Clock Face Drawing in Children with Learning Disabilities: An Old Problem Revisited

Abstract

Although clock drawing as a neuropsychological measure has proven to be sensitive to the executive functioning of graphomotor skills, visual–spatial perception, and verbal reasoning, its discriminatory pattern in learning disabilities (LDs) is unclear. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the clock-drawing test (CDT) performance as a screening measure in children with LDs. The population of this descriptive study includes all students who have been diagnosed with a specific LD in Ahvaz, Tehran, and Yasooj, in Iran. The convenience sampling method was used to select 104 participants, aged 8–12 years, matched for age and type of LD. The primary data was collected using the CDT and the data analysis procedures included frequency, percentage, and mean. The test results showed that the most common problems of the students with LDs involved neglect in placing quadrant numbers, stemming from attention deficiency as well as cognitive distortion; the least common problem was drawing both the hour and the minute hands on the clock face. Moreover, the findings indicated that there is the possibility of frontal, temporal, and parietal injuries among these students. It can, therefore, be concluded that the CDT is useful for the early prediction of brain injuries. Clock drawing is thus recommended to be used as a screening method for the prediction, assessment, and treatment of children with LDs.