Discusses the use of a sociocultural perspective on learning and learning disabilities for understanding learning problems within culturally diverse groups. Reviews assumptions about ethnicity and culture (supposed homogeneity within cultures) and describes ways to distinguish ethnicity and culture. Discusses implications for assessment,…

Twenty-two children with mild mental retardation, 27 children with learning disabilities, and 49 nondisabled peers (ages 4-5) were presented with a battery of eight cognitive tasks being considered for inclusion in a new screening test. Results found the components measured different cognitive tasks and led to accurate individual classification…

Discusses the development of informal mathematics in young children, the problems with formal mathematics instruction, how the traditional approach fails to address mathematics learning disabilities, and how a developmental perspective can assist in the identification and treatment of students with mathematics learning disabilities. (CR)

Noting a high incidence of learning disabilities among students with visual impairments, this article compares definitions of the two conditions. Common assessment approaches are discussed and those inappropriate for students with low vision or blindness are identified. Suggested intervention approaches include adaptation of the environment,…

This article examines the needs of students with minimal hearing loss (MHL) and offers practical suggestions to teachers. It considers legal requirements, reasons for under identification of children with MHL, signs of MHL, effects of MHL, classroom factors affecting MHL, minimizing background noise and improving listening conditions, and…

This article describes the development of the Preschool Taxonomy of Problem Situations (PTOPS). An examination of the PTOPS using a clinical sample of 42 maltreated children (ages 2-5) indicated the PTOPS subscales were high in internal reliability and were highly convergent with subscales of the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire. (Contains…

This article describes two studies that examined the concurrent and predictive validity of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBS DP), a measure for identifying children less than 24 months old who are at risk for communication disorders. Findings support the use of prelinguistic predictors and the important…

The use of the processing component for learning disabilities (LD) definitions is discussed by examining its theoretical basis, large-scale implementation, and researched classroom effectiveness. Results indicate the processing definition of LD does not differentiate students with LD from low achievers, is inconsistently implemented, and does not…

This study reports on the standardization of the Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance. Data collected on 2,266 typical students (ages 5- 18) and 1,371 students with emotional disturbances led to the identification of six behavioral problem factors that correspond to the federal definition of emotional disturbance and were highly internally…

This paper presents a model of differential diagnosis of attentional problems and reading disability that uses intra-individual differences in performance of tasks that vary in their requirement of sustained attention such as listening comprehension (high attention requirement) and reading comprehension (lower attention requirement). The validity…

This paper describes the methodology of a study seeking to determine whether there is evidence that French immersion children with specific reading disability in one language also have the disability in the other language, and learning-disabled readers belong to the same subtype in both languages. (Author/JDD)

Issues regarding the identification of students who are both gifted and learning disabled are considered, along with some teaching suggestions. The identification process often begins with the regular classroom teacher. Included is an observational checklist for teachers to use in referring a child for further evaluation. (SW)

This study examined the relationship between psychiatric and language disorders in 96 youth (mean age 13) in a private psychiatric hospital. Over 33% of subjects exhibited significant deficits in both phonology and syntax, qualifying for a language learning disability diagnosis, but only 44% of this group were receiving special education services…

This comparison of regression discrepancy model results for learning disability identification used published IQ-achievement and reliability coefficients and generic, mean values. Use of mean IQ-achievement values resulted in higher discrepancy rates for a clinical sample. Use of both mean IQ-achievement and reliability values resulted in higher…

A literature review identified behaviors representative of the normal stages of communication, cognition, and vocalization in children's prelinguistic period. Results were organized as a checklist for assessment of at-risk infants. The checklist is recommended for monitoring infant development, supplementing formal screenings and diagnostic tools,…