Learning Disorders and educational well-being. Pilot survey on the educational well-being of children with learning disorders in two primary schools in Rome
Valerio Corsi, Barbara Bacocco, Francesca D’Antonis, Alessandra Onofri, Francesca Tonelli, Gloria Cannici, Giorgia Millucci, Federica Terrinoni
The article presents the results of a survey that had the dual aim of identifying the incidence of pupils with either a certified or unrecognised Learning Disorder (LD) and checking the educational well-being of children with a Learning Disorder in three primary schools in Rome. The study regarding the incidence of the LD phenomenon within schools involved 472 boys and girls, and 226 boys and girls (within the sample of 472) were involved in the study regarding the detection of levels of educational well-being. Through screening for the recognition of Learning Disorders and a subsequent diagnostic assessment, we detected that the incidence of children with an LD was 9.7%, with a rate of about 2% of whom had not been previously recognised as having an LD before this study. Afterwards, with the aim of obtaining information related to the pupils’ perceived educational well-being, 226 children from two of the three primary schools that participated in the study were given a questionnaire on educational well-being (Antonova, Chumakova & Stanzione, 2016), which highlighted some uncomfortable situations experienced by children with an LD. The results show in general a good level of educational well-being but, in particular, in one of the two schools belonging to the institute, there was a significant difference between how children with an LD feel at school compared to those with «typical development». Children with an LD show greater levels of evaluation anxiety, non-specific anxiety and exclusion anxiety.
Keywords
Learning Disorders, educational well-being, school climate, anxiety, discomfort.