La valutazione dinamica dei processi di apprendimento in un bambino con sindrome di Jacobsen

The present work is likely to provide the first case of dynamic assessment of cognitive processes in a ten-year old child with Jacobsen’s syndrome, a rare chromosomal anomaly, whose main clinical features are: delayed growth, serious psychomotor delay, trigonocephaly and facial dysmorfism. Presently, our knowledge of the development of cognitive processes in this particular and rare syndrome is scarce, and even scarcer are the assessment reports available on cognitive modifiability, cerebral plasticity and intellectual potential in individuals affected by this syndrome. The diagnostic process conducted in this case study involved the application of standard evaluation instruments, with the objective to outline the child’s performance level and diagnostic framework according to DSM-IV-TR criteria, as well as a dynamic assessment procedure of the child’s learning process, through the application of a selection of tests from Feuerstein’s LPAD battery. LPAD provides a protocol for the dynamic assessment of cognitive processes, whereby the aim is to evaluate the examinee’s learning potential and the modifiability, rather than to simply determine current cognitive functioning and manifest performance. The theoretical bases of the battery are represented by the theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability and that of Mediated Learning Experience by Feuerstein, as well as by Vygotskij’s concept of Zone of Proximal Development. The data gathered through this single case study suggest the existence of margins of modifiability as shown by results obtained after cognitive and meta-cognitive intervention. Specifically, the following changes have been observed: improvement in the ability to use strategies related to analysis and organization of information, improvement in the use of categorization processes, enhancement of vocabulary, as well as a reduced use of trial-and- error responses.