The author elaborates on his own ideas and the reactions of other professionals to his earlier work, "A Radical Perspective on the Development of American Special Education with a Focus on the Concept of Learning Disabilities." A narrow reliance on psychology and medicine has contributed to current policy crises regarding identification of students as mildly handicapped. Public Law 94-142 mandates that the federal government provide much of the funding for special education, and this has driven most of today's so-called mildly handicapped into special programs. While learning disabilities of neurological genesis do exist, the learning disabilities (LD) classification includes underachievers without any contributing medical history. The regular education community may become increasingly unwilling or unable to cope with those who deviate from some average expectation for social and academic performance. Assessment and intervention should be integrally related. The mildly handicapped should receive remedial instead of special education, or more attentive in-class (individualized) instruction. In this way we can move towards delimiting the LD, and other mildly handicapped, populations while serving those truly in need of special help. Special education can then be directed away from serving society's need to control populations and toward maximizing everyone's potential and opportunity. (JW)