Mechanical Comprehension Ability in Children with Learning Disabilities and Hearing Impairments - A Comparative Study

Abstract

The children with learning disability (LD) are presumed to processes information differently in contrast to their unaffected peers. Mechanical comprehension is the ability to perceive and understand the relationship of physical forces and mechanical elements in practical situations. This study uses a ‘Test of Mechanical Comprehension, Form S (Bennett, 2008) under two conditions, viz., stipulated and extended time conditions to examine whether children with LD exhibit better mechanical comprehension compared to those with Hearing Impairments (HI). By recruiting a purposive sample of 60 regular or special school students of 30 each with LD and HI in the age range of 14-16 years, the obtained data was analysed using, both, descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that subjects with LD have significantly higher percentile scores on mechanical comprehension compared to those with HI spread over both the tested conditions. The implications of these findings for placing children with LD under a tailor made curriculum that enhances their prowess and gives opportunities for building mechanical comprehension abilities are discussed so as to transform their disadvantage into an advantage.