An assessment system demonstrates the learning capacity of children with Down's syndrome

Admin Number of posts : 287 Age : 46 Registration date : 2008-01-24

Quote :: Researchers from the Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment at the University of Granada have adapted a set of assessment criteria created by lecturers from the USA to the Spanish language.

This system makes it possible to assess abilities, attitudes and learning capacities of pre-school children when fulfilling different tasks. This project, which was developed by Mar?Auxiliadora Robles Bello and directed by lecturer Mar?Dolores Calero Garc?/b>, has put this methodology into practice for the first time with a group of children with Down's syndrome in order to find out their skills and attitudes towards learning. Their aim was to establish separate special education services for children with Down's syndrome and children with intellectual impairment due to unknown reasons.

The research, carried out at the UGR, included 127 children aged from 3 to 6 attending classes in different public schools in the province of Jaén (Andalusia). The researchers divided them into four groups. The first group comprised children with Down's syndrome; the second, called "Mental Retardation", comprised children who had been diagnosed with intellectual impairment by the Guidance Team at school; the third group, called "Pre-school", comprised pre-school children considered to be "normal" by their teachers as they showed a typical development. Finally, the fourth group was called "Control" and was not in training...