1. Impact of neurofibromatosis type 1 on school performance.
- Author
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Krab LC, Aarsen FK, de Goede-Bolder A, Catsman-Berrevoets CE, Arts WF, Moll HA, and Elgersma Y
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Child, Cognition Disorders diagnosis, Disability Evaluation, Disease Progression, Female, Humans, Learning Disabilities diagnosis, Male, Netherlands, Neuropsychological Tests, Remedial Teaching statistics & numerical data, Surveys and Questionnaires, Cognition Disorders etiology, Learning Disabilities etiology, Neurofibromatosis 1 complications, Neurofibromatosis 1 psychology, Schools
- Abstract
School functioning of 86 Dutch neurofibromatosis type 1 children (7-17 years) using teacher questionnaires was analyzed to determine the impact of neurofibromatosis type 1 on school performance. In all, 75% of the neurofibromatosis type 1 children performed more than 1 standard deviation below grade peers in at least one of the domains of spelling, mathematics, technical reading or comprehensive reading. Furthermore, neurofibromatosis type 1 children had a 4-fold increased risk for attending special education and a 6-fold increased risk for receiving remedial teaching for learning, behavior, speech, or motor problems. Children without apparent learning disabilities still frequently displayed neuropsychological deficits. Only 10% of the children did not show any school-functioning problems. Finally, it was found that the clinical severity of neurofibromatosis type 1 correlated with the cognitive deficits. Taken together, it was shown that neurofibromatosis type 1 has profound impact on school performance. Awareness of these problems may facilitate timely recognition and appropriate support.
- Published
- 2008
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