Parents play a vital role in supporting children with learning disabilities, but little is known about their understanding of this diagnosis. The experiences of parents with the diagnostic process and the services their children receive post-diagnosis vary widely. Parents who participated in this study reported that they understand learning…

Advances in neurobiological research have created new opportunities for understanding and exploring dyslexia. The purpose of this article is to (a) provide a straightforward, although not overly simplified, overview of neurological research on dyslexia and (b) make connections between neurological research and classroom interventions for students…

In the last article, the author covered the social and psychological causes to learning difficulty that can be created by epilepsy. Over the last two articles, the author gained a fairly complete picture of problems that may be due to the physical disorder of epilepsy and problems due to its unique impact on the social aspects of the classroom. In…

Genetics contributes importantly to learning abilities and disabilities--not just to reading, the target of most genetic research, but also to mathematics and other academic areas as well. One of the most important recent findings from quantitative genetic research such as twin studies is that the same set of genes is largely responsible for…

Students with strong executive function skills hold the keys to school and social success--from attention and impulse control to time management and organization. Now K-12 teachers have a practical, highly readable guide to enhancing these critical skills for "all" students, with and without learning disabilities. Through the author's memorable…

Despite several decades of research suggesting the importance of both genetic and environmental factors, these findings are not well integrated into the larger educational literature. Following a discussion of quantitative and molecular genetic methods, this article reviews behavioral genetic findings related to cognitive and academic skills. This…

Twin-study research suggests that many (but not all) of the same genes contribute to genetic influence on diverse learning abilities and disabilities, a hypothesis called "generalist genes". This generalist genes hypothesis was tested using a set of 10 DNA markers (single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]) found to be associated with early reading…

Dyslexia may represent the first example of a LD whereby a possible pathway may link the observed behavior to an underlying neurological substrate that has a neurodevelopmental history beginning with an abnormal gene. Similar efforts are being made to link other cognitive disorders of development to a molecular pathway involved in brain…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA 1997) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) define specific learning disabilities in a similar manner. "The term "specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in…

The Child Development & Behavior (CDB) Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) seeks to improve the health and well-being of individuals from infancy through early adulthood by supporting research into healthy growth and development, including all aspects of child development. The study of typical child…

This review presents the most recent research concerning neuroimaging in developmental disabilities. Changes in structure and activation have been found in children with ADHD and learning disabilities, following intervention. For the children with learning disabilities changes in activation have been found following intensive behavioral and…

This report describes some current research which links selected aspects of brain research to selected issues in education. These issue areas include: (1) the relationship between neurophysiology and cognition; (2) the implications of cerebral lateralization for creativity, imagery, and art education; (3) sex differences in brain functioning; (4)…

Recent advances in neuroimaging and genetics technologies have enhanced our understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders in adults. The authors in this volume not only discuss such advances as they apply to adults with learning disorders, but also address their translation into clinical practice. One cluster of chapters addresses developmental…

A review of research makes it increasingly clear that findings from the areas of brain development and hemispheric specialization, student and teacher learning styles, and holistic and meaning-centered approaches to reading and writing are related, as they all contribute to a richer view of how learners learn. In brain research, the popular focus…