A Screening Project
Bianca Andreozzi, Lavinia Savarese, Ilaria Ceccarelli
The second objective is to identify early learning difficulties related to spelling, graphomotor skills and the understanding of written texts. The sample consists of about 114 children, from schools in the province of Rome, who participated in the screening. The screening was performed by teachers, who administered standardised tests during the first two years of primary school, specifically to children attending their first year in 2017 and the same children in their second year. The results highlighted that the difficulties related to graphomotor skills found in the first year were resolved spontaneously in the second and therefore it is possible to confirm that investigating graphomotor skills in the second year is more likely to lead to the identification of subjects at risk of SLD. Regarding spelling skills, however, difficulties persist in both years one and two. This reinforces the importance of early detection of difficulties in spelling from year one. It also confirms the importance of including written text comprehension among the collective screening tests and stresses the need to monitor the development of this skill in subsequent classes.
Keywords
Graphomotor skills, Spelling skills, Understanding of written texts, Screening.
