In response to a previous article, the paper stresses that, in addition to theory development, the field of learning disabilities needs to resolve definitional issues involving disability specificity, intelligence, measurement concepts, and the continua of abilities. Suggestions for developing operational definitions of both learning disabilities…

This article examines the research surrounding definitions and selection criteria for learning disabilities and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder at the postsecondary level. Implications from and for the courts follow a critical analysis of the professional literature. The need for theory-based models to investigate relationships between…

Past, present, and future concerns regarding the definition of learning disabilities (LD) are documented. Research on efforts to clarify the LD label is discussed, including the questionable utility of the discrepancy model. An approach is presented for operationalizing the definition of LD of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities.…

This critique of H. Lee Swanson's "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities" comments on Swanson's concept of learning disabilities, cognitive science, and information processing theory. A different research and theory-building agenda is proposed, focusing on society's definition of learning disabilities and instructional issues and…