Learning difficulties and poor academic performance are just some of the implications that result from child abuse. Extensive research shows that children who experience abuse of any kind score lower on tests that measure cognitive abilities and demonstrate lower academic achievement compared to their peers from normally functioning families. This differentiation may be caused by the altered relationship between the abused child and his or her caregiver. In families where maltreatment is absent and caring relationships are formed, the child can develop the sense of worth and confidence necessary to succeed in a presented cognitive task. On the other hand, the abused child is often overwhelmed with negative emotions and lacks motivation to succeed in school. One study showed that toddlers from abusive families were more likely to react negatively to their mirror images and make very few positive statements about themselves (Barnett, 1997). Abuse can present itself in several ways and it seems to lead to specific behaviors depending on the type of abuse experienced. Preschoolers who are physically abused are more likely to exhibit aggressive and rebellious behavior than their non-maltreated peers. Children who experience abuse are also more impulsive, disorganized, and more independent, which affects their ability to succeed in school. They also lack the social and professional skills necessary for age-appropriate adjustment in their designated classroom. Nearly half of all physically abused youth were assigned to special education by the time they were ready to leave kindergarten, not necessarily because of a lack of intelligence, but rather because of the environment negative in which...... middle of paper.... ..nozzle, can suggest that forms of abuse are interconnected with each other. Victims can experience several types of abuse, such as a combination of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse, as well as neglect. Two of the major studies on the subject compared the characteristics of school-aged children who were victims of sexual abuse, physical violence, and neglect (Kurtz, Gaudin, Wodarski, & Howing, 1993; Eckenrode, Laird, & Doris, 1993). Children who have experienced physical violence have significant school-related problems. Their abilities were lacking in all academic subjects, but the two areas that showed the most effect were mathematics and language use. They seemed unmotivated and underperforming. In later years, they were also more likely to drop out of school. Caregivers and teachers described their children as having demonstrably more behavioral problems than their non-maltreated peers..