The article suggests activities to help learning disabled children develop awareness of the differences between right and left. Techniques for combining movement, language, and sensory skills as well as for using musical, visual, and tactile stimuli are described. (CL)

An interview with a professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department at the University of Arkansas focuses on evolution of the field of learning disabilities (LD), including early controversy over the term minimal brain dysfunction (MBD). S. Clements cites a need for adult education centers for postsecondary LD/MBD persons. (CL)

Alternative teaching approaches, including the use of multisensory teaching, were studied with 40 first-grade children, 20 identified as "at risk" for learning problems and 20 control Ss. Results showed that the experimental group had significantly more gains in all areas tested than the control group. (PHR)

The assessment and decision-making practices used by 44 child service demonstration centers, which provide services to learning disabled (LD) children, were investigated in a national survey. Results suggested that assessment and decision making in the field of learning disabilities are characterized by variability and inconsistency. (Author/DLS)

The article describes the social comparison method of social validation and reports on several studies in which it was used to evaluate interventions with learning disabled (LD) students. Several implications and areas for further study are discussed, relating to the use of the social comparison method in evaluating treatment programs for LD…

The article discusses stimulating motor development as it relates to learning difficulties with reference to the work of Dutch neurologist P. Mesker. It is concluded that disturbance in sensorimotor development is the most important cause of learning difficulties in the first years of elementary school. (SBH)

The study examined behavior disorders of learning disabled (N=94) and normal (N=2,991) children in Grades K through 8, using the behavior problem checklist. Learning disabled youngsters had significantly more problems on four of the five checklist dimensions (conduct problems, personality problems, inadequacy-immaturity, and psychotic signs).…

The results indicated that normal children experience auditory fusion at shorter time intervals than is true for either of the disabled groups, that signal intensity affects auditory fusion for all groups, and that only the learning disabled children are differentially affected by the frequency of the stimulus tones. (Author/PHR)

The effect of focused or preorganized instruction on the mental operations of 64 learning disabled (LD) children (8 to 12 years old) was examined. Results indicated focused instruction had a positive effect on cognitive functioning. (Author)

The study was designed to investigate scatter produced by 105 learning disabled (LD) children (6 to 16 years old) and to compare Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) scatter with that produced by A. Kaufman's (1976) normal population. Range of scaled scores (i.e., scatter) was significantly greater for the LD group. (SBH)

A procedure involving repeated readings of the same passage combined with the programing evaluation procedure caused 16 learning-disabled secondary students' reading attitudes to change significantly. Feedback to the student was provided by charting the record of faster times and number of word errors. (SBH)

Argues that multimodal education which emphasizes the commonalities among children is needed to help handicapped children experience a feeling of belonging in the regular classroom. Discusses a number of educational programs and a sample lesson which have multimodal properties. (SS)

The article critiques some of the flaws of mainstreaming, such as grade-level curriculum demands, reporting systems, standardized tests, teacher training, and the individualization of instruction. (Author/SBH)

The paper suggests that time-series design methodology provides a useful paradigm in which to conduct research in the learning disabilities field. (Author)