Over at About.com—which we all know is about making $$: tiny bits of questionable content about high-traffic topics with huge amounts of advertising—where Sue Watson provides bogus advice about special education, I found a pediatrics entry about Learning Disabilities that features a screening quiz for parents. The viewer gets to answer “yes” or “no” to a string of questions. The stem for each question is the same and, because each question causes a page refresh, the viewer gets to see the full display of advertisements surrounding each question repeatedly. Here’s the stem and the questions:
Does your elementary school aged child…
- have trouble learning the alphabet, rhyming words, or connecting letters to their sounds?
- make many mistakes when reading aloud, and repeat and pause often?
- not understand what he or she reads?
- have real trouble with spelling?
- have very messy handwriting or hold a pencil awkwardly?
- struggle to express ideas in writing?
- learn language late and have a limited vocabulary?
- have trouble remembering the sounds that letters make or hearing slight differences between words?
- have trouble understanding jokes, comic strips, and sarcasm?
- have trouble following directions?
- mispronounce words or use a wrong word that sounds similar?
- have trouble organizing what he or she wants to say or not be able to think of
- the word he or she needs for writing or conversation?
- not follow the social rules of conversation, such as taking turns, and may stand too close to the listener?
- confuse math symbols and misread numbers?
- have trouble retelling a story in order (what happened first, second, third)?
- not know where to begin a task or how to go on from there?
The “yes” button is always already selected. So, I went with the default and (guess what!) my answer indicate a Learning Disability. I also got some text with general descriptions and links to—no suprise here—more About.com resources. Most of them were provided by Vincent Iannelli, MD, who’s the site’s “guide,” and they basically reprint notes from other sources (e.g., NICHD).
I wonder what would happen if one always responded “no.” Also, I wonder where the cut-point between “does” and “doesn’t” falls, how many positive answers are required before the answer is, “Yes, probably does have LD.” If anyone else completes the quiz and gets additional data, please report them here. Which numbers did you mark as “yes” and which as “no?”
Link to the quiz site.
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