Prevalence of learning difficulties / disability among primary school children: effect on emotional problems and academic achievement

Abstract

An exploratory study on prevalence of learning difficulties/disability among primary school children and its effect on emotional problems and academic achievement was carried out in Dharwad city during the year 2004-06. A sample of 198 children (110 with learning difficulties and 88 without learning difficulties) was drawn from 3 selected English medium schools studying in 3 rd and 4 th standards. A writing test was administered to know the learning difficulties/disability. Emotional problems were assessed through teachers ratings using emotional problem scale developed by Prout and Strohmer (1985) and two semesters grades were obtained from school records to know the academic achievement of selected children. Results revealed that prevalence was found to an extent of 21 per cent, among which 17 per cent of children had learning difficulties and 4 per cent had learning disability. The learning disabilities was found in writing errors such as substitutions, reversals, omissions, other than punctuation errors and wrong capitals etc. boys and 2-4 times more learning difficulties / disability than girls. The learning difficulties were due to factors such as change in medium of instruction and number of hours spent by parents for coaching at home. Children with learning difficulties/disability had 2-4 times more emotional problems and low in academic achievement than their peers in other group emotional problems viz., of thought disorder, verbal aggression, physical aggression distractibility, somatic concerns, non-compliance, withdrawal, depression, low self esteem, hyperactivity. Girls performed better than boys irrespective of their difficulties and boys with learning difficulties/disability had relatively low academic achievement indicating learning difficulties as one of the important cause of failure in school. A high prevalence of learning difficulties/disability is an alarming condition that needs attention and early intervention.

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