OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the prevalence of reading and mathematical learning disabilities of students at primary schools in Jeju Island, South Korea. We examined major causes of learning disabilities including reading disorder, mathematical disorder, attention deficit, and other causes including socioemotional factors. METHODS: We conducted screening processes to 659 participants (340 male, 51%) in 4 elementary schools in Jeju Island. To identify the causes of learning problems, 84 children were administered tests such as the Korean-Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition, the Comprehensive Learning Test-Reading/Math, and the Comprehensive Attention Test. RESULTS: This study found that 13% of elementary school students in the Jeju region had learning disabilities. Among learning disabilities, specific reading and mathematical disorders accounted for 9% of study subjects. In addition, 2% of participants had intellectual impairment and 1% had other causes such as socioemotional factors. 65% of children with learning disabilities and 74% of children with reading or mathematic disorders had concurrent attention deficit disorder. 68% of children with reading disorders also had comorbid mathematical disorder. CONCLUSION: The prevalence, causes, and comorbidity of reading and mathematical learning disabilities of students in Jeju Island, South Korea did not differ from those in foreign countries. Because most learning disabilities are complex, comprehensive evaluations and tailored interventions are necessary to help children with learning disabilities.
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Child* ; Comorbidity ; Dyscalculia ; Dyslexia ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Intelligence ; Korea ; Learning Disorders* ; Learning* ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Mathematics ; Prevalence*

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted in order to develop a computerized test to measure the level of mathematic achievement and related cognitive functions in children and adolescents in South Korea. METHODS: The computerized Comprehensive Learning Test-Mathematic (CLT-M) consists of the whole number computation test, enumeration of dot group test, number line estimation test, numeral comparing test (magnitude/distance), rapid automatized naming test, digit span test, and working memory test. To obtain the necessary data and to investigate the reliability and validity of this test, 399 children and adolescents from kindergarten to middle school were recruited. RESULTS: The internal consistency reliability of the CLT-M was high (Cronbach's alpha=0.76). Four factors explained 66.4% of the cumulative variances. In addition, the data for all of the CLT-M subtests were obtained. CONCLUSION: The computerized CLT-M can be used as a reliable and valid tool to evaluate the level of mathematical achievement and associated cognitive functions in Korean children and adolescents. This test can also be helpful to detect mathematical learning disabilities, including specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics, in Korea.
Adolescent* ; Child* ; Cognition ; Dyscalculia ; Humans ; Korea ; Learning ; Learning Disorders ; Mathematics* ; Memory, Short-Term ; Reproducibility of Results ; Specific Learning Disorder

BACKGROUND: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (anti-NMDA) receptor encephalitis was discovered less than 10 years ago. Its symptoms and characteristics are not well-defined yet. We experienced a case of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis with phonemic paraphasia and acalculia that were not classical characteristics. CASE REPORT: A 44-year-old woman started to show dyslexia, phonemic paraphasia, and dyscalculia. These symptoms were gradually worsening for over 30 days. Various brain images were not helpful for primary diagnosis. Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis was confirmed in two different laboratories. The patient started to recover with various immunosuppressive therapies. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis can have various symptoms, including phonemic paraphasia and acalculia.
Adult ; Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis* ; Brain ; Diagnosis ; Dyscalculia ; Dyslexia* ; Encephalitis ; Female ; Humans

Introduction: Teachers play a vital role in identifying students with dyslexia. The acquisition of this knowledge will help teachers to classify students who are at risk of dyslexia. The objective of this study is to identify the level of teachers’ knowledge about dyslexia that comprises of its general knowledge, diagnosis, symptoms and treatments. A cross sectional study was done upon 138 preschool teachers. This research was conducted by using ‘Knowledge and Beliefs about Developmental Dyslexia’ questionnaire, which consists of 36 items with 3 Likert scale questions. Findings revealed that the level of general knowledge possessed by the pre-school teachers was relatively different based on the construct even though they have respectively received the Diploma in Early Childhood Education. On the same hand, most of the respondents were found to be having higher understanding on the general knowledge about dyslexia compared to their understanding on the symptoms, diagnosis and the treatments
Dyslexia

Developmental language disorder is the most common developmental disability in childhood, occurring in 5-8% of preschool children. Children learn language in early childhood, and later they use language to learn. Children with language disorders are at increased risk for difficulties with reading and written language when they enter school. These problems often persist through adolescence or adulthood. Early intervention may prevent the more serious consequences of later academic problems, including learning disabilities. A child's performance in specific speech and language areas, such as phonological ability, vocabulary comprehension, and grammatical usage, is measured objectively using the most recently standardized, norm-referenced tests for a particular age group. Observation and qualitative analysis of a child's performance supplement objective test results are essential for making a diagnosis and devising a treatment plan. Emphasis on the team approach system in the evaluation of children with speech and language impairments has been increasing. Evidence-based therapeutic interventions with short-term, long-term, and functional outcome goals should be applied, because there are many examples of controversial practices that have not been validated in large, controlled trials. Following treatment intervention, periodic follow-up monitoring by a doctor is also important. In addition, a systematized national health policy for children with speech and language disorders should be provided.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Comprehension ; Developmental Disabilities ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Language Development Disorders ; Language Disorders ; Learning Disorders ; Vocabulary

