Parents are encountering a new system that addresses struggling learners. This system is called "response to intervention" or "RTI." Schools are using this philosophy and process to direct choices about school curriculum, ongoing assessment procedures, and decisions about special education services. One positive result of the RTI system is that…

A fundamental assumption in the identification of specific learning disabilities (SLD) has been that the presence of a severe discrepancy between ability and academic achievement is a valid marker for the presence of a SLD. This assumption is based on the notion that discrepant low achievers constitute a unique group of children who are different…

Project ABLE is a successful program providing educational services to learning-disabled adults over the age of 16 in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The program features individualized, structured, remedial lessons in language arts and mathematics; large-group motivational sessions; and attempts to make learning as functional as possible. (PGD)

The article describes the University of Washington's Parent/Child Learning Clinic, a parent based remediation program for children with learning disabilities. (DLS)

The article describes the teaching and research activities of a primary classroom in Australia which serves 8- to 11-year-old children who have major deficits in basic academic skills. Sections address classroom organization, referral, entry, teaching programs, and procedures. The cases of two children are presented to demonstrate the effects of…

Discusses planning lessons for the learning disabled student. Defines four deficits: (1) visual-processing deficit; (2) auditory-processing deficit; (3) kinesthetic deficit; and (4) reasoning disorders. Describes strategies for each of the four deficits. (YP)

Of the 39 millions Americans with learning disabilities, 60-80% have reading disabilities. Describes techniques that libraries can use in literacy programs: screening of phonological awareness and skills; tutor training with the Orten-Gillingham method, a structured, systematic, multisensory program developing the ability to hear phonemes; and the…

The authors describe a research effort funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention which is addressing the hypothesized link between learning disabilties and juvenile delinquency. (SBH)

Though dyslexia is most common in elementary-school-age children, some students enter college with dyslexic symptoms. They are faced with a very frustrating experience unless assistance becomes available. The college counseling center has the means to offer the needed assistance. This article describes typical deficit patterns of dyslexic…

A critical examination of problems in delivery services to students with mild learning and behavior problems points out weaknesses in special education programs. These programs have grown indiscriminately, resulting in over-identification of "handicapped" students. The special education placement system is time-consuming and is not the most…

Although a college program to retain high risk freshmen--those who fall below the 50th percentile of their graduating class--can result in increased academic success, a number of concerns must be addressed. The structure of one such program contains three components: the paired course curriculum, a career planning and personal goal exploration…

Addresses the development of written language in learning-disabled adolescents and describes a specific program implemented with 65 mildly learning handicapped secondary school students in El Paso, Texas. (PRA)

The paper describes the population served by the Dearborn Pre-Vocational Unit of the Schools for Children (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and discusses the Unit's major program components for meeting student needs. The needs of the behavior disordered/learning disabled adolescent population include basic academic skills, improved self image,…

The document contains three papers presented at the Annual International Convention of the Council for Exceptional Children in 1979, on the establishment, function, and impact of a preschool speech, language, and hearing program (the Preschool Speech, Language and Hearing Program of the School District of Philadelphia). The first paper, "The…

The Reading Recovery Program offers individual reading lessons. Students are dismissed from the program when they reach a certain level of proficiency. A study of the errors made at entry reveals learning-disabled children rely on visual information and ignore supportive language, while other at-risk children utilize both. (VM)