Purpose: Adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD) are an underserved population. Having DLD affects adolescents' academic and eventual economic success, supporting the need for accurate, clinically feasible DLD screening tools for adolescents. The objective of this review is to identify clinically feasible screening tools for…

This document reports on the methodology used to approach a series of six evidence reviews on the best practices in the identification, support, and collaborative practices of children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 available to teachers and early year practitioners working in mainstream education in England. These reviews were commissioned…

This rapid review explores how early years practitioners and settings can better support children with stammering, speech and language needs, and promote strong communication development across universal and targeted support levels. Three core areas were examined: (1) identification and assessment; (2) support and intervention; and (3) working…

This rapid review, commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) and conducted from February to July 2024, aimed to identify the best available evidence to guide early years practitioners in supporting children aged 0-5 with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN), specifically stammering, speech sound issues, and language…

Introduction: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder display a pattern of social communication deficits and restricted and repetitive behaviors that leave them particularly vulnerable to developing anxiety. The presence of a co-occurring Intellectual Disability further complicates the situation, compromising traditional diagnostic techniques…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires 95% participation in state achievement testing. Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities participate in states' alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). A growing number of these students are also English learners (Christensen et al., 2018).…

Learning disabilities (LDs) have long been presumed to be a neurological disorder resulting from a deficit in 1 or more cognitive processes. Although the emphasis on cognitive processing disorders has been included in the definition since the term was coined, and although it arguably represents the key distinguishing characteristic of LDs, it also…

Background: Early identification of possible intellectual disability can help children and families access appropriate services and support more quickly. There has been an increasing interest in the use of screening tools for this purpose. This study reviews the literature in relation to such tools. Methods: A literature search was carried out for…

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neuro-behavioural disorder that presents frequently in paediatric and mental health settings. Children with ADHD present with symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention, distractibility and impulsivity. The purpose of this paper is to provide clinicians with a summary of contemporary issues relevant…

The author discusses the regression discrepancy method for identifying learning disabled (LD) children and compares it with other identification techniques, pointing out its advantages but indicating that it is still inadequate as a sole criterion for LD identification. (Author)

This review examines published hearing/review and court decisions concerning autism eligibility in educational settings in relation to empirically supported best practices in the assessment of autism. Thirteen cases were identified for inclusion in the review. In general, results indicated that hearing/review officers and judges neither relied…

This review of research on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) indicates that standard diagnostic criteria are overly inclusive when applied to young children, with only half of impulsive toddlers fitting the criteria for ADHD at later ages. Accurate diagnosis depends on an evaluation of behaviors, child temperament, parent-child…

This review summarizes subject selection and diagnostic procedures documented in 142 empirical articles published between 1993 and 1997. Although most researchers reported use of standard diagnostic criteria in classifying subjects, numerous studies did not report diagnostic methods and there was often a lack of specification of inclusion and…

The utility of the procedures special educators apply in making decisions about the identification of handicapped individuals has not been thoroughly studied. The paper examines the utility of diagnostic decision making from the perspective of receiver operating curve analysis. (Author)

Outlines problems related to defining and classifying children with learning disabilities and describes the pitfalls of current assessment procedures, particularly the problems with discrepancy scores. Presents dynamic assessment as an alternative to classification procedures and reviews the results of two studies evaluating dynamic assessment.…