This article first reviews early social and communication indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in infants and toddlers. It then reviews evidence-based intervention practices for children with ASD and identifies principles for providing intervention for infants and toddlers at risk for ASD. Issues addressed include providing intervention in…

This article provides the American Psychiatric Association's definition of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and then gives an overview of ADD by considering the three types of ADD, the developmental impact of ADD, factors contributing to ADD, identification and assessment of students with ADD (emphasizing multimethod and consideration of…

A three-stage identification process is recommended for students suspected of having learning disabilities. This process examines discrepancy, causality, and the need for special education, and it complies with legal requirements. (Author)

This article presents examples of gifted children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and discusses the difficulties in identifying these students. Characteristics of gifted students who have ADHD are listed, the link between creativity and ADHD is examined, and strategies for parents and educators are provided. (Contains…

This article discusses effective preassessment team procedures for identifying students with special needs, including collecting comprehensive information about the student, documenting the student's problems, developing specific and detailed intervention plans, identifying support personnel to help implement the intervention plan, and…

This article considers the extent to which Child Find procedures discussed in the literature are responsive to families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Discussion of the legal basis for Child Find activities targeting these young children and challenges in early identification of children from diverse backgrounds is…

This paper provides guidelines for the audiologic assessment of infants and young children, highlighting recent technologic advances in auditory electrophysiology, acoustic immitance measure procedures, and behavioral audiometric techniques. First, audiologic assessment guidelines developed by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association are…

In discussing the need to restructure school programs and more completely integrate students with special learning needs into regular school programs, the problems of classification of students in special education and overlapping services and programs are presented. Includes a table featuring effective classroom environments and a reference list.…

The article reviews the phenomenon of learning disabilities existing along with giftedness, discusses clinical impressions of LD gifted students, offers guidelines for identification and intervention (acceleration and enrichment), cites existing model programs, and notes the importance of counseling and training for parents. (CL)

This guide for administrators addresses the problem of the frequent over-identification of African American students as disabled resulting in over-representation of this population in special education programs. The guide focuses on preventive strategies--specifically, how administrators may use the prereferral intervention process, school…

Intended for parents of children with reading and learning disabilities, this publication provides basic information and identifies related organizations and other resources. The first section is an article titled, "A Look at Learning Disabilities in Children and Youth" (Larry B. Silver). This article reviews types of learning disabilities (based…

As a result of recent federal and state regulations, all children being considered for special education services must be identified through a team process. This article outlines the administrator's role in the Eligibility and Planning Team process that is utilized in the Fallbrook Union School District, San Diego County. (Editor/KC)

This article recommends that, to comply with federal legislation, a multilevel, multimodal approach be used for assessment and identification of students with attention deficit disorder (ADD). It identifies several purposes of ADD assessment, explains various instruments and procedures, and offers guidelines for using assessment to determine…

The first in seven sets of guidelines based on the consensus of experts in the treatment of psychiatric and behavioral problems in mental retardation (MR) focuses on diagnosis and assessment. It includes the definition and levels of mental retardation, difficulties in diagnosing psychiatric and behavioral problems in the presence of MR, assessment…

This article discusses the differences between individuals with Asperger syndrome and gifted individuals. It describes the characteristics of students with Asperger syndrome, including highly literal speech, intensive focus, difficulties in social behavior, and inability to mind read. Characteristics of gifted students with Asperger syndrome are…