Category Archives: Research

Sensory Processing Disorder

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In this episode of Breaking Down Mental Health, Dr. Hannah Reynard, a neurodevelopmental expert at Michigan Medicine, discusses sensory processing disorder (SPD) and learning disorders like dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and dyslexia. She breaks down how SPD affects sensory input, its subtypes, screening tools, and treatment options. Dr. Reynard also highlights the need for school accommodations and the challenges in diagnosing these conditions. Listen to the full episode for deeper insights.

Listen to the full episode HERE

Non-right-handedness is more common across multiple mental health conditions

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People with mental or neurodevelopmental disorders are more likely to show non-right-handedness than those without these conditions, according to a second-order meta-analysis published in Psychological Bulletin.

Handedness—the tendency to prefer one hand over the other—is rooted in our biology and brain organization. Most people are right-handed, but left- and mixed-handed individuals comprise a significant minority. Handedness is shaped by both genetic and environmental factors, and emerges early in development, even prenatally. It is also associated with brain lateralization, especially in regions involved in language. Because some mental and neurodevelopmental disorders are also linked to altered brain asymmetry, researchers have suspected that handedness might reflect underlying neurocognitive differences relevant to these conditions.

Read the full article HERE

6 ways to improve interventions for specific learning difficulties

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There is plenty of research around SLD – such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia – but teachers and schools need to be involved in the development of new approaches, says Gillian Stirton

A motivated corps of experts, developers, entrepreneurs and others create ways to combat the difficulties and downstream disadvantages that come with SLD such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia, or combinations of these.

Read the full article HERE

Hidden bias in standardized tests

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Marjolein Muskens has found that educational systems and teaching methods can inadvertently limit the opportunities of certain students. She is interested in students’ hidden talents and shedding light on the unintended obstacles that hinder students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Marjolein tells Annie Brookman-Byrne about her research into the bias found in standardized math tests. 

Read the whole post HERE

The effect of content domain and question format to identify dyscalculia

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Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is characterised by persistent difficulties in learning mathematical skills, which usually becomes apparent in the early years of schooling. Traditionally, DD is known to affect children’s arithmetic processing, whilst other domains of mathematics receive much less research attention. Nevertheless, contemporary diagnostic guidelines suggest that DD is linked to widespread and diverse difficulties, both within and outside of the domain of numbers. This study examined the performance (i.e., accuracy and number of questions attempted) of children on a curriculum-based mathematics assessment, considering the effect of content domains, question format (i.e., multiple-choice questions vs. constructed response questions) and test half. 

Read all about this research HERE