Narrative Representations in Adolescents With Learning Difficulties

摘要

This research develops from clinical practice. Our aim is to provide a precise description of mental functioning of adolescents with learning difficulties (LDs) in order to improve the knowledge of this kind of problems and consequently to get better therapeutic approaches. We focus on narrative representations and we study how these adolescents construct and build stories. We assess 40 adolescents through the use of two kind of tests: Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). In addition, we compare this group with another clinical sample of adolescents. In our sample, learning difficulties are not linked to lower cognitive level, but can be understood as a maturational gap. In the narratives of the adolescents with LDs, we find a typical adolescent narrative: In most cases, the protagonist starts from a position of dependence finally reaching a position of greater autonomy. There are significant differences between the males and females in our sample, which suggest a different mode of learning ability and disability for each sex.