This article addresses the nature of dyslexia and best practices for identification and treatment within the context of multitier systems of support (MTSS). We initially review proposed definitions of dyslexia to identify key commonalities and differences in proposed attributes. We then review empirical evidence for proposed definitional…

The study aimed to investigate the spelling performance and the semantic understanding of compound words by 103 Greek primary school children (first through sixth grade). The experimental group comprised of 25 children with spelling difficulties and compared with a control group of 78 children of typical development. Children were asked to spell…

Three cohorts of third-grade students (N = 813) were evaluated on achievement, cognitive abilities, and behavioral attention according to contrasting research traditions in defining math learning disability (LD) status: low achievement versus extremely low achievement and IQ-achievement discrepant versus strictly low-achieving LD. We use methods…

The regression-based discrepancy definition of learning disabilities has been suggested by Rutter and Yule as an improvement of the well-known and much criticized achievement-intelligence discrepancy definition, whereby the examinee's predicted reading attainment is substituted for the intelligence score in the discrepancy expression. Even though…

The author reviews issues in the search for a definition of learning disabilities, suggesting that the effort is within an unidimensional framework without recognition of the lack of unidimensional characteristics in children. (Author)

The author addresses the problem of defining the learning disabled population and considers a solution to the dilemma in which different definitions serve different functions. (SBH)

The position paper of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities provides five criticisms of the definition of learning disabilities developed in 1967 by the National Advisory Committee on Handicapped Children and proposes an alternative definition. (DB)

Based on approximately 1,600 referrals of disabled and regular students, 94 empirically derived formulas for assessment of learning disability were used. The most discriminating formula, which included Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Wide Range Achievement Test and grade level variables, resulted in moderate coefficients. (Author/CL)

In the absence of a clear definition of learning disabilities, it has become an educational simile with children described as "like a learning disabled child." The learning disabled label has become reflective of a problem related more to social structure than to children. Greater attention should be given to individual needs and less emphasis…

This study assessed rates of learning disabilities (LD) by several psychometric definitions in children with epilepsy and identified risk factors. Participants (N = 173, ages 8-15 years) completed IQ screening, academic achievement testing, and structured interviews. Children with significant head injury, chronic physical conditions, or mental…

Learning disabilities is presented as a construct supported by psychoeducational, socioemotional, and physiological data, as illustrated by the M. Meeker paradigm. (Author)

In the fourth session of the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities Responsiveness-to-Intervention Symposium in 2003, Good, Vellutino, and Torgesen presented papers that addressed the question, "How should unresponsiveness to secondary intervention be operationalized in an RTI approach to LD identification?" In this commentary, I…

The author points out two problems with the field of learning disabilities: the term caught on before a satisfactory definition had been determined and the field totally disregards the Law of Parsimony, which requires that one should never give a complicated answer when a simple one will do. (SBH)

The new definition of learning disabilities proposed by the National Joint Committee for Learning Disabilities is discussed in terms of its need, procedures followed in its development, the Committee's intention regarding critical elements, and the definition's current status (acceptance by four of the six member organizations). (DB)

The authors assert that progress in conceptualizing learning disabilities and related intervention procedures is dependent on systematic, consistent, and educationally grounded theory, and that each practitioner should adopt a system and use it consistently. A cognitive-field model is illustrated and its use as a foundation for educating LD…