View clinical trials related to Learning Disabilities.
Filter by:The current literature on academic skill difficulties, whether considered as part of the continuum of ability or as a specific learning disability (LD), indicates that these problems often coexist with conduct problems and juvenile delinquency, and are risk factors for initial law-breaking behavior and for its persistence. However, less is understood about how this relationship develops. It is these broad questions that this project seeks to address. First, what is the causal pathway? Does LD cause delinquency, delinquency cause LD, or are both caused by something else? And can big data analytics applied to statewide datasets of information about juvenile justice (JJ) involvement help to answer this question? Second, as it is known that learning to read and do math (and thus becoming more employable) increases the likelihood of desistance (i.e., not committing any more illegal acts), what are the necessary parts of an intervention designed to teach these skills? And what role might technology play in such an intervention? To answer these questions, we will implement a study that includes two components, (a) a big data component and (b) an intervention component. For (a), we will work with a large historical dataset from the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department. For (b), we will work, in total, with 192 (48 per year) delinquent youth with severe LD in residential placement. These individuals, in a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design, will be offered an educational therapy designed to address severe reading problems in juvenile detainees using a novel mixed media intervention in which the person-to-person intensive 1:1 component is completed while youth are in residential settings (24 sessions, delivered in 90 minute settings 3 times a week) and a "gamified" educational smartphone learning tool follow-up completed upon release (with appropriate network fidelity monitoring and participant reinforcement). The person-to-person component is developed specifically for juvenile offenders with severe LD, combining two well-established and highly-regarded intervention programs designed to systematically build students' repertoire of grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules as well as develop comprehensive reading skills, from beginning reading to proficiency.
This study aims to test the efficacy of the MovinCog Intervention to enhance cognitive abilities in children 7-15 yrs. The intervention consists of two parts: a physical exercise regimen, based on high-intensity training, and a cognitive training component. The design will contrast the intervention with an active control group, matched for expectancy effects.
Purpose of the study: • To evaluate efficacy and safety of Tenoten for children in the treatment of specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills in children.
Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a common genetic disorder that is associated with a four times greater risk of learning disabilities, including reading disabilities, and a deficiency of neurofibromin - a protein important in a signaling pathway that regulates learning and memory. Our previous work (NS49096) demonstrated that school-age children with NF+RD can respond to standard phonologically-based reading tutoring originally developed to treat reading disability in the general population. Combining our work with that by other researchers suggesting that a medication (Lovastatin) may counteract the effects of the deficient neurofibromin, and possibly ameliorate learning disabilities in NF1, the investigator propose to examine the synergistic effects of medication plus reading tutoring.
Teachers are increasingly faced with classrooms of students whose needs require support far beyond what traditional teacher-training programs prepare educators to provide. The presence of students with greater challenges in classrooms is due in part to the move to a full inclusion model of education and also to the rising epidemic of mental health disorders in youth. Mental health problems affect up to one million Canadian youth and their families. However, few of these individuals (~20%) receive the support they need (Kirby, 2013; Kutcher & McLuckie, 2013). The Teacher Help research team along with industry partner, Velsoft, and key knowledge user, Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, will address this barrier by developing, evaluating, and commercializing a sustainable eHealth resource for teachers. Teacher Help is an online program that assists teachers in providing evidence-based interventions to students in grades 1-12 with mental health disorders in the classroom. The program allows teachers in a typical classroom setting to access information and expert-coach and peer support when they need it, so they can intervene early in order to reduce the negative consequences of mental health disorders in youth. Currently three modules (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], Autism Spectrum Disorder [ASD], and Learning Disabilities [LD]) are at different stages in the innovation pipeline. The investigators will test whether teachers make good use of this program and whether it is effective in improving mental health outcomes among children and youth both at school and at home. The investigators will also study whether the program changes teacher's attitudes toward children and youth with these disorders. The investigators will provide information to the Department of Education on how to use this program. This approach will help ensure that the program will continue after the research study ends. To the Teacher Help team's knowledge Teacher Help is the first and only research-validated eHealth program directly targeting teachers to help them intervene with children and youth who have mental health disorders, thus allowing Canada to take a lead in eHealth as applied to a school context.
Learning disability affects 3% of the population. Severe types of learning disability are more likely to have an underlying genetic cause but diagnosis is difficult because many different genetic abnormalities may be involved. Obtaining a diagnosis is important so that patients can be managed appropriately and their families can be given accurate information. We aim to use new types of genetic testing which will make it possible to screen for several different genetic abnormalities which cause learning disability at the same time, so improving the accuracy and speed of diagnosis in the group of patients with severe learning disability. We will focus particularly on patients where seizures and behavioural problems are also present.This will enable more patients to be diagnosed accurately, reduce the number of hospital appointments needed and ultimately be more cost- effective.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether a drama workshop program for immigrant and refugee youth is effective in reducing impairment in high school students presenting learning difficulties.
This is a study to assess whether memantine is effective and safe in preventing age related cognitive deterioration and dementia in people with Down's syndrome (DS) age 40 and over. The study will last for a year and it will include 180 people with Down's syndrome with and without dementia. Participants will be assessed on memory skills, attention and problem solving abilities. Quality of life and abilities for everyday living skills will also be regularly checked. Primary Aims Clinical: - To determine the clinical efficacy of memantine versus placebo in preventing cognitive decline in people with DS. - To compare the safety and tolerability of memantine versus placebo in people with Down’s syndrome (DS). Biochemical and pathological: - To examine the ability of memantine to alter markers of disease progression in DS patients. Secondary Aims Clinical: - To determine whether memantine has, as compared with placebo, a significant positive impact on: - level of independent functioning as measured by the carer-rated adaptive behavioural scale, (ABS) in adults with DS; - quality of life in adults with DS. Biochemical and pathological: - To investigate putative markers of memantine’s mechanism of action in peripheral samples from living patients with DS.