Overview
To meet the physical, social, emotional and academic goals of children with
Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus,
specific needs must be weighed and considered through testing and evaluation,
class placement, education services, social and emotional adjustment.
The Value of
Testing
All children have abilities, some of which are better than others.
Unfortunately, children with physical disabilities are often labeled based on
their disability rather than by their strengths or skills and need additional
assistance to identify their educational abilities.
Required by state and federal guidelines, evaluations
provide basic information about children's intelligence, achievement levels, and
occasionally social and general functioning. Some psychological evaluations
test for language, learning disabilities and social/emotional functioning.
Key Findings
Research linking the physical aspects of Spina Bifida with hydrocephalus to
intelligence and learning demonstrate that children with Spina Bifida with
hydrocephalus possess:
Average IQs, often with significantly higher verbal than
nonverbal skills resulting in greater reading and spelling skills and much lower
math skills. Poor perceptual-motor (non-verbal) abilities that affect their
eye-hand coordination, which can create problems with handwriting and other
motor activities. The higher that the lesion is on spinal cord is affected, the
greater the possibility that intelligence and motor skills will be lower. More
severe hydrocephalus is associated with lower intelligence scores. Children or
adolescents with Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus may have problems with memory,
comprehension, attention, impulsivity, sequencing, organization and
reasoning-areas that could emerge as problems as their school experiences become
more complicated.
The Importance of
Evaluation, Placement, Homework and Parents
Even if children are performing well in regular classroom work, they should have
psychological or neuropsychological testing to identify specific strengths and
potential weaknesses and accurately place children with Spina Bifida in school.
Parents, along with educators and health professionals, can request their
children with Spina Bifida construct individual education programs (IEP) to
reflect special education services. Studies show that teachers rate children
with Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus as hard-working as other children. However,
motivation in school can become an issue to those children who are overly
dependent on parents. For children with relatively poor motor skills, homework
can become an obstacle to academic performance. Fortunately, calculators and
computers can help to ameliorate problems with math and written work. Children
diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) face additional
problems in paying attention or being easily distracted from their work.
Medication, as a possible intervention, can help and the improvement in
attention and concentration is obvious. Above all, it is important that
teachers, parents and health professionals all focus on the children with Spina
Bifida/hydrocephalus. Nothing should take precedent over the students' best
interests.
This
information does not constitute medical advice for any individual. As specific
cases may vary from the general information presented here, SBAGNO advises
readers to consult a qualified medical or other professional on an individual
basis.
Spina Bifida Association of Greater New Orleans 
