School-age Learning Disabilties and Preemie Connection

on March 21, 2009 at 8:13 AM

When my girlfriend unexpectedly had her baby at only 25 weeks gestation, every seemed to happen so fast and in slow motion at the same time. One minute she was pregnant and in the mall, the next, she was a mother. Her sweet little girl was barely 2 pounds and we desperately feared for her life. Doctors said for good reason. Extremely premature births (children born below 26 weeks gestation) have higher death rates.

Today, however, my friend's daughter is a thriving 13-year-old at the top of her class. But a new report out of the UK on children born extremely prematurely shows that if they do survive, they are at high risk of developing learning difficulties by the time they reach the age of 11.

A study carried out by the University of Warwick, in collaboration with University College London and the University of Nottingham, showed almost two thirds of children born extremely prematurely require additional support at school.

The researchers found extremely preterm children had significantly lower reading and maths scores than classmates--in general these kids had a higher risk for cognitive and learning deficits affecting their schooling. Boys were more likely to have serious impairments than girls.

Was your child a preemie? Does he/she have any learning disabilities?

Filed Under: developmental delays, education, health

Comments (16)

JudesMomma

on Mar 21, 2009 at 10:23 AM

My son was born at 27 weeks. He weighed just a little over 2 pounds. Now granted, he is only 2 1/2 years old, but he seems very smart to me. He can already count to 15, count to 10 in Spanish and French, knows all his letters and numbers by sight, and has a very large vocabulary. I don't really have much of a frame of reference (he's my first kid) but he doesn't seem to be lacking in the learning/intelligence department at all.

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quietside

on Mar 21, 2009 at 11:40 AM

I have a 34-weeker (2 lbs.--IUGR, things didn't go well in-utero) who is almost 4. He is "delayed". He is very smart, but has trouble processing some things and processes other things differently. When you brain doesn't have time to complete development (or something goes on that affects development), chances are there are going to be some issues. Many gifted children have learning disabilities. We (schools and parents) just have to work harder to figure out how they learn, so we can teach them. Another (important and often overlooked) issue with the extremely premature kids is that we stop considering their gestation age after they turn one. So, many start school a year earlier than they would have if they had been term babies.

twarmymm

on Mar 21, 2009 at 12:56 PM

Wow, I never thought about them being younger in school according to their gestational age........That is an awesome thought...........I am a teacher and I am gonna start asking parents of my students that have problems if they were preemies! because I know that kids that have late birthdays sometimes have trouble and I always recommend to young parents when they start school to hold them back a year before they start when they ask me.

Mom2SKMB

on Mar 21, 2009 at 12:58 PM

My son, 27 weeks 1 lb 12 oz is very advanced for his age. He did recieve early intervention early, OT, PT, ST. He stuck with ST til 2 1/2, though he could have stopped earlier, but we were expecting again and the ST wanted to make sure he didnt regress. I had him evaluated a few months back and was told he was well above average. The twins never recieved therapy, 32 weeks 2 lbs 12 and 3 lbs 12 oz. They, like my son, get evaluated every so often and again are advanced.

I have seen many times kids recieving more therapies once they hit school age and MANY times its because those children did not recieve therapies early on in life. I also think many times parents seem to freak out over every little thing if their child was a preemie...and yes Ive seen that first hand with friends and their children.

teamquinn

on Mar 21, 2009 at 1:58 PM

My twins were 32 weekers. They recieved therapy practically from birth, however, they did not catch up and may never. I have known many parents of premies and some catch up some don't. Early therapy gives children a better chance but there are no guarentees either way.

To mom2SKMB what do you mean by parents freaking out? Do you mean the ones who refuse to admit that there could be something wrong with their child? I've seen that a lot.

kristinalsth

on Mar 21, 2009 at 2:01 PM

I have a 33 week son, home weight was 4 pounds 15 ounces so we were incredibly lucky. He wasn't fully developed yet. Very small things like his toe and finger nails. He now has hydroceles and a gigantic umbilical hernia which will need surgery. He is right on target milestone wise so we are blessed.

justanotherjen

on Mar 21, 2009 at 3:42 PM

My friend's daughter was born at 32-33 weeks at only 3lbs. She's turning 10 this year and is a straight A student. They actually asked my friend if she wanted to test her daughter's IQ at 5 because she was so far ahead of the other kindergarteners. They usually don't do that or offer kids skip grades until after 3rd grade but they were going to make an exception for her daughter.

We've always known she was a genius. She was reciting her ABCs and counting to 50 before she even turned 2 and knew every shape (even things like octagons and paralelagrams). But my friend is extremely smart, too. Other then being extremely small for her age (she weighs like 45lbs and is almost 10 and a little over 4' tall) you wouldn't know she was a preemie.

on Mar 21, 2009 at 4:23 PM

teamquinn Mar. 21, 2009 at 1:58 PM

Oh yeah definatly seen that alot! I have some friends who are so blind to their childrens problems and refuse to seek help early on when its apparent their child does need that extra help. Ive also seen some to the other extreme of constantly thinking their child is behind on everything when they are right where they should be.

brookie504

on Mar 21, 2009 at 6:15 PM

my son was 71/2 weeks early he is now 5 years old and has some learning problems they didn't tell me that he would be behide so therefore i didn't notice the small things he wasn't picking up. now i have to hold him back a year. i would tell anyone who has a preemie start them early and have them evaluted.

Deanna1738

on Mar 21, 2009 at 7:18 PM

I have had three children. None of them were premature. I had very normal pregnancy's. My oldest and youngest are Developmentally handicapped and my middle child is super intelligent. I now have two granddaughters that are my daughters. Both of the girls were premature. One is 7 and the other is 3. They are very smart. I don't see the connection.