In this issue of "Learning Disability Quarterly" (LDQ), Professors Daves and Walker reply to my earlier LDQ article on confusion in the cases and commentary about the legal dimension of RTI. In this brief rejoinder, I show that their reply confirms rather than resolves the confusion in their original commentary in 2010. This persistent…

Professional confusion, as well as case law confusion, exists concerning the fidelity and integrity of response to intervention (RTI) as a defensible procedure for identifying children as having a specific learning disability (SLD) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Division is generated because of conflicting mandates…

Response to intervention (RTI) is a major current issue at the intersection of general and special education, with the school psychologists in their usual central position. The literature is replete with scholarly and practical sources on RTI, but the legal sources are limited. A few articles provide systematic coverage of the relevant provisions…

Forest Grove School District v. T.A. involved a student with learning disabilities, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and depression (T.A.) whose parents had moved him to a private academy for students with special needs without first consulting with his public school. In the past, the school district had found T.A. to be ineligible…

Persons with the Disorder of Written Expression (DWE) regularly commit errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and paragraph organization. If, with reasonable modifications, a student can produce an acceptable written product, law schools must provide such accommodations. Administrators must create appropriate accommodations for students…

Federal legislation to aid students with Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder may be interpreted to cover students who are significantly disruptive. The first alternative for such students is Serious Emotional Disturbance. The overlapping alternative impairment is Conduct Disorder. Finally, the third and…

In the July 1997 issue of "Journal of Law and Education" (EJ 552 042), three professors describe Disorder of Written Expression (DWE) and prescribe that law schools must create appropriate accommodations for students with DWE which do not alter school's basic program of instruction. Reviews this argument, introduces counterpoint (EA 535…

The parents of a severely learning disabled 10-year-old girl recount their experiences when they sought a due process hearing to obtain adequate educational services for their daughter. (PHR)

Law schools should avoid diluting writing standards. Writing skills and law skills are nonnegotiable, and DWE students not "otherwise qualified" under Americans with Disabilities Act. Comparable case is that of Casey Martin, professional golfer; federal magistrate judge allowed Martin to ride in cart in PGA tournaments. Contends that ADA…

Legal tenets from federal and case law as well as existing guidelines concerning appropriate academic adjustments for college students with learning disabilities. Recommendations are offered focusing on institutional, program, and course requirements, documentation of the student's learning disability, student qualifications, and "reasonableness"…

Presents the case for allowing college students with a learning disability who are unable to meet foreign-language requirements even with special instruction to substitute related courses. Discussion is in the context of the 1998 Guckenberger v. Boston University federal lawsuit. (DB)

Explores higher education institutions' legal obligations to accommodate students with learning disabilities and the courts' review of those accommodations. Lists suggestions for responding to accommodation requests, and in defending claims asserted by learning-disabled students. (Contains 182 references.) (MLF)

This article provides the author's historical account of the chronological developments and milestones for learning disabilities (LD) in the context of the courts, legislatures, and Congress. Three decades later it is helpful to examine the status of the education of students with LD from a policy perspective in the context of the historical…

Examines, from the perspective of the plaintiffs, the 1998 Guckenberger v. Boston University case in which the plaintiffs claimed the university failed to provide reasonable accommodations for students with learning disabilities. The authors view the complex decision as a ruling against the university under the Americans with Disabilities Act,…

Describes the 1998 Guckenberger federal lawsuit from the perspective of attorneys who litigated on behalf of Boston University. Discusses events leading up to the lawsuit (which claimed Boston University failed to provide reasonable accommodations for a student with learning disabilities), policy changes at the university, the trial itself, and…