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Certain children have challenges with learning and behaviour from time to time. During a child's preschool years and throughout their school years, parents and educators should be on the lookout for patterns that may signal an underlying learning disability (LD). Towards this objective, a six-day training program was designed for primary school educators to facilitate early detection, which would help children receive extra help sooner and prevent them from falling behind. The program's focal point was twofold: heightening dyslexia awareness and implementing pragmatic remedial strategies to assist students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). This study delves into the assessment of the efficacy of the aforesaid training program, its impact on teachers' awareness levels and their adeptness in executing remedial strategies. Study Methodology encompassed the development of an exhaustive questionnaire, capturing qualitative and quantitative parameters. Data was gathered via face-to-face interviews with each teacher and analyzed using weighted scores, based on the relative significance of each parameter. The program's content garnered commendable acclaim, for its informative nature and the incorporation of practical activities that seamlessly align with regular classroom teaching. Post-program, educators demonstrated a pronounced understanding of dyslexia's characteristics, identifying students with specific learning difficulties via a meticulously administered checklist and in deploying remedial strategies, bolstering competencies in reading, spelling, writing, and mathematics. The study reemphasized the significant need for such increased awareness sessions for teachers at various levels to facilitate intervention at the right time to make a positive difference in the diverse learning needs to children with learning disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, two different studies are examined to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel intervention program for the improvement of reading ability in children with dyslexia, known as repeated reading with vocal music masking (RVM). The proposed remedial approach is inspired by Breznitz's original work. The studies assess a 5-week program of intensive RVM training in a pre-post-test clinical paradigm, as well as a longitudinal paradigm where it is compared to 8 months of the standard remediation program (SRP). The results of both studies support the efficacy of the newly proposed RVM method. Notably in the longitudinal study, the reading speed of children, as well as related phonological, visuo-attentional, and cognitive skills, and attitudes toward reading, were measured regularly. Significant improvements in reading efficiency and related skills were observed, as well as greater motivation to read after RVM training. A modeling of the data specifically linked executive and processing speed skills to be involved in RVM training, suggesting that RVM may help rebalance the phonological and orthographic coding procedures necessary for efficient reading. The short, intensive, and focused nature of RVM training makes it a viable and attractive intervention for clinical practice. As preliminary results are promising, RVM training may prove to be a valuable tool that clinicians can call upon to effectively treat reading fluency disorders, especially when standard programs do not provide results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cognition and motor skills are interrelated throughout the aging process and often show simultaneous deterioration among older adults with cognitive impairment. Co-dependent training has the potential to ameliorate both domains; however, its effect on the gait and cognition of older adults with cognitive impairment has yet to be explored. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of the well-established single-modality cognitive computerized training program, CogniFit, with "Thinking in Motion (TIM)," a co-dependent group intervention, among community-dwelling older adults with cognitive impairment.Methods: Employing a single-blind randomized control trial design, 47 community-dwelling older adults with cognitive impairment were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of thrice-weekly trainings of TIM or CogniFit. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included cognitive performance, evaluated by a CogniFit battery, as a primary outcome; and gait, under single- and dual-task conditions, as a secondary outcome.Results: CogniFit total Z scores significantly improved from baseline to post-intervention for both groups. There was a significant main effect for time [F (1, 44) = 17.43, p < .001, ηp2 = .283] but not for group [F (1, 44) = 0.001, p = .970]. No time X group interaction [F (1, 44) = 1.29, p = .261] was found. No changes in gait performance under single and dual-task performance were observed in both groups.Conclusions: The findings show that single-modality (CogniFit) and co-dependent (TIM) trainings improve cognition but not gait in older adults with cognitive impairment. Such investigations should be extended to include various populations and a broader set of outcome measurements.Trial Registration: ACTRN12616001543471. Date: 08/11/2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) test is internationally recognised as a culture-fair test of non-verbal intelligence, designed for use with children between the ages of 5½ and 11½ years. The Raven's CPM is used extensively across a wide variety of settings in South Africa. However, more appropriate local normative data has yet to be established. This pilot study seeks to establish normative data for this instrument for a population of isiXhosa-speaking primary school children in a peri-urban area of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The booklet version of the test was used in group format and according to an alternative method of test administration (using isiXhosa instructions) developed by Vass (1992). The final normative sample consisted of 197 male and 182 female isiXhosa-speaking children in Grades 2 to 7 (n = 379). This study presents a set of local norms for the age group, 6 to 11 years. In addition, it was found that older children (>11 years of age) who have not yet reached certain educational levels, have also not reached the plateau, as anticipated, in their performance on this test. In addition, therefore, is a set of ‘older norms’ also presented and the issues related to grade versus age norms are debated. The tendency for this normative sample to perform lower than their Western counterparts on this test was also noted and debated. The tendency for males to outperform females was also recorded and it was found that this is in line with previous research on similar populations. The study concludes that there is an urgent need for more appropriate South African normative data for this test; and that, when assessing African children from disadvantaged backgrounds, further research into the effects of cultural and socio-economic factors and gender on nonverbal analogical reasoning tasks (and performance on this test in particular) is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]