Developmental language disorder is the most common developmental disability in childhood, occurring in 5-8% of preschool children. Children learn language in early childhood, and later they use language to learn. Children with language disorders are at increased risk for difficulties with reading and written language when they enter school. These problems often persist through adolescence or adulthood. Early intervention may prevent the more serious consequences of later academic problems, including learning disabilities. A child's performance in specific speech and language areas, such as phonological ability, vocabulary comprehension, and grammatical usage, is measured objectively using the most recently standardized, norm-referenced tests for a particular age group. Observation and qualitative analysis of a child's performance supplement objective test results are essential for making a diagnosis and devising a treatment plan. Emphasis on the team approach system in the evaluation of children with speech and language impairments has been increasing. Evidence-based therapeutic interventions with short-term, long-term, and functional outcome goals should be applied, because there are many examples of controversial practices that have not been validated in large, controlled trials. Following treatment intervention, periodic follow-up monitoring by a doctor is also important. In addition, a systematized national health policy for children with speech and language disorders should be provided.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Comprehension ; Developmental Disabilities ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Language Development Disorders ; Language Disorders ; Learning Disorders ; Vocabulary

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the dual route model is applicable to Korean word reading in acquired dyslexia after stroke. METHOD: Sixty-two year old patient with dyslexia after left inferior temporal and occipital lobe infarct was evaluated according to the lexical processing. After evaluation of general cognitive and language function, visual perception, semantic, and lexical stages were assessed. RESULTS: Visual perception was appropriate, and semantic categorization and picture-word matching tasks were 80.6% and 78.6% correct, respectively. Lexical decision task showed no significant differences within word classes, except shorter reaction time in reading words of Korean origin than those of chinese origin (p <0.05). The patient was able to read only 39.8% of tested words, and he could not read all the non-words. Reading of high frequency word was superior (65.4%) to that of low frequency words (10.9%) and semantic errors were not remarkable (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: The patient showed characteristics of recovery from deep to phonologic dyslexia with impairment of grapheme to phoneme conversion (GPC) route. These findings support that dual route model is applicable to Korean word reading.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Dyslexia ; Dyslexia, Acquired ; Humans ; Language Disorders ; Occipital Lobe ; Reaction Time ; Semantics ; Stroke* ; Visual Perception

PURPOSE: Sleep disorder is common in childhood and adolescence with prevalence of 27-62%, and the patients could have trouble with their daily life due to fatigue and headache; and it can also cause developmental disability, learning disorder, anxiety disorder, and depressive disorder. We studied the prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorder in childhood and adolescence with sleep disorder. METHODS: We studied 34 cases of patients under twenty-year-old who took a sleep polysomnography test at Sleep Center of Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center and who could answer sleep survey questionnaires; and we used testing methods of Questionnaire for insomnia, Epworth sleepness scale, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, and Back Depression Inventory. We studied sleep disorder as two categories of sleep apnea and other sleep disorders and also the relationships of sleep and anxiety and depressive disorder with chi-square test. RESULTS: 29.4% of sleep disorder patients had anxiety disorder, and 47.1% depressive disorder. Considering the two categories of sleep disorder, anxiety disorder was significantly higher(P<0.005) in sleep apnea group with 43.5% than in other sleep disorder group with 9.1%. Depressive disorder was also significantly higher(P<0.05) in sleep apnea group with 65.6% than in other sleep disorder group with 36.4%. CONCLUSION: The patients with sleep disorder also had a tendency of having mood disorder, with prevalence of 29.4% of anxiety disorder and 47.1% of depressive disorder; especially in the group of sleep apnea, mood disorders was significantly higher than other sleep disorder group, which means more aggressive diagnosis and treatment are needed for the combined condition of sleep and mood disorder.
Adolescent ; Anxiety ; Anxiety Disorders ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Developmental Disabilities ; Fatigue ; Humans ; Learning Disorders ; Mood Disorders ; Polysomnography ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

In this paper, we give an overview of the child psychiatry perspectives on developmental disorders and introduce the diagnostic categories of developmental disorders, based on the DSM-IV and ICD-10 classification systems. Pervasive developmental disorders, mental retardation and specific developmental disorders are the three main diagnostic categories of developmental disorders in this article. Pervasive developmental disorders include autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, Rett disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. Specific developmental disorders include communication disorder, learning disorder and motor skills disorder. This article discusses the developmental and clinical characteristics of the above mentioned disorders, focusing on the developmental disabilities of each disorder and the differential diagnosis with other disorders. Future directions for diagnosis are also highlighted.
Asperger Syndrome ; Autistic Disorder ; Child ; Child Psychiatry* ; Child* ; Classification ; Communication Disorders ; Developmental Disabilities ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Humans ; International Classification of Diseases ; Learning Disorders ; Mental Disorders ; Motor Skills Disorders ; Rett Syndrome

Children with Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) faces challenges in academic areas and are often negatively labelled. The learning problems in SLD children were mainly due to poor phonological skill but not much was known about the contribution of visuospatial difficulties. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship between phonological awareness skills and global visual-spatial abilities among Malay speaking children with SLD, and to compare children with SLD and typical readers on intellectual functioning, phonological awareness and global visual-spatial ability. An equal number of typical readers (n = 36) and children with SLD were recruited. Data were coded and analysed using Kendall’s Tau-b, independent samples t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results showed phonological skills have strong negative correlation with global visual-spatial ability (r = .55). The typical readers have significantly higher IQ and better phonological skills and better global visual-spatial skills as compared to the group with SLD. However, there is no conclusive evidence due to specificity of more than one area measured by the assessment tools. Nevertheless, it provides a direction for future research to look into global visual-spatial aspects of SLD to aid in educational instruction in the future, in addition to the long-standing phonology deficit theory.
Specific Learning Disorders ; dyslexia ; phonological awareness, global visual-spatial ability, intellectual functioning