Evaluation of 357 students with either learning disability (LD), serious emotional disturbance (SED), or both (SED/LD), ages 6 to 18, found that children with LD differed from those with SED mainly in terms of severity of problem, not type of problem. Results suggest that students with both LD and SED are under-identified and underserved. (DB)

The use of standardized psychoeducational diagnostic instruments to identify learning disabilities was evaluated with 19 students (ages 7 to 13) with sensorineural hearing impairments. Students with hearing impairment were found to demonstrate learning disabilities with a frequency similar to that found in students with normal hearing, suggesting…

This article criticizes the term "comorbidity" used to describe the overlap of developmental syndromes or disorders. Data from 179 school-age children are evaluated for criteria of seven disorders. Since fully 50 percent of the sample met the criteria for at least two diagnoses, the premise that these disorders are discrete categories on…

This study compared level of agreement among four models used to diagnose learning disabilities (LD), including the simple discrepancy, intraindividual, intellectual ability-achievement, and underachievement models. The simple discrepancy model diagnosed significantly more college students with LD than the others. The highest agreement was between…

Learning-disabled adults (N=145) participating in vocational rehabilitation were found to constitute a homogeneous group with severe deficits, exhibiting: low-average general intelligence; lower verbal than performance Intelligence Quotients; attention, reasoning, and auditory memory deficits; academic achievement at the fourth/fifth-grade level;…

This study examined differences between Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) scores for 40 elementary students with learning disabilities. WISC-III Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance scores were lower than comparable WISC-R scores by one-third to one-half a…

The study with 51 boys (ages 7 to 9 years) found that subjects classified as having both attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity and learning disabilities demonstrated the most external locus of control with subjects classified as only learning-disabled intermediate and subjects classified as only having attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity…

More than 20 years ago, psychologists first described gifted students with learning disabilities (LD). In the past decade, several sets of identification criteria have been proposed for this population. Many of the suggested assessment practices are unsupported by research in psychoeducational assessment, and some have been directly contradicted…

This study investigated diagnosis of learning problems in 177 boys (ages 6-13) with behavior problems. The standard score discrepancy method and standard score plus low achievement method were more likely to identify children with above-average intelligence quotients as learning disabled, whereas a regression approach identified learning…

Students (ages 6-10, n=144), grouped by age and reading ability, were administered tasks with a demonstrated relationship to reading. The concept of dyslexia was supported only for the older group, for whom dyslexia appeared to be either a phonological deficit or a developmental lag. (Author/DB)

This qualitative multicase study explored the perceptions of three special education teachers of students with learning disabilities who had themselves received special education services for learning disabilities. Specifically, the study focused on how participants' past experiences with receiving special education influenced their current…

The assessment profiles of 30 school-age children identified with either nonverbal or language-based learning disabilities were examined using a self-organizing systems paradigm. Results suggest that overflow into areas not typically associated with each disability subtype may occur. Concerns regarding ways of determining discrepancy for…

This study examined the performance of 96 youth hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital on a battery of language measures. Participants with both attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and language learning disabilities (LLD) performed similarly to those with only LLD but significantly more poorly than those with only ADHD or with neither…

Research articles (n=174) published in the "Journal of Learning Disabilities" from 1989 through 1993 were analyzed and coded by type of research design and statistical technique used. Eighty percent of the research designs were nonintervention methods; 55% of all statistical techniques were coded as primary, 32% were intermediate, and…

Two studies examined response to varying amounts of time in reading intervention for two cohorts of first-grade students demonstrating low levels of reading after previous intervention. Students were assigned to one of three groups that received (a) a single dose of intervention, (b) a double dose of intervention, or (c) no intervention.…