Children with stroke showed deficits in auditory processing and the degree of impairment was not related to the hemisphere affected by the lesion.