Background: There is no single classification system or diagnostic protocol for speech sound disorder (SSD). This makes it difficult to collect large-scale outcome data and determine which interventions work best for which subtypes of SSD. The United Kingdom is unique in that its publicly funded healthcare system allows the collection of such…

Presented is a position paper on learning disabilities developed by the Region 9 Task Force (State education directors or their designates from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont). It is explained that the Task Force met in March 1976 to share state and regional concerns about definitions,…

Three databases were analyzed to investigate the range and frequency of terms in the field of mental retardation/developmental disabilities. The most prevalent term over the last 15 years was "mentally retarded." The terms "cognitive impairment" and "developmental disabilities" have been used more frequently in the last five years. (Author/CR)

The author reviews the history of the category of educable mental retardation (EMR), asserts that students with this label are more like children with academic or behavioral difficulties than they are like their more retarded peers, and suggests an approach focusing on returning EMR students to the regular school curriculum. (CL)

The Canadian article explores some of the implications of assigning handicapped children to two commonly used categories: learning disabilities and hearing impairments. (Author/DLS)

A study involving 1,337 students in Arizona was conducted to compare the classification of learning disabilities across several school districts, utilizing the then-proposed Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (BEH) formula. Three types of problems were apparent: the basic concept of learning disability varied across districts; the areas of…

Results indicate that respondents holding medical images of deviance are less likely than those holding moralistic images to impute personal responsibility, stigma, and noncurability to the alcoholic and addict. (Author/AM)

The article examines the background and current status of attempts to define the term "learning disabilities" (LDs), and concludes that resolution of the problem by continued search for a consummate definition of LD is unrealistic. (Author)

A survey of state mental retardation/developmental disabilities agencies found that while most employ a classification system that is compatible with or derived from that of the American Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD), only 22 are actually using the 1983 edition of the AAMD alone or with another system. (Author/VW)

This article discusses using the term "general learning disorder" instead of "mental retardation." It addresses the offensiveness of the current label, discusses ingredients needed in a more appropriate diagnostic term, and offers a proposed grouping of developmental disabilities based on cognitive ability, language ability, physical ability, and…

Examined are some generic issues and problems related to the development of operational procedures for identifying learning disabled children, focusing on the formula proposed by the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped. (DLS)

This article discusses the problem of over-including individuals in the autism classification. It argues that clinicians are doing a disservice to individuals who are given the diagnosis of autism by considering the group as a whole, without further efforts to subtype based on something other than behavioral characteristics. (Contains references.)…

Notes that, more so than any other category of special education, children with serious emotional disturbance remain very much underidentified in schools and that both terminology and definition of serious emotional disturbance (SED) under current provisions of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are at least partly responsible for this…

Discussed are some negative implications of the final federal rules for evaluating specific learning disabilities (Federal Register, December 29, 1977), which conceptually redefined learning disabilities to mean an "underachievement." (DLS)