Learning disabled children fail to ask for clarification when they do not understand a speaker's message. Failure is due to factors inherent in the children themselves, such as difficulty with question forms, inability to monitor comprehension, and fear as well as poor instructional techniques. Specific teaching strategies can help improve the…

Two procedures significantly improved multiplication skills in six students (nine to 12 years old) with learning disabilities. The procedures were writing out multiplication problems and saying problems aloud while working. (CL)

An elementary school teacher relates a method of teaching handwriting through grouping letters into families. The Hanover method, said to be particularly appropriate for children with learning disabilities, is described and examples given. (CL)

The article proposes a simplified handwriting method for learning disabled children having difficulty with conventional cursive writing. The approach is based on the vertical downstroke rather than the diagonal slant and emphasizes the natural connection between manuscript letters. (Author/CL)

The performance of 60 learning disabled and normally achieving children (ages 9-12), either given minimal instruction to use organizing strategies or engaged only in practice with a free recall task, were compared. Factors underlying the unexpected finding that strategy use did not account for learning disabled students' poor recall are discussed.…

Practical steps for remediating cursive handwriting difficulties focus on the five elements of spacing, speed, slant of letters, letter size, and letter shape. (JW)

The article looks at primitive counting techniques and suggests a systematic set of diagnostic activities for teaching young learning disabled children to count. (SBH)

The author points out the usefulness of the ALP minicalculator program with learning disabled learners and introduces a novel aspect of the program--a new method of dealing with fractions via the calculator in which decimal answers are converted to equivalent fractions. (SBH)

Relates Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) with anecdotes of learning-disabled students in primary grades. Message of CGI is that when teachers begin listening to children, they realize how much more students know than they recognized previously. Teachers can achieve goals of compensatory mathematics education by building on this knowledge. (SKS)

The paper describes strategies for remediating mathematics difficulties (particularly the process of regrouping or "borrowing" in whole number subtraction) in children. Three interrelated aspects of the process (the meaning of subtraction, understanding of non-standard numerals, and the function of the subtraction algorithm), are considered. The…

Basic principles of effective software implementation with learning disabled students are discussed. A prototype software package is described that is specifically designed to help develop discriminatory skills in recognizing letter shapes and letter combinations. (JW)

The article describes ways in which music and elements of rhythm, harmony, melody, form dynamics, and mood can contribute to language development in learning disabled children. (CL)

A sandplay technique is explained to have helped learning and reading disabled students get in touch with their feelings as well as to have improved their reading skills. (CL)

A four-step instructional procedure to assist the learning disabled child to distinguish the distinctive features of letters is described. The procedure involves distinguishing the lower case "b" via a fading out technique from its upper case counterpart "B." The letter directionality can be cued so that the "b-d" distinction is readily apparent.…

Answers eight questions concerning the teaching of reading to handicapped children. Includes background information on Public Law 94-142, discussions of mainstreaming and "least restrictive alternatives," and suggestions about instructional practices for use with the handicapped learner. (MKM)