Over the past 20 years, tremendous strides have been made in establishing and strengthening early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programs in all 50 states and the U.S. territories. Although EHDI programs have become more robust, considerable work remains to ensure that all children who do not pass a hearing screening receive the…

The change in allowing school districts to use the more prevalent discrepancy model or the new addition of response to intervention to determine whether a disability is present has sparked discussion among educators. As districts decide which method to use, it is important to base decisions on factual and researched information. The authors hope…

The question of what size speech sample is sufficient to accurately identify stuttering and its myriad characteristics is a valid one. Short samples have a risk of over- or underrepresenting disfluency types or characteristics. In recent years, there has been a trend toward using shorter samples because they are less time-consuming for…

This study examines the community-wide effects of investments in two early childhood initiatives in North Carolina (Smart Start and More at Four) on the likelihood of a student being placed into special education. We take advantage of variation across North Carolina counties and years in the timing of the introduction and funding levels of the two…

Universal screening for emotional and behavioral risk in schools facilitates early identification and intervention for students as part of multitiered systems of support. Early identification has the potential to mitigate adverse outcomes of emotional and behavioral disorders. The purpose of this study was to extend existing research on the…

This qualitative study investigated the reasons why educators initiate referrals of ELLs for special education services in a sample of three educational organizations near a major city in a mid-Atlantic state. This study addressed how and why educator perception influenced the referral process and identification of English language learners into…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is more common than previously believed. ASD is increasingly diagnosed at very young ages. We report estimated ASD prevalence rates from a population study of 2-year-old children conducted in 2010 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Screening for ASD had been introduced at all child health centers at child age 21/2 years. All…

Growing interest in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research requires increasingly large samples to uncover epidemiologic trends; such a large dataset is available in a national, web-based autism registry, the Interactive Autism Network (IAN). The objective of this study was to verify parent-report of professional ASD diagnosis to the registry's…

The purpose of this study was to look at teachers' perceptions of challenging behaviors in the classroom, including students who had emotional or behavioral disorders and students who were at-risk for developing these problems. In the format of the survey, teachers were asked to consider the behaviors of their students in respect to gender. For…

This small-scale qualitative study examines professional and parental perspectives of dyslexia within international schools located in Bangkok. The views of participants indicated that there is a need for a greater awareness of "dyslexia-friendly" approaches in these settings and a lack of resources to support the identification and…

In recent years, response to intervention (RTI) has been the focus of research, debate and educational implementations, especially regarding early reading instruction. RTI provides an educational framework characterised by different tiers or layers of instruction, providing increasingly more intense and individualised interventions for children in…

The assessment of young children in early childhood special education is a central area of educational practice. The results of child assessments often have significant implications for young children, their families, and the programs that serve them, including eligibility for special education services, instructional planning, and documentation…

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States. In recognizing the increasing needs of children affected by ASD, as well as the associated financial implications for local governments, some states are re-assessing their current systems of support and looking for better and more efficient ways…

Special education and related services began in Nigeria, the most populous nation of Black people in the world, only a couple of decades ago courtesy of the efforts of missionaries from Europe and America. Although the government took over the responsibility of providing special education and related services to individuals in the late 1970s,…

The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) is a popular behavior-observation instrument that was developed more than 34 years ago and has since been adopted in a wide variety of contexts for assessing the presence and severity of autism symptomatology in both children and adolescents. This investigation of the reliability of CARS scores involves…