**5. Acknowledgments**

During this research study, we received competitive funds from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MICINN) (EDU2010-19250 / EDUC) for 2010-2013, and Excellence Research Group funds from the Junta de Castilla y León (GR259), with FEDER funds from the European Union for 2009-2010-2011 (BOCyL 27 on April 2009). Both were awarded to the Director/Main Researcher (J. N. García). We are very grateful to Victoria Rosa Sturley for her help with the English version.

*Correspondence* should be addressed to Departamento de Psicología, Sociología y Filosofía. Área Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación. Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 – León, Spain. Phone: +34-987291041 (university); +34-987222118 (home); +34-652817871 (cell); Fax: +34-987291035 (university). E-mail: jn.garcia@unileon.es.

#### **6. References**

210 Learning Disabilities

writing. Similarly, the fourth factorial component of activities in which motivation interacts with the procedures and a material used in the teaching of writing also overlaps with the above. And finally, the planning and review factor, which relates general to selfefficacy with planning and revision practices followed by the teacher in the teaching of

In summary, we can say that these factors allow us to infer the nature of the practice developed by teachers in the area of language. No remarkable facts concerning significant differences in relation to the theoretical concept and strategies applied in the teaching of writing at different stages of infant and primary education were discovered and, therefore,

In addition, the curriculum guidelines as described by the royal decrees do not seem to affect this practice, since, according to the results obtained, all teachers appear to act uniformly in terms of the theoretical concepts that guide them. This also indicates that there is no difference in the treatment of learning and teaching of writing in students with and without learning difficulties and/or low performance. When compared with other empirical studies that address the same area we discovered some important contributions of this research study. First, it is the first study of its kind in Spain. Secondly, it is the first to address the four components combined into a single instrument (Opinion, Approach, Classroom behaviors and Self-Efficacy). The other research studies in this field have studied only one or two aspects. Moreover, the sample or study population is fairly representative, in terms of breadth and of educational levels covered because, as noted, the empirical studies reviewed have either poor samples or are focused on the first levels of education. It is important to note the limitations of the study. Among these, we include the lack of data about the performance of these teachers' students in order to establish meaningful relationships between what the teacher teaches and what/how children learn. This issue is to be addressed in a second empirical study. Furthermore, the study was based on questionnaires, and these instruments have certain limitations. It is well known that from the psychological point of view, the acquiescence effect is produced, i.e., the tendency to respond positively to everything that is asked. Although this variable was controlled by introducing different directions in the elements of the instrument it should be monitored

Another limitation, also mentioned by other authors, is the lack of direct observation of the teachers' behavior in the classroom to actually verify what they say they do. Overcoming this limitation will require the implementation of further studies. It would be pertinent to verify whether there are differences in teaching methods from other areas. This would be of great interest to detect if they apply the same strategies, both with and without students

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**Part 3** 

**Neurodevelopmental Disorders**


**Part 3** 

**Neurodevelopmental Disorders**

214 Learning Disabilities

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**12** 

*Republic of Serbia* 

**Motor Skill Performance** 

Danijela Ilić-Stošović and Snežana Nikolić

 **of Children with Sensor Impairments** 

*University in Belgrade, Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation* 

According to ICD – 10 (1993) there are two big groups of specific developmental disabilities: learning disabilities and motor disabilities. The first includes a group of disorders which characterize problems in school achievement, especially in reading and math. The second includes a group of disorders in motor coordination, balance, lateralization, which cannot be explained by general problems in intellectual development or any other specific neurological disorder. The etiology of these disorders is unknown, but there is a hypothesis that they are the consequence of interaction between biological factors and the influence of social environment, as much as interaction between those two factors and quality of

Motor skills play a crucial role in the social and emotional functioning of a child and may impact quality of life and well being (Poulsen, Ziviani, Johnson & Cuskelly, 2008; Skinner & Piek, 2001; Sleeuwenhoek, Boter & Vermeer, 1995; Verrips et al., 1999, as cited in Houwen et

Williams et al. (2008) found that preschool children with poorer motor skill performance were less active than children with better-developed motor skills. They concluded that the relationship between motor skill performance and physical activity could be important to

The results of research (Šarenac, 1999; Nikolić et al., 2000; Urošević, 2001) conducted with early childhood age children in regular primary school show that 10-15% of children with poor motor skills have low school success. These children need support to overcome

Barnet et al. (2009) assessed children's proficiency in object control (kick, catch, throw) and locomotor (hop, side gallop, vertical jump) skills with the aim of investigating whether skill proficiency predicts subsequent physical activity. The research results indicate that object control proficient children were more likely to become active adolescents. According to these authors motor skill development should be a key strategy in childhood interventions

With the aim of further understanding control impairments seen in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and the effect of these impairments on motor

the health of children, particularly in obesity prevention.

developmental and learning difficulties.

aiming to promote long-term physical activity.

**1. Introduction** 

educational processes.

al., 2009b).
