Visual perceptual skills in children born with very low birth weights.
BACKGROUND
A disproportionate number of very low birth weight (VLBW; < or =1500 g) children require special education services and have school-related problems even when they are free from major disabilities and have average intelligence quotient scores. Visual-perceptual problems have been suggested as contributors to deficits in academic performance, but few data are available describing specific visual-perceptual problems. This study was designed to identify specific visual-perceptual skills in VLBW children.


METHODS
Participants were 92 VLBW children aged 4 through 5 years who were free from major disability and appropriate for gestational age at birth. The Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (non-motor)-Revised was used.


RESULTS
Despite intelligent quotient scores in the average range, the majority (63% to 78.3%) of the children performed below age level on all seven subscales of a normed assessment of visual perceptual skills.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that visual perceptual screening should be considered as a part of routine evaluations of preschool-aged children born prematurely. Early identification of specific deficits could lead to interventions to improve achievement trajectories for these high-risk children.
Davis
Deborah Winders
DW
Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville, KY, USA. dwdavis@louisville.edu
Burns
Barbara M
BM
Wilkerson
Shirley A
SA
Steichen
Jean J
JJ
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D014796:Visual Perception