An assessment procedure is described which employed television in the clinical evaluation of an unintelligible preschool child referred for speech-language evaluation. The preschooler's familiarity with and interest in television enabled the clinician to elicit an extended sample of clinical communication and linguistic skills from an otherwise…

This article examines the problem of definition in learning disabilities. It discusses the failure of conceptual definitions to provide a clear idea of what learning disabilities are, examines the true nature of available definitions as stipulative definitions, and notes the difficulty in conceptualizing and implementing operational definitions.…

Three Maximum Performance Tasks (Maximum Sound Prolongation, Fundamental Frequency Range, and Maximum Repetition Rate) were administered to 11 children (ages 6-11) with spastic dysarthria resulting from cerebral palsy and 11 controls. Despite intrasubject and intersubject variability in normal and pathological speakers, the tasks were found to be…

The study evaluated the utility of Kaufman-Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) subtests in differentiating learning-disabled children from students with other handicapping conditions, and compared K-ABC subtests with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised subtests. Results showed that subtest scores did not enhance differential…

This study, involving 47 students in grades 2-10, investigated letter-naming speed to determine whether it measures cognitive speed, a theoretical factor that purportedly influences reading rate. It was determined that cognitive speed and cognitive power are two independent factors and that letter-naming speed can be used to measure cognitive…

This review focuses on methods used to identify language impairment in 72 published research studies from 1983-88. Test data were most frequently used, and expressive and receptive language were routinely assessed. Research problems included the lack of clarity regarding the specific number and identity of tests used and use of incomplete tests.…

The Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and an expressive language measure were administered to 114 children (aged 24 to 74 months) suspected of developmental difficulties. The DDST did not identify the majority of children who failed the expressive language screening, even after cutoff scores were made more rigorous. (Author/JDD)

The National Joint Committee for Learning Disabilities' definition of learning disabilities is presented, followed by a discussion of parameters to be considered in operationalizing the definition. Major definitional issues are then explored, including using testable and meaningful constructs, linking definitions to neuropsychological evidence,…

Predictions about future directions in special education assessment include more research on fewer instruments, new types of assessments for identification of learning disabilities, and consumer demand for tests with acceptable technical characteristics. Teacher-oriented assessment predictions include increasing diversity of student performance,…

Analyses of home movies taken by 12 parents before recognition of their children's autistic disorders confirmed that anomalies could be noted as early as the first few months of life, such as anomalies of eye contact, deficient variability of emotional expression, deficit of attention, and initiation of communication, and motor abnormalities.…

This study of 218 White and 132 Black students (mean age=10.3) referred for possible learning disability services found that Black subjects were more likely to exhibit a severe discrepancy between expected and actual achievement levels when using a regression procedure than when using a standard score comparison procedure. (Author/JDD)

Research identifying sequential processing deficits in students with reading learning disabilities is discussed, and the research is related to the screening of preschoolers at risk for reading deficits, using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. (Author/JDD)

These concluding comments on the series of articles introduced by Linda Siegel's paper (EC221505) summarize the bases for disputing the utility of intelligence tests. The learning disabilities field's resistance to abandoning use of Intelligence Quotient tests is also acknowledged, and improved assessment measures and further research are called…

This study assessed the degree of agreement between teacher report and an adapted Adaptive Behavior Scale in the identification of mental retardation and associated learning difficulties in 257 young Bahraini school children. Findings indicated that the instrument is sensitive in identification of children with mental retardation and exhibits high…

This article discusses the assessment and evaluation of infants and toddlers with disabilities or at risk for developing disabilities, recent contributions to knowledge of assessment of infants and toddlers, current practices, and future trends. The paper cautions against using one test for all purposes or using a test with an insufficient…