Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
metacognitive skills such as searching for key words, identifying the principal character
in a story, distinguishing what is salient from what is not and relating it to prior knowl-
edge, etc. In these cases, before young people experience another failure, it is necessary
to help them with interventions of a psychopedagogic nature to enable the recovery of
these so-called metacognitive resources and to work on study methods in general, using
compensatory tools that will finally enable the student to have the “energy” necessary to
acquire an effective method.
In line with the provisions of the model of the ATA process in a center for technical aid,
the specialist team should decide which of the two paths should be taken by a child diag-
nosed with a SLD. Bearing in mind the age of the subject, the extent of the disorder, and
the possibility of intervening directly in the deficit, the team decides if it is appropriate to
take an approach aimed at rehabilitation or to undertake a compensatory route. In general,
a child between 6 and 9 years of age, and therefore at a stage in which the developmental
window of the functions in question is still open and sensitive to further development,
and who has not previously undertaken a course of rehabilitation will take the route of
specific, targeted rehabilitation with the aid of relevant software. On the other hand, an
older child or one who has already undertaken the specific rehabilitation path will take
the compensatory route, with the aim of guaranteeing the most general learning processes
covered in school, using the appropriate compensatory tools. In this case, the principal
objective is that of guaranteeing access to information that may be filtered or lost in the
case of nonautomatized reading and writing. This will enable the subject to deal with
data and to manipulate them, enabling, in accordance with Karmiloff's RR model (1992),
a behavioral mastery with possible representational redescription. This procedure, when
well managed, enables the regular development of potentialities that, if not activated and
trained, might not emerge, thus not favoring overall cognitive development.
In a help center, at the moment of planning a path using compensatory tools, tests are
proposed using software and/or specific tools in direct contact with the child or young
person to identify those most suitable for the specific situation, whereas enabling software
(rehabilitational) is advised on the basis of the problems that emerge in the context of
clinical evaluation and at the center for technical aid. Project planning is performed, where
possible, in agreement with the health-care professionals following the progress of the
child or young person and always with the teachers and family involved. A follow-up
is periodically performed (normally every six months to one year) to decide, by means
of a new evaluation, whether to continue with the use of enabling tools or to concentrate
instead on compensatory ones. The team that decides upon the use of AT is always avail-
able for consultation by teachers, families, and health-care professionals should variations
to the initial project become necessary.
Along with the identification of the appropriate tools to use, there is guaranteed training
in their use for the child or young person, teachers, the family, and health-care profession-
als, if present. At the end of the AT evaluation, indications regarding the most appropriate
personalization of the software and tools are given.
In conclusion, having a SLD means having a disorder only in a society such as the one in
which we currently live, which (fortunately for all) requires literacy; in fact, children with
SLDs begin to demonstrate their “disorder” only when they enter school and have to gauge
their abilities in terms of the acquisition of reading, writing, and mathematical skills. In
many cases, this disorder can be practically “annulled” through the introduction of ade-
quate techniques for teaching reading and writing by using the appropriate tools chosen
on a case-by-case basis. The possibility of enabling many children and young people with
SLDs to learn, study serenely, and to prepare themselves for satisfactory integration in the
