The Prevalence and Correlates of Specific Learning Difficulties in a Representative Sample of Children with Hemiplegia
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Children with hemiplegia have cerebral palsy affecting one side of the body due to damage to the opposite side of the brain. An investigation of the association between hemiplegia and specific learning difficulties (SpLD) provides a unique window on body-mind links and left brain/right brain differences. AIMS: The present study investigated the prevalence and correlates of SpLDs in children with hemiplegia. SAMPLE: A representative sample of 149 London children with hemiplegia aged between 6 and 10 included 59 children whose cognitive abilities and predicted academic ability were within the average range. METHODS: SpLDs were defined by ability-achievement discrepancy analysis. Differences between children with and without SpLDs were explored with a between-groups design. RESULTS: Children with hemiplegia had significantly more SpLDs than expected, with 36 per cent of these children having at least one SpLD. Children with and without SpLDs were similar in intelligence and demographic background, but the children with SpLDs had significantly more severe neurological impairments and a significantly higher rate of emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBDs) than comparison children. CONCLUSIONS: Three typical case studies are described and recommendations made for the early identification and remediation of SpLDs in children with hemiplegia.
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Frampton et al. [60] found that 36% of their sample (149 children with hemiplegia from London with CP) had specific learning disorders.
“Frampton et al. [60] were surprised to find that 36% of their sample (149 children with hemiplegia from London with CP) had specific learning disorders.”
From The Mental Health of Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Review of the Last Five Years of Research (2025) · cites this paper as [60]
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“This is consistent with previous reports of learning disorders in this population, as Frampton et al. [60] were surprised to find that 36% of their sample (149 children with hemiplegia from London with CP) had specific learning disorders.”
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- Authors
- Frampton, I., Yude, C., & Goodman, R.
- Affiliations
- Maudsley Hospital (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Frampton, I.
- Venue
- British Journal of Educational Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1998-03
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 39-51
- ISSN
- 0007-0998 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8279
- OpenAlex
- W2015278235
- Cited by
- 68
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 0.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Educational Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Cerebral Palsy and Movement Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Keywords
- hemiplegia, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, children, prevalence, ability-achievement discrepancy, emotional and behavioral problems, neurological deficit, hemispheric lateralization, early detection, remediation
- MeSH terms
- Child, Female, Hemiplegia, Humans, Learning Disabilities, Male, Severity of Illness Index, Prevalence
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