Autism presents parents and families with many challenges under normal circumstances. Autism in a military family magnifies many of those challenges and adds a few more that are unique to the demands of military life and service, further complicating an already complex neurobiological disorder. Military sources indicate that more than 13,000…

There is an urgent need for early identification of depressed individuals so that they may be found and helped in time. Childhood depression is often masked by problems in school, and as a result, these children usually go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. It has been found that drawings by depressed patients have distinct patterns which are rated…

This booklet presents a screening device to identify quickly those students who may qualify for special help but who have not been referred for testing, identification, and receiving of special education resources. The booklet notes that the original test consisted of 20 sentences, but that only one sentence gave students known to have severe…

Reviews the language basis of reading disabilities and provides a checklist of language deficits frequently associated with reading disabilities. Areas assessed include: word retrieval, verbal memory, speech production, comprehension, expressive language, and speech sound awareness. The checklist is designed for early identification of reading…

This handbook was developed as a resource on learning disabilities (LD) for North Carolina educators. The first section covers guidelines for identifying, diagnosing, and developing services for LD students. The handbook then provides an overview of effective practices for teaching students with learning disabilities and some ideas for structuring…

The construction and refinement of the Yale Children's Inventory (YCI) is described, resulting in 11 scales (eight behavioral and three cognitive). The relationship and content of the three relevant YCI scales (attention, impulsivity, hyperactivity) are compared to the DSM-III (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) diagnostic categories for attention…

A study investigated the mental health needs of 127 British adults with intellectual disability by using the Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with a Developmental Disability (PAS-ADD). Results showed that there was a good deal of unmet mental health need and there is difficulty in targeting services to those who need them. (CR)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of using the Observational Checklist of Conversational Skills to facilitate early teacher referral of 37 primary-level children suspected of having language problems and 37 age-matched peers. Twenty-five of the at-risk group scored at least 1.5 standard deviations below the mean; 27 were subsequently referred…

The Student Descriptor Scale (SDS) was developed as a validation measure to determine whether students described and counted by states as "severely handicapped" were, indeed, students with severe disabilities. The SDS addresses nine characteristics: intellectual disability, health impairment, need for toileting assistance, upper torso motor…

A literature review identified behaviors representative of the normal stages of communication, cognition, and vocalization in children's prelinguistic period. Results were organized as a checklist for assessment of at-risk infants. The checklist is recommended for monitoring infant development, supplementing formal screenings and diagnostic tools,…

Basic information for regular classroom teachers with students who are both gifted and learning disabled covers definition of this population; incidence; characteristics; and six teaching strategies, such as flexibility in how student demonstrates mastery of material, adapting for reading differences, and using attention-directing techniques. A…

The information needs of regular elementary teachers concerning the special needs of students who have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) were assessed. A literature review covers means of identification of these disorders, intervention, effective instructional strategies, and issues involved with FAS and FAE.…

A problem exists in the lack of assessment coordination between monolingual psychologists and bilingual psychologists when working with language minority children referred for evaluation of special needs. This practicum was designed to improve the psychological assessment coordination between monolingual English psychologists and the bilingual…

This paper addresses incidence of hearing loss in school-age children, components of hearing conservation programs, and hearing loss education. Incidence figures for the following hearing loss categories are detailed: unilateral hearing loss, fluctuating hearing loss, minimal sensorineural hearing loss, and mild to profound hearing loss.…

This report introduces the General Education Development Testing Services (GEDTS) Administrator screening model for adults with learning disabilities. The screening model is designed to identify adults whose educational achievement is significantly below overall potential due to an informational processing deficit and who are thus eligible for…