Supporting Learners with Additional Needs

Question 1

Correctly name all the pre-term birth categories and ages.

Answer 1

• Extremely pre-term = 22-27 weeks
• Very pre-term = less than 31 weeks
• Moderate to late pre-term = 32-36 weeks

Question 2

What are the developmental milestones between 29 and 36 weeks?

Answer 2

• Weeks 29-32 = develops body fat reserves. Brain develops rapidly, foetus can see and hear.
• Week 31= most essential organs have developed, rapid weight gain begins, lungs may still be underdeveloped
• Weeks 33-36 = lungs are close to being fully developed

Question 3

What are the typical consequences of pre-term birth at each category?

Answer 3

• Extremely pre-term = high risk of intellectual impairment, physical disability, over half require special educational support
• Very pre-term = high risk of cognitive deficits, attention, behavioural and emotional problems
• Mod-late pre-term = slightly higher risk of developmental problems

Question 4

What are the global prevalence rates of preterm birth?

Answer 4

• 15 million globally per year (11%)
• 10% of births in the US
• 60,000 in UK per year (7%)

Question 5

What are the survival rates of preterm birth?

Answer 5

• about 16% of all infant deaths linked to premature birth
• 80% chance of survival at 28 weeks

Question 6

Risk factors of preterm birth:

Answer 6

• previous premature births
• being pregnant with multiples
• tobacco and substance use
• short time between pregnancies
• pregnancy complications (forces early delivery)

Question 7

Potential consequences of pre-term birth:

Answer 7

• breathing issues, digestive problems, brain bleeds
• increased risk of asthma and allergies
• longer term issues are related to education rather than health

Question 8

Cohort changes in disability rate:

Answer 8

1980’s - 30-40% disability rate
1990’s - 68% disability rate
- disability rate is higher because survival rate increased

Question 9

Association between SES and pre-term birth IQ?

Answer 9

• higher SES links to higher IQ
• pre-term babies have lower IQ than normal born babies
• at 26 years, high SES pre-term babies can catch up intellectually

Question 10

SEN in pre-term children:

Answer 10

• Scottish cohort study
• SEN in normal born = 4.7%, SEN in pre-term = 8.4%
• pre-term boys twice as likely to have SEN than pre-term girls

Question 11

What are the typical cognitive problems with pre-term birth?

Answer 11

• executive function, WM
• poor motor skills
• social difficulties (ASD = ~6%), attentional problems (AD(H)D = 3x more likely) and anxiety disorders

Question 12

Educational implications of pre-term birth:

Answer 12

• ‘school problems’ - pre-term = 53% vs term-born = 13%
• poorer performance across all subjects (academic and social categories)

Question 13

Effects of maternal sensitivity on low birth weight children’s academic achievement:

Answer 13

• maths and reading achievement increases as maternal sensitivity increases
• maternal sensitivity GREATLY improves reading achievement in (very) low birth weight children

Question 14

How does pre-term birth impact adult wealth?

Answer 14

• adults born pre-term have lower job-related incomes than term
• lower occupational status and lower wealth in adulthood
• less likely to complete high school and go to university
• pre-term adults more likely to have worse wealth because they have issues with maths

Question 15

Social outcomes of pre-term birth:

Answer 15

• fewer adults born pre-term / low birth weight experience romantic relationships, sexual intercourse or parenthood
• but when these ARE experienced, they are similar to full-term born adults

Question 16

History of Autism:

Answer 16

• Dr Kanner - “low functioning”, language delay, cognitive impairments
• Dr Asperger - “high functioning” but social difficulties, repetitive behaviour
• Lorna Wing - founded National Autistic Society - suggested triad of impairments - suggested autism as a spectrum

Question 17

What is the triad of impairments (autism)?

Answer 17

• communication = verbal and non-verbal e.g. pointing
• social interaction e.g. eye contact, smiling
• social imagination e.g. ToM, empathy

Question 18

Characteristics of Autism (DSM-5):

Answer 18

• communication problems (difficulty using / understanding language, using repeated phrases, limited speech)
• difficulty relating to people (trouble making friends, reading facial expressions, eye contact)
• repetitive behaviours (hand flapping, sounds, phrases)

Question 19

Prevalence of ASD:

Answer 19

• 1 in 36 have autism (2020 - Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the US)
• increasing prevalence due to widening diagnostic criteria, increased awareness, earlier diagnosis

Question 20

Gender differences in Autism:

Answer 20

• mixed findings - male:female = 2:1 - 16:1
• girls less likely to be diagnosed
• girls are diagnosed later
• greater gender ratio discrepancy in the ‘high functioning’ type

Question 21

Special skills and ‘islets of ability’ in Autism:

Answer 21

• special skills or talents in the context of profound disability
• roughly 30% of autistic individuals have special skills

Question 22

Autism and IQ:

Answer 22

• neurotypical people score similarly on many different IQ tests, but autistic people perform much better on Raven’s Progressive Matrices than other IQ tests

Question 23

Theory of Mind deficit (autism):

Answer 23

• the ability to attribute independent mental states to the self and others in order to predict and explain behaviour
• false belief task (smarties tube with pencils in)
• can explain social impairments in ASD
  BUT not all autistic people fail ToM tasks

Question 24

Weak Central Coherence Theory (autism):

Answer 24

• typical central coherence = ability to combine details to create a higher level understanding (a ‘big picture’)
• autistic individuals have a bias for featural processing and they focus on details rather than integrating information into meaningful wholes
• explains discrepancies on intelligence tests (lower verbal skills)
• explains misunderstanding of figurative language

Question 25

Executive Dysfunction theory (autism):

Answer 25

- autism is due to executive dysfunction - ASD individuals usually have unusual attention patterns - have difficulties with everyday tasks (despite high IQ) - executive dysfunction theory potentially explains inflexible behaviour patterns

Question 25

Genetic risk of ASD:

Answer 25

- factors of autism are inherited separately from mother and father, which combine to cause autism

Question 25

Environmental risk factors of ASD:

Answer 25

- short interpregnancy intervals - maternal smoking - air pollution