The purpose of this article is to explore the intersectionality of autism and sociocultural factors as well as discuss the complexities associated with appropriate assessment, diagnosis, and intervention. Based on a review of the literature, the authors present a brief history of the emergence of the term autism and highlight factors that have…

Although federal law has provided guidelines for autism eligibility for special education, school-based autism assessment and eligibility vary widely across states and identification continues to lag behind national prevalence data. The main role of the school psychologist continues to be conducting evaluations for special education eligibility,…

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan has been published for England and includes a recommendation for SEND Assessment and Review Teams guidance. These teams co-ordinate and monitor the statutory Education, Health and Care Plans detailing the needs and provision for children with…

Purpose: Children from low socioeconomic environments (SEEs; i.e., families with parental education of high school or less and/or household income at or below federal poverty threshold) reportedly produce fewer vocabulary words compared to their higher SEE peers. However, whether that indicates a language delay or disorder is unclear since…

There is often a large time gap between caregivers' initial concerns and the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The current study aimed to identify factors associated with missed or delayed autism spectrum disorder diagnoses among children in Colorado. In a surveillance-based sample of 8-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (N=572),…

Twice-exceptional (2e) students are a unique group at risk for social/emotional difficulties and disenfranchisement in schools. These students' profiles combine giftedness with areas of struggle such as learning disabilities, social impairments, emotional and mental health issues, or behavioural problems. Supporting 2e students requires developing…

Intergroup comparison studies have shown that children with specific learning disorders hold lower self-perceptions regarding their abilities than their typically developing peers, especially in an academic setting. This small-scale study investigated the potential effect of diagnostic timing on competency perceptions within a sample of…

Visual-spatial ability is important for mathematics learning but also for future STEM participation. Some studies report children with dyslexia have superior visual-spatial skills and other studies report a deficit. We sought to further explore the relationship between children formally identified as having dyslexia and visual-spatial ability.…

States differ in the procedures and criteria used to identify ASD. These differences are likely to impact the prevalence and age of identification for children with ASD. The purpose of the current study was to examine the specific state variations in ASD identification and eligibility criteria requirements. We examined variations by state in…

Intellectual disability originates during the developmental period and is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. In this article, we present a brief history of the diagnostic criteria of intellectual disability for both…

A comprehensive search identified 42 court decisions from late 1996 to early 2014 concerning the primary modern meaning of child find under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)--whether the district had reasonable suspicion of eligibility and yet did not evaluate the child. The findings from a systematic analysis of these court…

Students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Republic of Ireland are required to have a formal psycho-educational assessment from an educational psychologist to register with Disability Services in HEIs, to be eligible for support through the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD). Such…

Mathematical learning disability (MLD) research often conflates low achievement with disabilities and focuses exclusively on deficits of students with MLDs. In this study, the author adopts an alternative approach using a response-to-intervention MLD classification model to identify the resources students draw on rather than the skills they lack.…

Many gifted characteristics overlap the symptoms of attention deficity-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The potential for the misdiagnosis of giftedness as ADHD exists, but so does the potential for a dual diagnosis of giftedness and ADHD. A decade after the misdiagnosis of giftedness as ADHD was first investigated we examine lessons learned…

Much has been written about gifted students with learning disabilities, but there have been few large-scale empirical investigations, and the concept has proven controversial. The authors reviewed the available empirical literature on these students, focusing on (a) the criteria by which the students were identified and (b) the students'…