Abstract

APONTE-HENAO, Mónica  and  ZAPATA-ZABALA, Maryoris Elena. Characterization of the cognitive functions of a group of students with specific learning disorders in a school of Cali, Colombia. Psychol. av. discip. [online]. 2013, vol.7, n.1, pp.23-34. ISSN 1900-2386.

Abstract Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) are difficulties manifest themselves in the school environment, and that interfere significantly with activities that require abilities like reading, writing and calculation, ruling out as a cause of these, neurological, emotional and behavioral. This study had as objective to describe the cognitive functions of a group of students with SLD who where attending a private school in the city of Cali. The instruments used to collect the information were: learning difficulties questionnaire CEPA, subscales of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for children and adolescents (MINI-NA), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children WISC-R and Subtasks from Children Neuropsychological Assessment (ENI). The results showed that students with a diagnosis of SLD had cognitive impairments, specifically in attention and memory for auditory-verbal and visual information, accompanied by failures in phonemic discrimination, which were associated with difficulties in phonemic awareness. They also presented difficulties on spatial and constructional skills, and in planning strategies to implement a plan effectively. The Cognitive failures that underline the learning of reading, writing and calculation of the subjects studies, discussed the need for an adequate development of cognitive functions for a successful educational learning, as well as the importance of being included in intervention strategies in this population.

Keywords : learning disorders; neuropsychology; evaluation; child.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )