Neurological Integration as It Relates to Learning Among Children Who Presented with Excess Bilirubin Levels at Birth

Abstract

Summary Jaundice, due to excessive uncon-jugated bilirubin is observed in approxi-mately 60% of term infants during thefirst week of life and in approximately80% of preterm infants. In a previous arti-cle, Pretorius and coworkers in 2002 hy-pothesised and presented empiricalevidence that infants who suffered fromhigh levels of bilirubin appear to recoverfully, but present with learning difficultieslater when exposed to an educational en-vironment. In the current article, we in-vestigate the hypothesis further bypresenting results from an empiricalstudy where neurological integration, as itrelates to learning, was assessed amongparticipants who presented with excessbilirubin levels at birth. The Quick Neuro-logical Screening Test - Revised Edition(QNST) (Mutti et al., 1978), consisting of aseries of 15 observed tasks that help iden-tify children and adults with learning dif-ficulties, was used. Results derived fromthis study suggest that neurological inte-gration, as it relates to learning, is im-paired. Furthermore, extremely shortattention span, distractibility, andimpulsivity were observed. The resultsobtained in the previous study suggestedinadequate non-verbal concept formation,including perceptual organisation, spatialvisualisation and orientation. Concentra-tion and visual-motor integration werealso found to be impaired. These findingsare also in keeping with results derivedfrom the present study. In order to assistthe teacher as well as educational special-ists who are confronted with this type ofdevelopmental disability, a list of recom-mendations is presented.