This summary of a 1988 seminar meeting on service delivery to people with blindness or visual impairments focuses on rehabilitation, addressing access to information, consumers' impressions of services, purpose of evaluations, dealing with cultural differences, sites for delivering services, issues in rehabilitation, and training of rehabilitation…

This introduction to four papers (EC 604 277-280) notes the increasing literature focus on adults with learning disabilities, describes adult development models and their application, outlines six life domains that provide a framework for examining successful adjustment of young adults with learning disabilities, and examines transition planning…

This article identifies current problems that act as barriers to improved and expanded services and opportunities for blind and visually impaired people and their families, such as detachment of medical profession from service delivery, automatic student promotions, expectation of specialized programs in every district, parental choice of schools,…

Results of a survey of 145 special education administrators in 27 states are presented under 4 headings: student identification practices; service delivery; student exit procedures; and program evaluation practices. Findings indicate student identification procedures are fairly well developed, whereas student exit and evaluation practices are less…

Decision making in large urban school districts is being decentralized, but delivery of mental health services within the restructured organization demands specialized knowledge of childhood pathology, interventions, and legal mandates. The most efficient service delivery model combines centralized coordination of school psychological services…

This paper describes the process of curriculum differentiation for special needs students at a comprehensive secondary school in Great Britain. The differentiation process involved the reorganization of special needs provision, collaborative work between the learning development department and content areas, and assessment of special learning…

This article reviews the state of gifted education in England incorporating data from a survey of 105 local education agencies. Among findings are that enrichment activities are the primary means of serving such children. Remaining needs are addressed including teacher objectives, curriculum, and such issues as implications of the National…

Gifted education in Israel was established 18 years ago and now serves 20,000 pupils. Services include special classes in regular schools, pull-out programs, afternoon enrichment courses and special science courses offered by colleges, universities, and municipalities for Jewish, Arab, and Druze students. (Author/DB)

A survey was conducted of 77 U.S. and Canadian teacher preparation programs in education of hearing-impaired students. Findings indicated that most programs train teachers to work in self-contained settings and that most programs are inadequate for preparing teachers of secondary-level hearing-impaired students. (DB)

Discusses the future of libraries and the necessary steps that need to be taken to be successful. Topics discussed include the process of change, the need to emphasize delivery systems rather than storage facilities, library services, the need for strategic planning, the role of technology, and library leadership. (11 references) (LRW)

Australian laws and regulations such as the Disability Services Act reflect the importance of ensuring that persons with disabilities receive appropriate services. A tension exists, however, between policy formulation and service provision, which is influenced by disagreements on government's role in service funding, lobby groups, and the tendency…

This paper considers issues affecting collaboration of professionals and family members in assessing children with special needs. Issues include process versus outcome, the balance of power between families and professionals, choices available to families, sequencing of services, formal versus informal assessment, family concerns and priorities,…

A survey of recipients of 51 technical assistance projects addressing needs of children with sensory impairments in 18 states and territories resulted in identification of desired individual, programmatic, and systemwide changes in provision of technical assistance services. (Author/DB)

This article presents an overview of the evolution of programs designed for gifted students with learning disabilities and examines the changing philosophies, policies, and procedures of the field from the '60s (pilot programs), the '70s (influence of federal legislation), the '80s (emphasis on research), and the '90s (concerns about appropriate…

This response to Carr (1993) on the issue of inclusion for students with learning disabilities supports inclusion, noting that special education has promoted the abdication of the regular educator's responsibility. The importance of teacher training is emphasized. (DB)