Twice-exceptional (2e) students are a unique group at risk for social/emotional difficulties and disenfranchisement in schools. These students' profiles combine giftedness with areas of struggle such as learning disabilities, social impairments, emotional and mental health issues, or behavioural problems. Supporting 2e students requires developing…

The British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) represents 43,000 teachers and associated professionals in public schools across BC. We are committed to the inclusion of all students in BC's public schools, believing that every student can learn, and every student is entitled to an appropriate education and full range of education services in…

Students with learning disabilities and other high-incidence hidden exceptionalities (HIHE) can struggle with secondary difficulties including low confidence in their abilities (e.g., Klassen, 2010) along with primary difficulties related to their exceptionality. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the perspective of…

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life for students, teachers and everyone connected to public schools. The crisis has also exposed the fragilities of the economy in meeting the basic needs of all and highlighted the importance of the public sector, of community, and of care work. Schools are key public spaces of community and care. They must be…

This paper discusses issues regarding the validity and reliability of psychoeducational assessments provided to Disability Services Offices at Canadian Universities. Several vignettes illustrate some current issues and the potential consequences when university students are given less than thorough disability evaluations and ascribed diagnoses.…

A Canadian context for the diagnosis of students with specific learning disabilities (LD) was investigated in the present literature review. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to determine the current and best practices in this field. Overall, no agreed upon definition of LD was identified, although core similarities in…

It is now recognized that there is a very high prevalence of psychological disorders among children and adolescents and relatively few receive psychological treatment. In the current article, we present the argument that levels of distress and dysfunction among young people are substantially underestimated and the prevalence of psychological…

In Canada, there is a recent trend toward non-categorization of services of students with emotional and behavioural disabilities (EBD). Yet in Alberta, the coding of students with EBD provides opportunities to diagnose students' learning difficulties but is hindered in this process, in large part, by being tied into special needs funding. Current…

In Canadian public primary schools, newcomer West African refugees like other ethnic immigrant students are a visible minority group, often referred as Linguistic and Culturally Different (LCD) students. In the province of British Columbia, newcomer immigrant students are subjected to a battery of tests, as soon as they enroll in the primary…

Fitness for trial constitutes the most frequent referral to forensic assessment services. Several approaches to this evaluation exist in Canada, including the Fitness Interview Test and Basic Fitness for Trial Test. The following article presents a review of the issues and a method for basic fitness for trial evaluation.

In its eight years of operation, a British Columbia program to identify hearing loss in newborns has been duplicated at 19 regional sites. Summary data are presented for incidence of loss as well as type (sensorineural, conductive, or mixed). (CL)

Synthesizes the common elements to be found in preschool and primary screening practices of Australia, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Describes selected test instruments used in each area. (SJL)

Despite the importance of early intervention for most disorders to minimize potential deleterious lifetime effects for the individuals concerned, there is currently no universally accepted protocol for the early screening, identification, and assessment of specific learning disabilities, and no consistent age at which initial diagnosis occurs. In…

Designed to assist Alberta (Canada) school authorities in preparing applications for special education funding, this handbook describes the types of special education funding available, how to apply for special education funding, and how applications for special education funding are monitored. An introduction explains that school boards and…

Alberta Education provides funding to school authorities to support the development and implementation of programming for students with severe disabilities. The Handbook for the Identification and Review of Students with Severe Disabilities presents case studies to assist school authorities in identifying students who may be eligible for special…