Whether you're sharing a funny story told by another friend or recounting the details of a text for a school exam, accurate storytelling and retelling are an integral part of everyday communication and children's education alike.
A new study from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) has found that children aged 8-12 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) retell less complete and coherent stories than their neurotypical counterparts, potentially putting them at a disadvantage in social and educational settings. Visual aids helped reduce the gap. Their findings, published in Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, pave the way for creating more inclusive learning and social environments for school-aged children.
Dr. Hend Samniya from the Human Developmental Neurobiology Unit (Professor Gail Tripp) at OIST explains: "Previous research on story retelling has focused on a narrow range of variables, leaving a significant gap in our understanding of its role in communication and learning of children with ADHD. It occupies a larger role in communication than we might imagine - sharing experiences, memories, or feelings is important socially and for children's development."
Visual aids improve storytelling, but do not remove performance gaps
In the study, English-speaking children aged 8-12, with and without ADHD, were told two short stories from Aesop's fables with and without visual aids. Transcripts of the retellings were then coded by researchers to capture the narrative structure, fluency, and linguistic accuracy of each participant.
